FDOE a “17-story beehive of Race to the Top activity”

I may not always agree with the folks at the Florida Department of Education, but I would never call them lazy.  They are serious, hardworking people who care about their missions.

Right now, they are all about Florida’s Race to the Top application, which is due in mid-January.  Here is an account of the preparations at the FDOE and in other states for the program deadline from the New York Times.  FDOE spokesperson Tom Butler is quoted saying, “Every time I ride the elevator in the morning, and every time I leave at night, there’s a common conversation about Race to the Top that you can have with any of the 1,000 people who work here because every person is involved. “

Of course, Race to the Top challenges states to implement radical reforms, particularly in the teaching profession.   And the pace at which these reforms would be implemented has sparked frantic political activity.  For a sample, take a look at the dueling op-eds from this morning’s Orlando Sentinel by Florida House of Representatives Speaker-to-be Will Weatherford (who is presently Chair of the chamber’s Education Council) and Florida Education Association President Andy Ford.

Sally Ride on girls in science, education policy

I recommend this brief piece on former astronaut Sally Ride, who is especially active in promoting science among girls and is involved with President Obama’s effort to promote science and math education.

(OK, so it’s not just Elmo promoting President Obama’s initiative)

What kinds of jobs can a bachelor’s degree recipient in physics get? What about Governor?

If you’re reading this post, you probably already know that newly minted bachelor’s degree recipients in physics have an average starting salary of $52,000.  The jobs available to new physics bachelors range from engineering to information technology to teaching.  But here’s a career path for physics bachelors that we generally don’t highlight:  Governor.  As in “governor of a state.”  Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard.  He is working the Race to the Top competition in part by initiating a science education partnership with Batelle and even the state of Ohio.

In contrast, Florida’s Commissioner of Education, a former science teacher, is working the Race to the Top competition without any serious emphasis on science (except for a nice essay).  Our Governor, who prepared for public service by the relatively conventional route of Student Body Vice President at Florida State University and law school (at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama) does not list science among his “Education Initiatives.” (no, “physical education” does not count).

By the way, further education past a bachelor’s degree in physics does not disqualify one for higher political office.  Three Ph.D.’s in physics presently serve in the United States Congress.

Do the math: Numbers about science education in Florida (and elsewhere) in 2009

11.5%:  The unemployment rate in Florida at the close of 2009, signaling the structural collapse of the go-go growth-and-tourism economy in the state.

45%:  The fraction of mortgages in Florida that are “underwater,” with the owners owing more than their properties are worth.

$418:  Decrease in per-pupil spending on public K-12 schools in Florida from the 2007-2008 school year to the 2009-2010 school year, even with the federal stimulus money.

$2.6 billion:  Anticipated state budget shortfall in the next fiscal year.

49:  Florida’s national rank on the science section of the ACT college entrance exam in 2008.  This statistic was used by FDOE Bureau Chief Todd Clark to support his argument that “Florida students are pretty much last in the nation in science.”

47:  Florida’s national rank on pass rate for Advanced Placement science tests in 2008.  Another statistic quoted by Todd Clark to support the above conclusion.

0:  Number of African-American students who scored the highest level (5) on the FCAT Science tests statewide in 2008.  That’s not 0%.  That’s zero students.  Not a single African-American student, at any of the three grade levels during which the Science FCAT is administered (5, 8, 11) and anywhere in the state, scored a 5.

16%:  The fraction of graduating high school students in Florida who have taken a physics course.  This fraction is about half the national rate.

29%:  The fraction of American high school graduates in the top quintile (20%) on the SAT and ACT math sections who earned bachelors’ degrees in STEM fields in the 1990’s, according to a Rutgers-Georgetown report.

14%:  The fraction of American high school graduates in the top quintile on the SAT and ACT math sections who earned bachelors’ degrees in STEM fields in the 2000’s, according to the same report.  This plunge from the 1990’s may signal a cultural change nationally from a technological economy toward a mercantilist economy in which technological innovation is valued less than the devising of complex financial instruments that are designed to conceal looming disaster from unwitting customers.  We have now done the experiment.  Will we learn the lesson?  And what are all those freshly minted Ivy League grads who were planning to be rich investment bankers going to do?  Go to law school?

39%:  Fraction of Americans that accepted the theory of evolution on the occasion of Darwin’s 150^th birthday, according to a Gallup Poll.

