Initial Impacts of No Child Left Behind on Elementary Science Education

Authors

George Griffith,, Northern Valley USD, Almena, KS
Lawrence C. Scharmann, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

Summer 2008

Citation

Published in Journal of Elementary Science Education, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 2008), pp. 35-48.

Comments

Copyright ©2008 Western Illinois University; published by Springer. Used by Permission

Abstract

This research examines the impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act on elementary science education within a Midwestern state possessing strong national education measures. Elementary teachers (N = 164) responded to an online survey, which included both closed-ended and open-ended questions pertaining to science instruction and changes made in science instruction since the implementation of NCLB. More than half of these teachers indicated they have cut time from science instruction since NCLB became a law. The reason given for this decrease in science education was mainly the need to increase time for math and reading instruction.