One of the most important challenges facing Florida’s educational system (as well as the nation’s) is to provide students who are not well-suited for a four-year college a way to achieve middle-class lives.
That is – or should be – the mission of our state’s career and technical education (CTE) program.
Insofar as this is the intent of our state’s educational and political leaders in expanding support to CTE programs, I wish them well.
Equally important is to provide students from all backgrounds the opportunity to take on the challenge of earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering and the physical, computing and mathematical sciences. We have to work harder at providing that opportunity to students from low income backgrounds than we do for the children of (say) university physics professors. And we should provide that extra support for those students from disadvantaged backgrounds. That’s why I’m such a fan of the Orange County Public Schools Calculus Project, which provides extra support to low income students (and their families) who are willing to work hard to pass Algebra 1 while still in middle school, which then leads to taking a calculus course in high school. Taking calculus in high school gives those students a head start if they choose college majors in math-intensive majors like engineering.
Taking chemistry, physics, precalculus and calculus, which are recommended by college faculty and professional organizations in math-intensive STEM fields like engineering, is career-focused education just like CTE is. And that makes it just as worthy of support.
However, at the same time that support for CTE in Florida is being ramped up, preparation for college STEM majors is declining. The number of students taking physics in Florida’s public high schools has declined by 20%. Yes, there are school districts in which physics-taking has increased (notably Hillsborough and Orange Counties) and districts in which physics course-taking has been consistently high for years (Seminole and Brevard Counties). But on the whole, the rates at which Florida students take the chemistry, physics and calculus courses necessary to properly prepare for college STEM majors have been poor for years and are getting worse.
What can be done?
First of all, we must agree that the purpose of education is to give every student the opportunity to fulfill their potential. For some students, that is making a great living as a plumber. For others, doing web design at the associate degree level. For yet others, earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering and becoming a valuable member of a team designing bridges or airplanes or biofuel production plants. And we’d better hope there are some who have the innate ability to earn the Ph.D.’s in materials science necessary to staff our nation’s new production plants for advanced computer chips. Right now we mostly have to import these scientists from places like China.
Second, we have to stop treating preparation for college STEM majors as if it’s just a less important piece of our K-12 schools’ core academic programs. The purpose of these core academic programs, as understood in Florida, is to make sure that every student has basic skills in math and English language arts. I know that because that is what the state tests. The primary metric on which high school principals are evaluated is graduation rate. How many students are taking calculus or physics isn’t on the evaluation form.
We really should start saying that CTE and preparation for college STEM majors are two sides of the same coin. The Florida Department of Education has a Senior Chancellor who handles CTE. He should add preparation for college STEM majors to his portfolio. CTE initiatives should be coupled to initiatives to improve student readiness for bachelor’s degree-level STEM majors.
What would such an initiative look like? One of the big obstacles to improving preparation of Florida’s high school students for college STEM majors is the lack of strong teachers in chemistry, physics, precalculus and calculus. One way to attack that problem is implementing the OnRamps model that the University of Texas has pioneered. In that model, a university professor leads a large-scale online course in a subject like physics. But the students aren’t just listening to a university professor talk. Instead, the OnRamps program trains teachers who are already on the staffs of participating schools to act as sort of teaching assistants and to interact with students in person. These courses earn dual enrollment credits for the students, which parents really like.
Another obstacle to improving college STEM readiness is the fact that most parents don’t understand how important chemistry, physics, precalculus and calculus are for preparing their students for bachelor’s degree programs in engineering and other science and technology fields. A study conducted in Wisconsin demonstrated the value of reaching out to parents on a large scale. We could do that here in Florida, too.
But it all starts with making a commitment to helping each student reach their potential. It’s time to refocus Florida’s educational system on that.
Bridge to Tomorrow 