Wednesday, November 2, 2011

An Unintended Consequence of Policy: Low-Quality Elementary Science Education | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

An Unintended Consequence of Policy: Low-Quality Elementary Science Education | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

An Unintended Consequence of Policy: Low-Quality Elementary Science Education

According to a recent report on science education in California, more than half of elementary school principals do NOT believe it is likely that a student receives high-quality science instruction at his or her school.

If anything, I would expect principals to be optimistic about the strength of their schools, so this finding really drives home longstanding concerns about the state of elementary science education.

And it makes sense when one looks at teacher responses to the survey. Forty percent of elementary teachers reported spending less than 60 minutes a week on science instruction. Thirteen percent reported spending less than