{"id":1130,"date":"2009-10-22T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-22T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=1130"},"modified":"2009-10-22T11:17:51","modified_gmt":"2009-10-22T15:17:51","slug":"senate-report-on-stem-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1130","title":{"rendered":"Senate report on STEM education"},"content":{"rendered":"

An interim report was completed by the Florida Senate Committee on Education Pre-K \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 12 <\/a>\u00c2\u00a0(pdf document)recently. Its purpose is to examine math and science education in our state. As reflected in the report, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is a major concern. Our own state exams (FCATs) and comparisons with other states and countries point to the fact that there are serious deficiencies in this area. The report correctly explains how STEM skills are incredibly valuable to the state; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s were the jobs are. If decision-makers want to prepare Florida for any type of solid economic future, there has to be an emphasis on preparing tomorrow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workforce for those jobs. Being able to read and write are, of course, high priority, but STEM skills are just as vital. And beside the report\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s emphasis on money and jobs, STEM skills are also increasingly needed by each and every individual student working their way through school and into adulthood. The world is obviously full of technology and the science behind it. Students need to know how to make the most of it all.<\/p>\n

The report outlines how Florida is way behind when it comes to math, and especially science. For example, the report provides the cold numbers from the most recent science FCATs: 56% of 3rd graders are below grade level in science understanding, 60% of 8th graders are below grade level in science understanding, and 63% of 10th graders are below grade level in science understanding. What the report doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mention is that these figures are pretty much the same as the previous year; there was no real improvement. Those figures are certainly ugly, but are they accurate? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll discuss that a little later.<\/p>\n

So, the report tries to briefly explain how important STEM skills are, and goes on to show how bad things are in Florida. So, what do we do? It seems to me that the education committee didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do much homework. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see any proposed solutions here.<\/p>\n

An entire page of this report is devoted to efforts to produce better teachers. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but wonder if this is a backhanded slap at current teachers. Teachers are taking a lion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s share of the blame for low student achievement and failing school grades, and it looks like this report is going along with that trend. No, the report doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come right out and say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the teachers are the reason our kids are failing science,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but the report also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offer any justification for why there is so much focus on Florida teacher quality in the report. The report cites two Internet resources that are general in nature and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offer any statistical information specific to Florida. The Senate report writers seem to have just latched onto these sources as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153great ideas\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother to go the extra step of connecting the sources\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 information to what is going on in Florida. If they did take that step, they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t include it in the report. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get me wrong. Teacher quality is an important element of an improved STEM program, and anything done to bolster that quality is a good thing. But this report is holding up teacher improvement as a major slice of their solution to Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s STEM woes without first proving that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even a problem. The attention is welcome, but the emphasis as it is presented in this Senate report falls flat without much more concrete Florida-specific information.<\/p>\n

As an aside, I noticed that the cited sources suggested better pay for teachers, especially since the recommendations for more rigorous preparation puts an extra burden on aspiring teachers, and yet this Senate report neglects any mention of compensating teachers for their extra effort and time. Additionally, what will Florida do to make teaching STEM subjects here attractive to highly-qualified teachers? Keep in mind that an oft-used anecdote is that college graduates with all of their new science training are likely to go into other science-related fields other than teaching because the pay is higher and the stress is lower. This is not addressed anywhere in the Senate report.<\/p>\n

The Senate report does focus quite a bit of attention on general literacy, which is good. As the report points out, science and math have a unique vocabulary. Struggling with that vocabulary will definitely result in struggling in STEM subjects overall. There is also discussion of making science and math education relevant to students, connecting that education to real-world applications. The report states that students disengage when the subject matter has no meaning to them. Then there is mention of Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new FCR-STEM, which is a statewide research project headquartered at Florida State University. FCR-STEM is an effort to coordinate communities, businesses and the education system and use that network to improve STEM education. And the report also praises our new state science and math standards. Yea us!<\/p>\n

