There is a right that should be added to Florida’s now famous Parents’ Bill of Rights. It is a right that Florida’s parents are badly in need of, but which most haven’t thought about – the right to understand how the academic decisions they and their children make in middle and high school affect their children’s career and economic prospects.
For example, if a high school student (and parent) considering a career in engineering decides to take a class called “Engineering” or another called “Forensic Science” instead of taking a physics class, then the parent has the right to know that the student is less likely to succeed as a college student majoring in engineering.
Does this really happen? Do students considering engineering careers really skip high school physics? Yup. About one-third of the engineering majors I have in my calculus-based introductory physics classes at Florida State University didn’t take high school physics. Those students earn (on the average) one full letter grade lower than students who did take high school physics. Some of these students fail my physics class – which is required for engineering majors – and leave STEM altogether.
If a high school student considering a career in computer science decides not to take precalculus or calculus in high school because she or he would prefer to substitute a programming course (as Florida state law encourages them to do), then that student arrives on campus behind in math. The requirements for a B.S. in Computer Science at my university include Calculus 1 and 2, a probability course and two semesters of discrete mathematics.
Do parents know this stuff? Most do not. And few parents are being told about it.
My experience has been that most parents who I talk with about the courses their students should take in high school (and I’ve talked with hundreds of parents about this) are grateful for that information.
And while many school leaders are eager to deliver that message to their students’ parents, there are others who insist that parents aren’t interested. “Parents don’t ask about physics and calculus, so we don’t worry about it,” some of these educational leaders say. Of course, they have the issue completely backward – parents don’t ask because they don’t know. Educational leaders have a responsibility to tell parents about what their students need to do to prepare for college STEM majors, and parents have the right to be told.
Just to clarify a few things: I have nothing against a high school student enrolling in an engineering or programming course. Those are wonderful things to study. But an engineering course should not be taken instead of a physics course – engineering should be taken in addition to physics. Likewise, programming should not be taken instead of a precalculus or calculus course, no matter what Florida’s legislators think. Programming should be taken in addition to precalculus and calculus.
So while the Florida Legislature is discussing how to beef up the Parents’ Bill of Rights at next week’s special session, some member with an interest in preparing the state’s children to succeed at the highest level should propose a floor amendment that would add “The right to understand how academic decisions made in middle and high school affect the child’s future in college and career” to the Bill. And then the Legislature should approve it and Governor DeSantis should sign it.
Of course, I will not be holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
Bridge to Tomorrow 