Wed, Mar 12, 2008
Science education in the spotlight
New testing rules, and poor science achievement scores, are bringing renewed focus and energy to science instruction in schools
Science education in the spotlight
New testing rules, and poor science achievement scores, are bringing renewed focus and energy to science instruction in schools
As schools prepare for the debut
this fall of science
testing under No Child Left Behind, educators and
science advocates are calling for renewed awareness
of what many say is a national crisis in science
education.
States will be required
to test students in science once a year in
elementary (grades 3-5), middle (grades 6-9),
and high schools (grades 10-12). The new
rules come at a critical time for the nation,
because the science scores of U.S. students on
recent national and international benchmark
exams have been anything but stellar.
Eighty-two percent of the nation’s 12th graders performed below the proficient level on the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress science test. Average scores on the most recent Program for International Student Assessment ranked U.S. students 21st out of 30 industrialized countries in science.