Finally, there is an options\/recommendations section of the Senate report that leaves me feeling empty. Essentially, instruction should be more relevant to students, instruction needs to be more rigorous, teacher training needs to be better, reading skills need to be emphasized, and make sure STEM-related funding is being spent wisely.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that this report is not meant to be comprehensive or detailed. The recommendations are vague, which probably means that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up to individual lawmakers to come up with the specifics. A bill of this nature has already been filed in advance of the next legislative session: HB 61<\/a>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meant to strengthen graduation requirement in math and science among other things. However, Paul Cottle at his Bridge to Tomorrow blog argues that the proposal doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go anywhere near far enough<\/a>. I love how the Senate report writers went nuts including tons of footnotes. It made me think of a student trying to impress a teacher by dazzling the teacher with tons of links and references. But a closer look at all those report footnotes turns up either just an unnecessary listing of existing Florida programs, or general national reports and papers that have little specific to Florida. Where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the real research homework, folks?<\/p>\n

I think that the Senate report utterly missed out on at least one element that would possibly help properly assess Florida science education: kill the high school science FCAT. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve explained on this blog several times just how irrelevant that test is. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t affect students at all, so they have little incentive to take it or treat it seriously. The test covers multiple science subjects that students may have long forgotten, forcing teachers to stop their own instruction to spend time reviewing other science subjects in preparation for the FCAT. Does the dismal pass rate of the science FCATs, especially the high school one, accurately reflect students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 actual science knowledge? Not likely. End of course exams are the sensible way to go in order to provide a real sense of what students know in the upper grades. Only when we have a reliable information foundation can any meaningful reform take place. (The Senate report briefly mentions end of course exams, but only in one sentence at the end of the document. It’s not supported by any discussion anywhere else in the report.)<\/p>\n

Bottom line: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not impressed with the Senate report. Where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the beef?<\/p>\n

(Paul Cottle isn’t impressed with the Senate report either<\/a>. “Their conclusion:\u00c2\u00a0 Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything for now \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too hard.”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interim report was completed by the Florida Senate Committee on Education Pre-K \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 12 \u00c2\u00a0(pdf document)recently. Its purpose is to examine math and science education in our state. As reflected in the report, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-ie","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1682,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1682","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":0},"title":"Sigh, more crappy news about Florida science ed","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There has been a recent release of a state-by-state analysis of the \"K-12 STEM learning enterprise.\" It's the STEM Vital Signs report in which several questions are answered about each state. Sample questions are \"can the state meet the demand for STEM skills,\" \"are students exposed to challenging and engaging\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1682#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1134,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1134","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":1},"title":"No basic skills to be found in Florida?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Rather than wait to dump this in one of my this-n-that posts, I thought this was important enough to mention on its own. The Consortium of Florida Education Foundations did a survey and are now holding meetings around the state to find out what the problems are in Florida education.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1079,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1079","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":2},"title":"More This & That","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"-- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (the \"mag lab\") folks in Tallahassee offer lunchtime tours of their facilites. So far, the tour program is getting a good response. More info on the tours found here. -- A University of Florida graduate hasn't packed her bags for the red planet yet,\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1079#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2016,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2016","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":3},"title":"What’s being done?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a disconnect somewhere. As I've monitored the ups and downs of science education over the past several years, I've seen quite a few programs meant to capture students' interest in pursuing science as a career. Here's a recent example: Girls Who Code Launches In Miami, Tries To Close STEM\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1720,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1720","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":4},"title":"Short 10.28.12 This & That","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"October 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"-- Florida has STEM jobs, but not grads to fill them: \"Despite the [large number of job] openings and [Gov.] Scott's commitment to bring similar so-called STEM jobs to the state, Florida universities aren't coming close to graduating enough students to fill them.\" Also, Bridge to Tomorrow notes that Gov.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":700,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=700","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":5},"title":"Science on the national political stage","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"August 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Just some brief notes about science in the presidential campaign here. Barack Obama responded to 14 science-related questions posed by ScienceDebate 2008. Question 4 is about science education. Here is his response: 4. Education.\u00c2\u00a0 A comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election season '08"","block_context":{"text":"Election season '08","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}