K-12 Chancellor sets substitutes for new grad requirements in science; Integrated Science substitute may provide better physical science coverage for many students
Florida K-12 Chancellor Frances Haithcock announced in a June 24 memo that the new graduation requirements in science signed into law this spring (biology, “chemistry or physics” and an “equally rigorous” third science course) could be satisfied instead by taking a three-year “Integrated Science” sequence. She also declared that the two-year “Principles of Technology” sequence could substitute for Physics 1 and therefore satisfy the “chemistry or physics” requirement.
By allowing Integrated Science to satisfy the new graduation requirements in science, Chancellor Haithcock may allow lower tier students to get a more comprehensive education in the new state standards in the physical sciences. While most lower tier students were likely to satisfy the new “chemistry or physics” requirement by taking chemistry and skipping physics, the Integrated Science sequence exposes all students to a comprehensive treatment of the new physical science standards in both chemistry and physics.
At present, the Integrated Science sequence is not widely offered in Florida’s high schools. Only a few districts, most notably Brevard, enroll a large segment of their high school populations in the sequence. According to statistics recently released by the FDOE, Brevard enrolls 38% of its students in Integrated Science. Several smaller counties, including Baker, Gilchrist and Hardee, enroll more than half of their high school students in Integrated Science.
However, the looming shortage of chemistry teachers may make the large scale adoption of the Integrated Science sequence attractive to many more school districts. The one hazard of the Integrated Science sequence for quality science instruction is that districts can use it to sweep the lack of teachers qualified in chemistry and physics under the rug.
Districts that decline to adopt Integrated Science for large enrollments may instead choose to use “Principles of Technology” to relieve the pressure of shortages of qualified teachers in chemistry and physics. Districts that steer large numbers of students through the two-year “Principles” sequence will not have to hire additional chemistry teachers.
The Chancellor also released a list of courses that would satisfy the new law’s requirement for an “equally rigorous” third science course for graduation. The Chancellor’s list is significantly more permissive than a list recommended last summer by a group of 90 science faculty at Florida’s colleges and universities. Among the courses in the Chancellor’s list that do not appear in the science faculty list are “Anatomy and Physiology”, “Genetics”, “Marine Science”, “Physical Science” and “Nuclear Radiation”. The faculty wrote their list in consultation with several of the state’s leading district science supervisors.
While the Chancellor’s list of courses that can count toward the graduation requirement in science includes several courses in Earth/space science, there is still no requirement that every graduate have exposure to this area. Earth/space science is not covered in the Integrated Science sequence until the fourth year, after the three years now allowed for satisfaction of the graduation requirements.
Tags: Florida Department of Education, High School Graduation Standards
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