The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) has released new results on students in science. The news is mixed. The good part is that the gap between whites and non-whites has shrunk since 2000. (The fact that it still exists, is, of course, a problem.) Of concern to some, however, is that eighth-graders showed almost no change from previous scores, and 12th-grade scores were slightly worse than a decade ago.
As another recent study confirms, exposure to science in secondary school is critical to producing scientists. Researchers at the University of Virginia found that eighth-graders who said they wanted to become scientists were two to three times more likely to earn degrees in science or engineering than those who said they wanted non-science careers. The researchers also concluded that while math was important, math skills didn’t take the place of science interest in determining future degree choices.
This brings up the question (about which I’ve written before) of whether President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law is focused on core reading and math skills to the detriment of well-rounded, ultimately more productive education. Bush asserts that science education has to start early, and is a crucial component in our national competitiveness. He had better pay attention to studies like the above if he wants his methods to support his goals.
Those of you looking for fun science experiments to do at home can find some ideas in a post I wrote last fall.