The National Research Council late last month hosted a meeting of a 16-member committee to begin work on the “common core” science standards. Work on “common core” standards in math and language arts is nearing its conclusion. The science committee was chaired by Helen R. Quinn, Professor Emeritus at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Link to the article in Education Week here.
While the House PreK-12 Policy Committee was apparently ready to file its proposed committee bill (PCB) on assessment and graduation policy a few weeks ago, committee chair John Legg decided to wait to roll out this legislation until he could do it jointly with the leadership of the corresponding Senate committee.
And we are still waiting.
In my anxious mind, I keep going back to the Interim Report issued by the Senate PreK-12 Committee in October that seemed to rule out increasing expectations in science.
In contrast, the House PCB is likely to include requiring courses in biology and physical science for graduation and a comprehensive end-of-course testing program for biology, chemistry, Earth/space science and physics.
Has a conflict arisen between the two committees over science?
The Bright Futures scholarship program is in crisis again, and Senate Higher Education Appropriations Chair Evelyn Lynn is casting about for ways to reform the $400 million program to cap or cut costs.
Last year, the Legislature implemented several cost-cutting changes, including requiring students to complete 24 credit hours per year, having students refund the full tuition amount when they withdraw from a course, and decoupling the amount of the scholarship from increases in tuition.
This year, the Higher Ed Appropriations Committee is considering several other ideas. One is to raise the SAT and ACT scores required for eligibility; however, that step would disproportionately impact minority and low income students. A second is to needs-test the program, which of course would be very unpopular with middle-income parents and students.
How about this? Use the Bright Futures program to promote scientific literacy and preparation for scientific and engineering careers by requiring four high school science courses, including at least one in biology, chemistry, Earth/space science and physics. At present, the high school science requirement for Bright Futures is the same as the science requirement for high school graduation – three unspecified science courses, of which two must include laboratories.
The Monroe County School Board last week unanimously voted to name the new wind turbine at the Key West High School the Colbert Wind Turbine after the host of the Colbert Report (yes, THAT Colbert Report).
The turbine, which stands 53 feet above the ground, was paid for with a $20,000 grant from the Florida Green Alliance. The project was guided by Key West’s physics teacher Josh Clearman, who founded the school’s Alternative Energy Center. The wind turbine is the first in the nation to be based at a high school.
The KWHS Alternative Energy Center also hosts a project to produce biodiesel fuel from donated grease, methanol and potassium hydroxide.
But back to this Colbert business.
The goal of the student leading the charge to name the turbine after Stephen Colbert, Heindrek Allen, is to coax Colbert himself to KWHS for the “ribbon cutting” on March 20.
That would certainly provide the Alternative Energy Center a little well-deserved attention.
But how could Colbert say no? Harnessing a hot wind to produce energy has great potential in at least one other American location – Washington, DC.
The Colbert Wind Turbine has a Facebook page where you can follow the effort to attract Colbert’s attention.
If you don’t understand the headline on this post, click here.
The registration web site for the Spring Meeting of the Florida Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, which is being held April 16-17 and is being sponsored by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the FSU Physics Department and the FSU Office of Research, is now open. Click here to register.
With the imminent end of the space shuttle program, 7,000 of the program’s workers at the Kennedy Space Center will soon lose their jobs. Many are engineers. Would any want to be high school chemistry or physics teachers?
Kennedy Space Center is located in Brevard County, which has the strongest K-12 FCAT Science scores in the state (On pass rate – score 3 and above – Brevard is #1 in the state in Grade 5, #6 in Grade 8, and #1 in Grade 11), and the Brevard School District has a strong alternative certification program for science teachers under the leadership of district science supervisor Ginger Davis (who is also President of the Florida Association of Science Supervisors).
One of the best places in the nation to learn to be a physics teacher is Florida International University, which is 200 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center in Miami. Physics Professor Laird Kramer and Education Professor Eric Brewe have established a strong physics teacher education program with the support of the APS/NSF PhysTEC program.
The state seems destined to use scarce taxpayers’ dollars in this year’s “brutal” budget to support the film industry. What about some to help for laid-off KSC engineers to become high school chemistry and physics teachers?
From last night’s State of the Union address (a transcript is available at the New York Times):
From the day I took office, I’ve been told that addressing our larger challenges is too ambitious; such an effort would be too contentious. I’ve been told that our political system is too gridlocked, and that we should just put things on hold for a while.
For those who make these claims, I have one simple question: How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?
You see, Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse. Meanwhile, China is not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany is not waiting. India is not waiting. These nations — they’re not standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They’re making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs. Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America…
…Fourth, we need to invest in the skills and education of our people. Now, this year, we’ve broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. And the idea here is simple: Instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform — reform that raises student achievement; inspires students to excel in math and science; and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to the inner city. In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.
A story in Wednesday’s St. Petersburg Times lists the subjects that will be included in the House PreK-12 Policy Committee bill for end-of-course tests. The “high-stakes” tests include Algebra I, Geometry and Biology I. The “low-stakes” tests include English/language arts II, Algebra II, Chemistry, Physics, Earth/space Science, U.S. History and World History. The low-stakes tests would be implemented “as funds become available,” according to the Times.
The Times also reported that the House and Senate PreK-12 Policy Committees are planning to roll out their bills jointly next month.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the consortium of thirty developed nations that administers the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies of student achievement in reading, math and science, has released a report that argues that even a modest improvement in math and science achievement in the United States would result in a $41 trillion improvement in GDP over the next 80 years. But a more dramatic improvement – one that brings the US up to the achievement level of OECD frontrunner Finland – would raise the 80 year GDP by a whopping $103 trillion.
The annual US GDP is presently about $14 trillion.
So what are we waiting for?
See Education Week’s report here.
Senate PreK-12 Policy Committee Chair Nancy Detert said there will be “major changes” for Florida’s public K-12 system this legislative session, and “not all of them will be welcome.” So reports Gary Fineout in the Herald-Tribune (based in Sarasota, in Detert’s district) on Sunday in a detailed preview of the legislative session. In the same article, Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future, agrees with Detert, saying “the stars are aligned and there will be some major education reforms that will take place.”
So this is the year for education policy reform, and science better be on board because the legislature is unlikely to return to this issue anytime soon.
Fineout also evaluated the chances for legislative success of the proposals made in the report “Closing the Talent Gap” recently issued by the Florida Council of 100. One of his conclusions shows how important it is for the legislature to get science education policy right this year. Among the Council’s proposals was one to, as Fineout summarized, increase “eligibility standards for Bright Futures scholarships and offer full-value scholarships only to students who pursue science, technology, engineering and math degrees.” His analysis? “Prospects: Unlikely because changes were made to Bright Futures last year.” His conclusion is supported by a quote from Evelyn Lynn, Chair of the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee, who said that it would be wrong to make additional changes to Bright Futures after last year’s overhaul.
