Students Benefit From Depth, Rather Than Breadth, In High School Science Courses

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090305131814.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2009) — A recent study reports that high school students who study fewer science topics, but study them in greater depth, have an advantage in college science classes over their peers who study more topics and spend less time on each.
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The study revealed that students in courses that focused on mastering a particular topic were impacted twice as much as those in courses that touched on every major topic.
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The study also points out that standardized testing, which seeks to measure overall knowledge in an entire discipline, may not capture a student's high level of mastery in a few key science topics. Teachers who "teach to the test" may not be optimizing their students' chance of success in college science courses, Tai noted.