24%:  Fraction of Americans that attend church weekly who accept the theory of evolution, according to the same Gallup Poll.  (Note:  I’m in this small group, bucking the crowd as usual.)

$36,000:  National average starting salary for a teacher at the secondary level.

$52,000:  Average starting salary for a new bachelor’s degree recipient in physics.  The $16,000 difference between this number and the previous one provides a clue about why it is so difficult to recruit physics teachers.

1:  The number of science subjects that will be tested at the high school level starting in 2012 if Florida Education Commissioner Smith gets his way in the Florida Legislature this spring.  That subject will be biology.  With chemistry, physics and Earth/space science left out of the high school accountability package, there will not be any legal incentive to maintain or improve the access to and quality of instruction in these areas.

Science education should be considered at Florida jobs summit

Incoming Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon will host a “Jobs Summit” on January 14 and 15 in Orlando to set an economic agenda for the 2010 session of the Florida Legislature.  The summit will focus on cutting government regulation and offering tax incentives to businesses.  Cannon and Haridopolos detail their ideas in this op-ed from Wednesday’s Tallahassee Democrat.

President Haridopolos and Speaker Cannon seem focused on the short term, which is understandable given Florida’s mind-numbing 11.5% jobless rate and the devastating social costs of sustained unemployment.  But they should not ignore the long-term restructuring of the state’s economy which is so obviously necessary.  They should attend to education, and in particular science education.  Even business groups understand the importance of preparing the state’s K-20 students for the scientific and technological opportunities of the future.

There is a hint of danger to public education in the rhetoric that President Haridopolos and Speaker Cannon have chosen.  They invite ideas from the educational community in their op-ed, saying “If you are a teacher, you may have an idea of how to better prepare new high-school or college graduates to compete in a tough job market.”  But they also say that “government is the problem,” and – like it or not – public education is a government program.

And you don’t need to pass the NGA Algebra 1 exam to know that if tax cuts for businesses are enacted, there will have to be corresponding cuts to the state budget.  Education is a very large fraction of that state budget.

Sherman Dorn agrees: Commissioner Smith should set a date for science

USF Education Professor and blogger Sherman Dorn agrees that Commissioner Smith should set a date for science.  In fact, Professor Dorn goes farther.  He calls for setting a deadline for the revision of science requirements for all high school diploma recipients, citing the importance of scientific literacy for the future of our society.  In addition, he points out that the pre-service training of elementary school teachers in lab-based science consists primarily of their high school courses.   “Minimum requirements set the floor for what the next generation of elementary teachers knows,” is the way Professor Dorn puts it.

Education policy does not move at the speed of light

Here is an e-mailed dialogue I had today regarding Commissioner Smith’s Tallahassee Democrat op-ed from yesterday, which responded to mine from December 13.  The correspondent is a person who works in a policy-making arm of state government in a staff capacity.  This correspondent was trying (successfully) to convince me that the Commissioner’s response was a positive development.

Me:  Is there something in the oath of office that says you can’t actually make any commitments or say anything of any consequence?

Correspondent:  You’re forcing him to respond even if he says nothing.  That’s how change happens.

Me:  Yeah, I know it’s a good thing he responded.  I’m just an impatient academic.

Correspondent:  Impatient academic? You’re a research physicist who is supposed to spend a year or more studying one collision between two isotopes traveling in different directions at the speed of light to try and unlock the secrets of the universe. And you think education policy moves any faster???

Alright, I get it.

Dear Commissioner Smith: Set a date for excellence in science education

Yesterday, Commissioner Smith responded to my December 13 op-ed with one of his own in the Tallahassee Democrat. Like Brandon Haught over at the Florida Citizens for Science blog, I was gratified that the Commissioner took the time to address the issue of K-12 science.  But also like Brandon, I was disappointed that there wasn’t much meat to the response.

With another brutal budget year on the way, what am I looking for?

Here is my message to Commissioner Smith:  Set a date.

Set a date for the implementation of the end-of-course tests in chemistry, physics, and Earth/space science. You could say that we should wait for the implementation of the national Common Core Science Standards and the federal funds for exams that will result.  But the Common Core exercises for math and language arts are dragging along behind schedule.  And just wait until we start our national evolution education debate.  Should accountability in chemistry, physics and Earth/space science really be held hostage to all this?  At $1.5 million per year per test, just make a commitment to implement end-of-course exams in these areas by the spring of 2015.  If the Common Core standards and associated federally-funded tests come through by then, all the better.  If not, we need specific accountability in these high school courses, anyway.

