Goals for better science education are identified

Recognizing that decades of education reform has not helped young students improve their learning of science, a National Research Council study is the latest effort to try to upgrade elementary science education. The study notes that the need for change is clear because states must measure students' annual progress in science beginning in 2007 under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The NRC panel identified four intertwined goals that need to be achieved through instruction over several grades. These are knowledge and use of scientific explanations of the natural world, ability to evaluate scientific evidence, understanding the development of scientific knowledge, and participation in scientific collaboration and discussion. Copies of the study, "Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in K-8," are available online at national-academies.org.