Many elementary schools offer half as much science instruction as they did before the law was enacted, teachers and principals said. Science and social studies, once taught separately, share time to make room for more reading and math. Some middle schools that used to offer a full year of science and social studies give a semester of each.
But starting with the 2007-08 academic year, the law requires states to test students in science. A new exam is being field-tested in Maryland this year.
“I think the test will open up some eyes,” said Brian Freiss, a fifth-grade teacher at Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring.