He reads aloud question No. 1, and he emphasizes that students must include evidence and reasoning with their answer. “So, do not just say, ‘Yes,’” he tells his students. “Yes,” one of them responds ...

White lab coat buttoned, glasses perched firmly on his head, eighth-grade science teacher Todd Munoz lies flat on the classroom table. Atop his stomach is a bowling ball. Next to him is a student ...

In a drab hearing room in Austin, Tex., members of the State Board of Education, seated at small desks arranged in a broad, socially distanced circle, debated whether eighth grade science students ...

Science is usually one of the more hands-on subjects in middle school: Students design research questions, draw diagrams, and conduct experiments. But the country’s 8th graders are less likely to do ...