Parents, Students Feel Less Urgency for Math, Science Upgrades

Though education experts, business leaders, and government officials have largely embraced the drive to raise the level of math and science courses across the country, students and parents are apparently satisfied with a less-rigorous level of instruction in those subjects.

That’s the conclusion of a new study of the views of parents and students in Kansas and Missouri by the New York City-based research organization Public Agenda, which found a degree of contentment with current math and science curricula that contrasts sharply with the dissatisfaction expressed by experts.

“What we found when we looked at the views of parents and students was much, much less urgency,” said Jean Johnson, an executive vice president and the director of education...