Nick Anderson
Washington Post
January 26, 2011
About two-thirds of U.S. fourth-graders failed to show proficiency in science in 2009, the federal government reported Tuesday, meaning that the average student was likely to be stumped when asked to interpret a temperature graph or explain an example of heat transfer.
Seventy percent of eighth-graders and 79 percent of 12th-graders also fell short of science proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a key measure of performance in a subject that President Obama and business leaders call crucial for American competitiveness.
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“It’s disappointing,” said Francis Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, based in Arlington County. “Essentially, it says that science hasn’t been part of the agenda. Science has had very little attention.” He said reading and math – the focal areas of most standardized state tests – have squeezed time for science lessons in daily classroom schedules.
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