What I’ve Learned From My Students – About Science in Florida High Schools

I learn a lot about the state of science in Florida’s high schools by talking with the students with whom I work both in my capacity as a classroom instructor for majors in engineering and the mathematical and physical sciences and as an advisor for undergraduate physics majors.

Here are some things I have learned in the last few years:

Some students who want to be scientists and engineers can’t take physics in their high schools because it is not offered. In every class I teach, there are several engineering majors who are struggling through their first encounter with physics because their high schools didn’t bother to offer physics.  And it’s not just the “bad” high schools where this happens.  One incoming physics major told me that the only physics course he had taken in high school was through the Florida Virtual School because his high school – an International Baccalaureate school – hadn’t offered physics.  Another incoming physics major from an IB school hadn’t taken physics at all, and had been told by the school administration that there is no room in the IB curriculum for physics.  A science teacher from an IB school where physics is offered told me that most IB schools in Florida – particularly smaller ones – do not offer physics.  Of course, all this contributes to Florida’s embarrassingly low physics-taking rate of 16%.

Some School Districts Jump Ahead in High School Science – FSU and UF Home Counties Stay Behind

While the minimum high school graduation requirements in science mandated by the State of Florida continue to lag those in neighboring states, several of Florida’s school districts – Brevard, Duval and Monroe – have jumped ahead by requiring four science classes for high school graduation.  Meanwhile, the home counties of Florida’s two highest ranked research universities – FSU and UF – have remained behind by staying with the state’s minimum of three science classes for graduation.

The three districts that pushed ahead to the four-science-course requirement are quite different from each other.  Monroe – consisting mostly of the Florida Keys – is a small school district with a total enrollment of only 8,300 students, including 2,600 high school students.  Brevard is the home of Kennedy Space Center and has a total enrollment of 73,000 students (22,500 of them in high school).  The total enrollment in Duval County, which is entirely incorporated as the City of Jacksonville, is 123,000, with 34,000 high school students.

Brevard was ranked number one in the state on the 2009 Science FCAT in grades 5 and 11, and 6^th in grade 8, the only other grade tested.

Correct the Bright Futures STEM Disincentive by Setting Different GPA Requirements for STEM Fields, Says Professor Hu

FSU’s Professor Shouping Hu, the higher ed researcher who found that Bright Futures scholarship policies discourage students from majoring in math, science and engineering, has recommended that a change be made in the GPA requirements for renewal to remove this disincentive.

Several years ago, Hu found that students believe that professors in the STEM fields award lower grades in their courses, and that it is more difficult for science, engineering and math majors to maintain the minimum GPA’s required by the State of Florida for renewals of their Bright Futures scholarships than it is for other students.  Some students decide not to major in these areas for fear of losing their scholarships.  A report on Hu’s findings was published in the May 29, 2008 issue of Inside Higher Ed.

In an e-mail to this blogger this week, Hu recommended that the requirements for Bright Futures renewal be changed to deal with this perception by making the GPA requirements lower for majors in science, engineering and math than for students in other fields.  Hu said that not only would this change “mitigate the different grading standard” but it would also “signify the policy priority of the state” to educate more scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

“Florida Today” Calls for Action – Including the Improvement of K-12 Science – in the Face of Shuttle Program Retirement

In today’s edition, the Brevard County daily Florida Today called for “a united front among elected, industry and community leaders from around the state” to “survive the traumatic change coming to NASA.”  The trauma is next year’s retirement of the space shuttle fleet, the resulting loss of 7,000 jobs at Kennedy Space Center and the predicted loss of “thousands more as the impact is felt throughout the regional economy.”  The editorial writers recognized “the importance of strong math and science education in K-12 schools and universities to produce the engineers, technical experts and scientists necessary for space-related industry in Florida to thrive.”

The paper published the editorial to cheer on a gathering planned for Monday of a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both the state and federal levels and a group of space industry experts at the Third Annual Florida Space and Technology Forum at Brevard Community College’s Cocoa campus.  Listed prominently among the topics for discussion is education in science, technology, engineering and math at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels.

From the point of view of the space program, the critical science fields for K-12 education are the physical and space sciences, fields that would have been deemphasized by bills considered in the Florida Legislature last spring.

A Four Science Course Requirement for Bright Futures Eligibility – The Obvious Next Step

The idea of requiring four science courses for Bright Futures eligibility is an obvious next step for high school science policy.  It would address several important issues and should appeal to leaders from a variety of political perspectives.  The response from Robert Sanchez of the James Madison Institute to yesterday’s Tallahassee Democrat op-ed states the objection that it would be a waste of resources to require students who are not college-bound to take four science courses in which they have no interest.  Of course, a Bright Futures eligibility requirement would not affect students who are not college-bound, but would focus on Florida’s best and brightest.

