Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/42291
SCIENCE SCORES DON'T COUNT FOR MUCH ON API A complex formula is used to determine how much science test scores are weighted in a school's API ranking, and it depends on how many students take the test and what courses they have taken. Scores on science tests are weighted more in the API ranking as grade levels increase. Here is a sampling of fairly typical weights: THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE? ยป America has always prided itself on being No. 1 in science, but it is slipping. In the 2007 TIMSS (Trends in Interna- tional Mathematics and Science Study) test, students from Singapore took first or second place in all science catego- ries, and the U.S. ranked 11th. President Obama has com- plained about the U.S. lagging in science education, and has said that improving science education is a top priority. A report from the National Research Council recommends science learning be tested as frequently and taught as vigor- ously as math to ensure a high status in U.S. classrooms. Teresa Casallas worries that K-12 science instruction is 5.7% 7.2% 15% Brisbane Elementary School District West Fresno Middle School no longer offering a bridge to university-level classes, and that students from low-income backgrounds won't see sci- ence as a career pathway and will instead view science as "something for old white guys in lab coats." Career oppor- tunities abound in the fields of medicine, technology and science, and qualified people are being recruited for jobs from other countries such as India, she says. "Science is expensive to teach, but creates the wealth of Chula Vista Senior High School percentage of API based on science scores our society and is worth the investment," notes the CSEI policy brief. "Science is increasingly the standard by which we will be measured as a society. Between climate change and global competition, California can only hope to remain a leader if we are successful in creating a population of scientifically literate and upwardly mobile people. We must innovate, invent and create our way into future prosperity. These are the processes carried out by scientists and engi- neers who are, only sometimes, being nurtured in K-12 science classrooms today." ABOVE: A goldfish poses for Audrey Lee and Chinatsu Iijima in Bakersfield. September 2011 / www.cta.org 19