Citing a 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress  (NAEP) report, known as the Nation’s Report Card, Joanne Jacobs  blogs that  most American students most American students aren’t “proficient” in science .   The report illustrates that only 34 percent in fourth grade, 30 percent in eighth and 21 percent in 12th grade scored proficient or higher; one percent of high school seniors have the advanced science knowledge and skills that lead to careers in science and technology.

In her article, a number of leading educators offer up reasons for these low scores.   Some argue that science has taken a back seat to math and language arts, which are much more closely watched for NCLB-related state assessments.   Others disagree arguing that many school districts with high reading and math scores also have high science scores.  The point being that you can’t do well in science if you don’t read well. 

I agree, and also wonder if there a correlation between low science scores and aptitude in the social sciences.   Like science, social science (history, geography, etc.) text books and resources are dense with information, requiring sound reading skills as well as the discipline to approach new information methodically — reading and re-reading, taking effective notes, proactively learning new vocabulary.

That said, good math skills are also important for science. Even at the elementary school level, students need to master basic skills of interpreting graphs and diagrams to do well in 4th and 5th grade level science.

Solid reading and math skills are the foundation…without this, the ability to grasp more difficult concepts — experiment design, formulas, theory and purely scientific nomenclature can be increasingly difficult as students move up in school.  If your child struggles with sciences and social sciences, you should take a good and hard look at how well he/she reads and how well he computes and understands numbers.