Note: Here in the Kitsap newsroom, we each get to wear multiple
hats. I’ll now be doing occasional general education stories, as
well as covering South Kitsap School district as part of the SK
beat (Kitsap Caucus blog host Steve Gardner is now covering the
county).
We don’t have a separate education blog, so for now, I’ll post
education related items on the SK beat blog with the tag EDU.
Recent blog entries show up temporarily on the Kitsap Sun home
page, as well as permanently on each blog’s home page. If you’re
particularly interested in education (or if you just want to keep
track of recent entries) you can subscribe to be on the blog
notification list. To do so, enter your e-mail in the window at the
right of the page. Any problems, call me (360) 792-9219.
OK here’s the post:
A
story in today’s Kitsap Sun describes the Washington Aerospace
Scholars program, a public-private-business partnership aimed at
drawing highly capable science and math students into the aerospace
field. Six Kitsap and North Mason students were selected for the
program, with a chance to get a summer internship at the Museum of
Flight in Seattle.
These kids are the proverbial cream of the crop. As Jim Daniel,
the chemistry teacher of one aerospace student, puts it, “If I had
a classroom of Rebeccas we’d be in good shape.”
But what about the mainstream students, whose cumulative scores
on the Washington Assessment of Student learning have fallen short
of the target standard?
The 2007 state Legislature passed a bill to beef up math and
science curricula, in part by providing funding to better train
teachers in those areas, even as they delayed having results of the
math and science WASL count toward graduation until 2013.
Daniel was not happy with that move. “The problem is, as long as
we continue to take the (science) WASL and it doesn’t count,
they’re going to continue to do poorly because there’s no
motivation.”
Another problem with the science WASL, as it now stands, said
Ron Ness, a chemistry teacher at South Kitsap High School, is that
students are tested in their sophomore year, before they’ve really
had a chance to learn the upper level concepts included on the
test. No wonder many students do poorly said Ness. He thinks
schools should provide more science instruction in lower
grades.
Daniel, who teaches at Olympic High School in Central Kitsap,
said he would like to see three years of science required at the
high school level. Speaking of the notorious gap in science
achievement between American students and their foreign
counterparts, Daniel said it is an “apples to oranges” comparison,
because in England, for example, students specialize in their area
of study at the high school level. The students who take primarily
math and science are those who have shown an aptitude for it, while
the U.S. model seeks well-rounded students.
“I would say I have to come down on the side of the U.S. model,”
said Daniel, “There’s a lot of negative PR about the U.S.
system.”
The trick, of course, is finding the time and money to make
students well-rounded yet proficient.
I talked to Dan Whitford, South Kitsap’s director of
instructional services, about the constraints districts face in
this regard. Based on Ness and Daniel’s observations, it would seem
one way to address the issue of poor achievement in science is to
add more science instruction time. I asked if there’s been much
discussion about extending the school day or the school year.
“Discussion goes on constantly,” Whitford said. The problem is
that the state already doesn’t fully fund basic education.
Districts rely on levy funding to fill the gap between what the
state allows and what it actually costs, he said. The Legislature
is working on solutions, but there’s no quick fix, because of the
many competing and compelling needs, including the environment,
transportation, health and social services to name a few, Whitford
said.
School districts in the state and around the country have sued
their respective legislatures over the issue of basic education
funding.
Washington’s Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance, on
which Bremerton School District Superintendent Bette Hyde serves,
met throughout 2007 and will continue to meet through 2008 to look
at the current definition of “basic education,” to redefine it and
propose options that will lead to adequate financing. They next
meet March 24-25.
In the meantime, South Kitsap is overhauling its science
curriculum, with some help from state funding aimed at improving
WASL scores.
Teachers at the elementary level are receiving training to help
them be more effective, said Whitford. Science in South Kitsap’s
grades K-6 is woven into the daily curriculum, Whitford admitted
science has sometimes taken a back seat to reading, writing and
math.
“Our teaches are well aware of the issue,” he said. “But the
problem is getting everything covered every day. Once you take
reading, writing and math, it leaves about an hour a day for social
studies, health and science.”
To get more bang for the buck, so to speak, the district is
encouraging teachers to integrate science into other curricula, for
example by having students keep science notebooks.
Currently in South Kitsap’s junior highs, students in 7th grade
get one semester of science; 8th graders get a full year, and 9th
graders get one semester. Next year, 9th graders will get a full
year of science.
At the high school level, 10th graders currently get a full year
of science. To graduate, students must have at least two credits of
science, with one being a lab science.
The state Board of Education is reviewing all credit
requirements, so that may change, Whitford said. The board has said
a third credit in math, rather than the current 2, will be required
by 2013. The board could make the same decision about science,
Whitford said.
