Wall Street Journal: "Students Score Poorly on Science Test"

By STEPHANIE BANCHERO

Results from a national exam revealed that fewer than one-third of elementary- and high-school students have a solid grasp of science, triggering anxiety about U.S. competitiveness in science and technology.

The scores from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, released Tuesday, come just a few weeks after an international science test showed U.S. students trailing their counterparts in many European and Asian countries. On that exam, called the Program for International Student Assessment, students in Hong Kong and Shanghai dominated their counterparts in the U.S. and most other countries.

Teachers and education-advocacy groups offered several explanations for the dismal scores on the NAEP exam given to students in fourth, eighth and 12th grade. Reasons included shortages of qualified science educators and of advanced science classes in low-income and rural schools.

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