The Office of the K-12 Chancellor released “Florida’s K-12 Science Education Plan” last week. Here I suggest a better plan for science education in Florida.
A Better K-12 Science Education Plan for Florida
The State of Florida commits itself to making science a high priority for the state’s K-12 system, on an equal par with language arts and mathematics.
There are two overarching goals for the state’s K-12 educational system in the area of science education:
1) Make sure every graduate of Florida’s high schools is proficient in the state’s science standards in all fields – life, physical and Earth/space science; and,
2) Make sure that every university-bound high school graduate is well-prepared for undergraduate programs in science and engineering.
To reach Goal 1, Florida’s high school graduation requirements will be altered to require that each student takes courses in life sciences, Earth/space sciences and physical sciences that address the state’s science standards for their respective bodies of knowledge. The state’s progress toward achieving Goal 1 will be measured by having every high school senior take the ACT examination in the fall semester. Florida will be able to say that it is making substantial progress toward achieving Goal 1 when its average score on the ACT science section is 22.0 (which would have placed the state 13th in 2010).
To ensure that Florida reaches Goal 2, the State University System will implement new admissions requirements requiring every student to successfully complete the high school courses Precalculus, Biology 1, Chemistry 1 and Physics 1. In addition, end-of-course examinations will be implemented for all four of these courses immediately. The Precalculus test will be that administered by the College Level Examination Placement program of the College Board.
Working toward scientific literacy
To drive Florida toward universal scientific literacy, as expressed in Goal 1, the state’s K-12 system must make sure that every student – from the elementary level to high school – is instructed by a teacher who is highly qualified in science. To accomplish this,
- Every elementary school must have a highly qualified science specialist
- Every middle school must have at least one teacher certified in life science, chemistry, Earth/space science and physics
- Every high school must have at least one certified teacher in each science field (biology, chemistry, Earth/space science and physics) for every 800 students
In those cases in which the supply of properly qualified teachers makes it difficult to recruit, the school district should implement a salary supplement plan of $5,000-$10,000 per year to attract the necessary personnel.
The state should budget $5,000 per science teacher per year to provide rigorous research-based professional development experiences for every science teacher.
Preparation of university-bound students for science and engineering careers
In addition to the basic math and science preparation included in Precalculus, Biology 1, Chemistry 1 and Physics 1, Florida’s high schools should provide further high quality opportunities to learn science and mathematics through the Advanced Placement program and other similar programs where college credit is available. In order to maintain a high quality learning environment where instruction can be inquiry-driven, class size caps of 25 students should be restored for Precalculus, AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics classes, as well as corresponding field-specific courses in other programs where college credit is available.
Bridge to Tomorrow 
You know that there aren’t enough STEM-ready students among those who qualify to attend FSU, but I think you fall into a “cargo cult” trap when you focus on AP classes. Too much selection has already taken place. You need to look at the students who are interested in STEM areas like engineering but can’t get into FSU or do get into FSU but are unprepared for even AP classes, let alone the rigors of a STEM major.
Those students share one characteristic: they are not fluent in algebra. Meeting HS-level Sunshine State standards in science will not solve this problem. I’m not even confident that end-of-course exams will solve it if you only have to pass Algebra I by the time you are a senior, particularly if the K-8 system remains unchanged.
I wish I could define “fluency” well enough that someone could standardize a test for it, but I trust you know what I mean even if you don’t see many examples of students who can’t follow (let alone reproduce) algebra if you skip any steps or even merely fail to explain a step. And these are the students who have survived an attrition rate that looks roughly like 0.5*0.5*0.5*0.5*0.5 (at best) to get through the first semester of calculus.
Math is the problem. Everything else is just a symptom.
Focus only on “university bound” and you miss the 200,000 students in just the Broward and Dade county community colleges, not to mention the 1/3 of HS grads who don’t go to any college or the similar number that don’t even graduate HS.
My previous remarks are based on the fact that changing the tiny percentages at that level would have a huge impact at the university level.
It’s possible the most expensive part of any (not just Paul’s) successful plan will be overhauling the lousy PD we have in Florida and replacing it with useful conversations. Every teacher in the state – not merely science – should take the diagnostic test designed by George DeBoer to suss out misperceptions so we have an idea where to begin.