NRC Wants Science Put on Par With Math, Reading

The National Research Council, in a report released Thursday, recommends that science learning be tested as frequently and taught as rigorously as math and reading to ensure a high status in the nation’s classrooms.

The report also urges policymakers to craft new assessments for all the STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and math—that test students to probe for a deeper understanding of the material, and for states to hold their districts accountable to high standards for those subjects.

The congressionally chartered NRC plans to release recommendations for a new standards framework for 21st-century science education later this summer. The framework will be developed further by Achieve , a Washington-based nonprofit group that focuses on improving state academic standards and assessments. New assessments for science based on the new standards should be crafted by states and...