Set a date for implementation of Bright Futures reform that requires four science courses – including at least one each from the areas of biology, chemistry, physics and Earth/space science – for Bright Futures eligibility. Or do something else that requires our top high school graduates to be broadly scientifically literate, like a system of tiered high school diplomas where the top tier must meet the broad-based four science course requirement given above.  The students entering high school next fall will graduate in 2014.  So make it then – make the Bright Futures science eligibility requirement or the tiered diploma program apply to the high school graduating class of 2014.

Florida Science Faculty White Paper on High School Science calls for steps on graduation requirements, Bright Futures eligibility and end-of-course testing

Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith published an op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat yesterday responding to my argument from the week before that while FDOE’s own staff members understand that we are near the national bottom in K-12 science, no branch of the state’s government is addressing the issue in any meaningful way.

One might ask “What do scientists want?”  Here is an answer – the June 2009 white paper composed by 90 science faculty members from colleges and universities around Florida.  It has been mentioned often on this blog, but for ease of reference, here it is:

A group of 106 college and university science faculty raised the alarm during this spring’s legislative session because of the exclusion of physics and/or Earth/space sciences from legislation regarding high school graduation requirements and the initiation of an end-of-course testing program.  It is generally agreed that the 11th grade science FCAT must be terminated and replaced with a comprehensive end-of-course assessment program.  The primary concern with HB 543 (the end-of-course testing legislation) was that while there was a definite schedule for implementation of the end-of-course biology test, there was no concrete schedule for implementation of end-of-course tests in other subjects.  Given the financial pressure on the FDOE (even in relatively good times) there was no guarantee that the tests in the other science subjects would ever be implemented.

When bills for upgrading high school graduation and the replacement of the 11^th grade science FCAT are filed for the 2010 legislative session, they should:

1)  Specify a list of science courses in all fields that would be rigorous enough to count toward graduation, and require a statewide end-of-course test in each of them. A list of 33 rigorous science courses from the FDOE science course list is given below and is arranged by the “Bodies of Knowledge” (BOK’s) used in the new state science standards (life sciences, Earth/space sciences, and physical sciences).  Students should be allowed to select from this list to fulfill their high school graduation requirements in science.  The list also includes a curriculum of Integrated Science courses used in some school districts.  While the number 33 may seem large, 17 are AP, IB or AICE courses.  The specification of “biology” in HB 1293 would have given a list of 6 acceptable courses.  The list grows to 33 simply by adding the corresponding courses in the other BOK’s – physical and Earth/space sciences – and in Integrated Science.  The list is given below.

2)  Specify that three science courses – including at least one from each BOK – be required for graduation, and that four be required for Bright Futures eligibility. Taking the three-year Integrated Science or Honors Integrated science sequences would also qualify a student for graduation.

3)  Consider the possibility of using tests that are already generally available for the end-of-course testing program. Of course, this is obvious for the AP, IB and AICE courses that are on the list.  However, it may be possible to use the SAT Subject tests in physics and chemistry for the end-of-course testing in those areas:  The College Board charges $15 per test, which is a cost comparable to that of the FCAT.  There is also an SAT Subject test in biology; however, it may not overlap enough with the new Florida standards in biology because our standards focus somewhat on Florida ecology.  It may also be possible to collaborate with other states in setting end-of-course exams.  For example, New York State has offered the Regents exam program for more than a century, and they might welcome a partnership.  If FDOE took advantage of all of these opportunities, it is possible that the department would have to maintain as few as five examinations in-house.

4)  Set a concrete schedule for implementation of end-of-course tests for each course on the list of acceptable science courses. In any event, the entire end-of-course testing program should be fully implemented by the spring of 2013.

Marrying evolution and climate change denialism: Senator Santorum speaks out

Just as the nation is preparing to frame national K-12 science standards, Pennsylavania’s Senator Rick Santorum publicly marries the twin threats of evolution and climate change denialism in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

Of course, ClimateGate has brought this marriage to the surface, and Senator Santorum is only reflecting the excitement of the last several weeks.  Check out the last few weeks’ worth of posts at the Discovery Institute blog “Evolution News and Views.”