Studies Suggest Science Education Neglected

By Michelle Galley

Nearly a third of the nation’s elementary pupils are taught science less than three times a week, at a time when high school and college students’ interest in obtaining a college degree in the natural sciences or engineering is flagging, two reports reveal.

In contrast, children in grades K-5 are more likely to learn mathematics and English on a daily basis than they are science, according to "The Bayer Facts of Science Education X: Are the Nation’s Colleges and Universities Adequately Preparing Elementary Schoolteachers of Tomorrow to Teach Science?"

The survey which marks the 10th year of such reports on science educationof elementary teachers and education college deans, conducted on behalf of the Philadelphia-based Bayer Corp.,...