Time for science?

To allow more time for test preparation in reading and math, the principal at our elementary school is requiring that teachers cut back on (or even eliminate) science activities. She says it’s just as effective to integrate more nonfiction books on science topics during reading class. How can we convince her of the value of hands-on investigations and activities?
—Catherine, Texas

Even before this current emphasis on test scores, science was often shortchanged in terms of scheduled time. The high-stakes nature of these tests (and the consequences for any school falling short of the goals set by legislators or politicians) is driving schools to make short-sighted, counterproductive decisions about class time.

You could try to impress upon your principal that science is more than a collection of facts to read about. Most standards and framework documents in science have a focus on processes and practices such as asking questions, developing and using models, obtaining and communicating information, analyzing and interpreting data, and communicating information. I’m curious how your principal expects students to achieve these skills (and learn the content) that are tested in the upper elementary grades.

It would be interesting to see the data on which your principal made the decision to reduce time for science. I know many elementary teachers who do make time for science. In the context of investigations, their students apply their skills in reading and mathematics to new and authentic situations. Their students do a lot of writing and journaling/notebooking—and do well on the state reading and math tests.

There are those (such as your principal) who suggest science content could be integrated with reading instruction. There certainly are many interesting nonfiction books students could use in reading class, and there are students who prefer nonfiction to fiction. The teacher would have to select the materials carefully to ensure all students have access to science-related content, whether in classroom or school libraries or from online sources. I’m curious as to how science learning would be assessed in this case.

But I think we’re shortchanging students when we substitute reading assignments for planned and purposeful science instruction including both science content and processes such as hands-on investigations, vocabulary development, observations, writing, measuring, graphing, and questioning.

You could share guidelines on preschool and elementary science investigations from the NSTA Position Statement: The Integral Role of Laboratory Investigations in Science Instruction:

• With the expectation of science instruction every day, all students at the preschool and elementary level should receive multiple opportunities every week to explore science labs that fit the definition described in the Introduction. [A school laboratory investigation (also referred to as a lab) is defined as an experience in the laboratory, classroom, or the field that provides students with opportunities to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by others using tools, materials, data collection techniques, and models.]

• Laboratory investigations should provide all students with continuous opportunities to explore familiar phenomena and materials. At developmentally appropriate levels, they should investigate appropriate questions, analyze the results of laboratory investigations, debate what the evidence means, construct an understanding of science concepts, and apply these concepts to the world around them.

Perhaps you could suggest your principal visit science classes in which students are engaged in planned and purposeful science activities. Highlight the math and reading skills students are using, as well as the science processes. NSTA’s Science & Children journal has many ideas for activities appropriate for elementary students., as does NSTA’s Early Years blog. But none of these activities occur in a vacuum. Virtually all of them have components that integrate reading, writing, and math.

Although your question dealt with science, I’m equally concerned that social studies, the arts, and physical education often are also shortchanged in a quest for higher test scores. We’ve been on this testing craze for 10 years, and I still don’t understand why students’ applying their reading and math skills to new and authentic situations is less important than their one-time test scores on isolated skills.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benwerd/329570851/

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