Science Tests Come as Teaching Time Falls

These days, Freiss, at Highland Elementary, is allotted 30 to 45 minutes daily to teach both social studies and science, which is typical for schools in the region.

"It's definitely not as much as I would like," Freiss said.

Between the 1999-2000 academic year and 2003-04, the most recent date available, the average time spent weekly on science instruction in elementary schools dipped from 2.6 hours to 2.3, according to the U.S. Education Department.

Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress in reading and math under the Bush plan often make further incursions into science lessons to pull struggling students for remedial help.

"We've got elementary teachers who e-mail us saying principals are literally walking into their rooms, saying, 'Stop teaching science,' " said Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association.

Maryland has not tested elementary and middle students in science since the demise of the last statewide test, the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, in 2002. Students have been tested in reading and math in several elementary and middle grades since 2003 but are tested in science only once, in high school.

Gary Heath, a just-retired assistant superintendent of Maryland schools, thinks the high school biology test "has helped keep science in schools, particularly at the middle schools."

"If there's been any squeezing," he said, "it's been in the elementary schools."

Education officials note that science instruction remains strong across much of the state and that in places where it has been cut, teachers compensate by sprinkling science content into lessons in reading and math.

National science performance has not declined in the elementary grades under the No Child act, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the only ongoing national effort to test public school students. The percentage of students rated proficient or better in fourth-grade science increased from 24 percent to 27 percent in Maryland from 2000 to 2005, perhaps a reflection of more rigorous instruction across the curriculum. In Virginia, proficiency rose from 32 to 40 percent in the same span.

Teachers are torn between competing goals: Should they cover a single unit in depth, giving students time to perform experiments, analyze and discuss material, and apply their knowledge to other real-life situations? Or should they sacrifice depth for breadth and attempt to cover each of the 25 objectives listed in Maryland's science curriculum for fifth grade?

The first administration of Maryland's new test, given in grades five and eight this month, is a practice run. Next year's tests will count. And in 2008-09, if the No Child act is reauthorized as the Bush administration has requested, science results will be incorporated into adequate yearly progress reports for schools, districts and states. A school that misses yearly targets can trigger sanctions up to and including the potential "restructuring" of staff.

"I'm predicting next year there is going to be a big shock wave running through the elementary schools when they see the results," Wheeler said.