Science Education’s ‘Overlooked Ingredient’
Why the Path to Global Competitiveness Begins in Elementary School
In the emerging national dialogue about threats to American leadership in the global technological marketplace, concern over the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to technologically skilled workers in India and Asia runs deep. But our educational responses to such competition have so far failed to match the level of concern. The testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act actually have led to a diminishing amount of class time devoted to science, as teachers focus sharply on reading and math, the first subjects tested under the federal law. Now, this new urgency about our technological progress appears to be changing the political calculus, pushing lawmakers as well as educators to give science education the attention it deserves.
But a key ingredient—arguably the most important ingredient in effective science education—is being undervalued and overlooked: creative, engaging, and demanding elementary science. Instead, the legislative emphasis is on undergraduate and graduate education, the training of secondary school teachers, and support for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses in high schools. All of these obviously are important, but what about support for science in elementary school, the fundamental starting point in the education of our students?
The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law could provide an opportunity to raise elementary science to a more prominent place in the curriculum. The current law calls, in fact, for the implementation this school year of testing in science at three levels (elementary, middle, and high school). Yet, the results of these tests need not be factored into the goals for making “adequate yearly progress.” The Bush administration’s recommendations for the reauthorization of the law call for all students to be proficient in science … but not until 2019-20. Can...
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