Most importantly, such a requirement would increase our emphasis on making sure our state’s future leaders are scientifically literate.  One of the comments posted on the op-ed at the Democrat web site asked “Is this really about making sure that our children are indoctrinated, I mean ‘educated’ about global warming, I mean ‘global climate change’? (Can’t call it global warming if the globe isn’t warming.)”  With respect to “educated”, yes it is.  And it’s about being educated on other issues like energy supplies and consumption, and our interactions with the living world around us.  Students must learn that scientific conclusions should be based on data, and not on economic expediencies and personal conveniences.  (Democrat Associate Editor Mark Hohmeister responded to this commenter by asking, “So what you’re saying is that, if in doubt, always opt for ignorance?”)

James Madison Institute Director Responds to Democrat Op-ed on Graduation Requirements

I received a thoughtful response to this morning’s op-ed from Robert Sanchez, Policy Director at the James Madison Institute, a Florida-based research and educational organization.  With his permission, I am sharing it here:

I read your thoughtful op-ed piece in today’s Tallahassee Democrat with considerable interest. I, too, wish that Florida’s high school graduates emerged with a better understanding of the sciences – and civics, the humanities, and lots of other material that every educated person arguably ought to know.

Moreover, advanced courses in the sciences certainly ought to be available to all of the students who intend to go on to college, where they’ll undoubtedly encounter further course requirements in the sciences.

However, not all students are college-bound, especially in Florida. Many drop out as soon as the law allows; others remain in school only long enough to earn the high school diploma deemed a minimal ticket for employment.

Op-Ed on 4 Years of Science, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi in Tallahassee Democrat Today

A piece based on the post advocating four years of high school science was published in the Tallahassee Democrat today.

As of now (about 10:00 am) there are two comments posted there.  Both are fascinating.

Underrepresentation of African-Americans Among Bachelor’s and Doctoral Degree Recipients

The figure below illustrates the fractions of bachelor’s and doctoral degree recipients in a variety of areas in 2004 who were African-American.  The data are taken from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Science Resources Statistics.  The fraction of the US population that is African-American is now 13.5%, so African-Americans are underrepresented in all these areas at both the bachelor’s and doctoral degree levels.

African-Americans are more strongly underrepresented at the doctoral level than at the bachelor’s level in all fields shown except education.  Furthermore, the fields in which the strongest underrepresentation takes place are those that are the most mathematical – Mathematics, Engineering, Physics and Geosciences.

The graph was assembled by Holly Brown. 

 

End-of-Course Exams – Getting the Price Right

A comprehensive program of end-of-course (EOC) tests is critical to improving high school science in Florida.  Last spring, the Florida Legislature nearly approved a bill that would have scrapped the 11^th grade Science FCAT – which tests students in biology, chemistry, physics and Earth/space science – and replaced it with a biology-only EOC test.  By doing this, the legislature would have undermined the new high school science standards in the physical and Earth/space sciences that it approved just last year.  The Gang of 90 white paper argued for an EOC testing program in high school science that is comprehensive; that is, it would include tests in biology, chemistry, physics and Earth/space science. 

When I blogged about the cost of such a program last week, I generously estimated that the test would cost $30 per student.  It turns out that I was way too high.  This morning, Leslie Postal at the Orlando Sentinel blog School Zone reports that the FDOE says that “one end-of-course exam, developed and fully implemented, would cost about $1.5 million a year.” 

If I multiply this cost by four (biology, chemistry, physics and Earth/space science), I get $6 million per year for a comprehensive end-of-course testing program in high school science, much less than the estimate I posted last week of $24 million (with the $30 per student number). 

Accountability in high school science for only $6 million – how could anyone turn that down?

Florida vs. Massachusetts – Are Great Science Standards Enough to Raise Student Achievement?

At last week’s Florida Board of Education meeting, K-12 Chancellor Frances Haithcock and Deputy Chancellor Mary Jane Tappen presented a comparison of the standards and performance of the K-12 systems in Massachusetts and Florida.  One of the items they highlighted was Florida’s new science standards, of which the FDOE – and the committee that drafted them – are justifiably proud.  However, the adoption of strong standards, while necessary, is only the first step to producing world-class science achievement at the K-12 level.  Since Haithcock and Tappen avoided a discussion of what it really takes to produce world-class science education performance, I recommend that the Board members read a letter sent to Commissioner Smith by 39 of the members of the science standards committee shortly after the adoption of the standards by the Board in February 2008. 

The letter lists seven steps the signers believe are necessary to build a world-class K-12 science education system in Florida:

1)      Ensure the alignment of curriculum, instructional methods, assessment and pedagogy with these new standards.

2)      Require four high school science credits for graduation.

3)      Adopt the 2003 National Science Teacher Association teacher preparation standards.

4)      Establish a permanent panel of scientists, business leaders and educator-leaders that advise the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education on science education issues.

5)      Support the development and adoption of research-based instructional materials, including laboratories and authentic field experiences.

6)      Commit at least $100 million per year to professional development of science teachers that is based on the best research about how students learn this subject.

7)      Provide an immediate differential pay structure that will increase salaries of science teachers by 20%, and provide full state funding for this.  This step is recommended in the report “Teachers and the Uncertain American Future” issued by the College Board’s Center for Innovative Thought.  We believe that all the recommendations in this report should be implemented in Florida.