Can we take much more bad news?

U.S. science education lags …

Science education in U.S. elementary and middle schools is overly broad and superficial, according to a government report issued Thursday that also faults science curricula for assuming children are simplistic thinkers.

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Other countries such as Japan have students explore a core set of ideas, with increasing depth as they get older, it said.

“Comparisons of science standards and curricula in the United States with that of countries that perform well on international science tests reveal overly broad and superficial coverage of science topics in U.S. classrooms,” said the report by 15 education specialists from across the country.