Science / Medicine : Science Literacy Is Lagging, Study Says

Science literacy among America’s schoolchildren is at a “depressing and alarming” level that may prevent many high school graduates from doing well in skilled jobs or college-level courses, according to a study. “The Science Report Card,” a federal project of the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., found that more than half of the nation’s 17-year-olds are so poorly educated in science that they cannot benefit from special job training and cannot perform work requiring basic technical understanding.

Only 7% of 17-year-olds in the study demonstrated sufficient skills to do well in college-level science courses. Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the findings “depressing and alarming,” adding that the poor level of science education could be “disastrous.”