Last spring, 84,000 public middle school students in Florida passed the state’s Algebra 1 end of course exam. It was the largest number of such students since the Florida Department of Education began reporting grade-level results on the exam in 2012.
All of these students are now on track to take a calculus course in high school, making them prime candidates for careers in engineering, computer science and the physical sciences – the most lucrative bachelor’s degree-level careers, according to the Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University.
Unfortunately, there are caution lights flashing in the distance ahead of these students. To qualify to teach an upper level math class – Algebra 2, Precalculus and Calculus – in a public high school in Florida an individual must have the state’s “Math 6-12” teaching certification. And the number of individuals taking the examination for that certification for the first time plummeted 42% from 2013 to 2018. These students might not have any high school math teachers to teach the calculus courses for which they will qualify.
Furthermore, the numbers of first-time certification exam takers in chemistry and physics (the two science subjects most necessary to prepare for college majors in engineering, computer science and the physical sciences) have plummeted as well, threatening the availability of those subjects. Already in Fall 2018, 36 Florida public high schools with more than 1,000 students didn’t teach physics.
This is not an elite few students we are talking about. In Florida, there are generally 220,000 students in each middle school grade. So the 84,000 middle school students who passed the Algebra 1 EOC exam last spring tell us that close to 40% of Florida’s public school students succeed in Algebra 1 in middle school and should be considered as prime candidates for engineering, computer science and physical scientists. These students could provide our state with a tidal wave of new professionals in high-demand fields only eight years from now. Such a tidal wave could make Florida a high-tech mecca.
But this tidal wave and economic transformation will not happen if we don’t provide these students with many more great math and science teachers than our state already has. And we need to recruit those great teachers in the next eight months. We can’t afford to wait another year to try something bold.
Bridge to Tomorrow 