As Test Date Looms, Educators Renewing Emphasis on Science

After scrambling to raise students’ skills in math and reading, state and school administrators are beginning to place renewed emphasis on science, with the approaching mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act squarely in mind.

That effort is taking shape on many fronts, from the design of new tests in science subjects to the revamping of courses to cover the material on those exams.

Over the past three years, much of that science subject matter has been pushed aside, many state and local officials acknowledge. States and schools during that time have been consumed with the federal law’s demand that they improve annual test scores in reading and mathematics in grades 3-8—or face such penalties as offering students a choice of schools to attend, or...