Monthly Archives: December 2015

Information from 28 state departments of education and the corresponding agency in the District of Columbia reveals how poorly Florida is doing in getting its public high school students enrolled in physics classes. The survey – conducted last summer and … Continue reading →

When it was revealed last summer that the grading scale for the new AP Physics 1 exam would result in a pass rate of only 37% and only 4.1% of exams earning a grade of 5, Florida teachers I spoke … Continue reading →

26%:  The percentage of Florida 8th graders proficient in math, according to the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress.  That percentage is far lower than the 31% that was measured in 2013.  The 2015 national rate is 33%.  So far, no … Continue reading →

All I could say when I read the editorial was “wow”.

Orlando’s Jones High School, which was once segregated but which recently moved into a new building, has not offered physics in some time and has been the only Orange County high school not to do so.  The irony of this … Continue reading →

Physics is the gateway high school science course for lucrative college majors in engineering and science.  How well Florida’s school districts provide opportunities for their high school students to take physics and how well they succeed in selling these opportunities … Continue reading →

Only a few years ago, there were no physics classes and no physics students at Godby High School.  This was both sad and predictable:  Godby was one of Tallahassee’s two lowest income high schools, and the other (Rickards) had an … Continue reading →

During the oral arguments for Fisher v. University of Texas last week, Chief Justice Roberts questioned the utility of having black students in college physics classes:  “What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?”  Do the white students … Continue reading →

The Democrat published a letter in yesterday’s edition that was a response to my op-ed published Saturday (“Florida is ignoring a crisis in middle school math“): Recently Professor Paul Cottle wrote about the disastrous decline in middle school math achievement in Florida. … Continue reading →

According to the New York Times, US Supreme Court Chief Justice asked a stunningly ignorant question during yesterday’s oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, which was being argued in front of the court for the second time.  Roberts asked, “What … Continue reading →