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OCR for page 3
2
science and science education in the United states
major Points in chapter 2
Research and development (R&D) have become more internationally distributed even as R&D in the United States has grown
substantially in scale and scope.
Despite recent increases in some measures of scientific and mathematical proficiency, U.S. students on average still lag
behind their international counterparts in some areas, and major gaps persist between groups in the U.S. population.
Opportunities to participate in practice teaching and professional development are unevenly distributed and insufficient to
transform the knowledge and skills of teachers as a whole.
Parents recognize the need for improved science and mathematics education but tend to be satisfied with the amount of
science and mathematics their own children study in school.
Students and parents in other countries tend to associate success in science and mathematics not with innate talent but with
the effort invested in those subjects.
The National Science Board has identified better coordination and more effective teaching as the greatest needs of the U.S.
educational system.
The r&d eNTerPrise
Every two years the National Science Foundation releases
a n ew edition of its S cience and Engineering Indica-
Based on 2002 data, the amount spent on research and
tors. Kathryn Sullivan, director of the Battelle Center for
development (R&D) by European nations as a whole and by
Mathematics and Science Education Policy at Ohio State
Asian nations as a whole nearly matched the amount spent in
University, led off the workshop by presenting some of the
North America, which represents a significant expansion of
data from the 2008 Indicators that are especially pertinent to
R&D expenditures in Europe and Asia. “The R&D enterprise
science and science education in the United States.1
is becoming more of a shared enterprise,” said Sullivan, with
“greater competency, greater depth, and greater expenditures
in more regions now than ever before in history.” However,
1National Science Board. 2008. Science and Engineering Indicators
008. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation.
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STRENGTHENING HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
there have been some notable exceptions to the general 80
increase in R&D expenditures outside the United States. Defense
Nondefense
70
Japanese expenditures, for example, which increased dra- Health
Space
matically in earlier years, stagnated in the early 2000s. Energy
60
General science
Constant 2000 dollars (billions)
In 1980, approximately 31 percent of the people in the 50
world with education beyond high school lived in the United
States. By 2000, that number was down to 27 percent. During 40
that period, China’s share of the total increased from 5.4 to 30
10.8 percent, while Japan’s share dropped from 9.9 percent
20
to 6.4 percent. The United States still has a greater absolute
number of people with college education than any other 10
country, but Asian countries as a whole are rapidly increase 0
their percentage of the total. 1980 1984 1988 1 992 1996 2 000 2004 2008
Similarly, universities in the United States still award
more doctoral degrees in the natural sciences and engineer- FIGURE 2.2 Federal R&D in billions of constant 2000 dollars has
fluctuated since 1980, with a sharp increase in the first years of the
ing than those in any other country—a total of more than New 2-2
new century. SOURCE: National Science Board. 2008. Science
20,000 in 2005 (Figure 2.1). However, the number awarded
and Engineering Indicators 008. Two volumes. Arlington, VA:
in China has grown very rapidly since the early 1990s, while
National Science Foundation (volume 1, NSB 08-01; volume 2,
the number of Ph.D.s awarded in other countries has been
NSB 08-01A).
stable or slowly rising.
Federal R&D expenditures have risen substantially in the
United States since 1980, driven partly by a major increase
in spending on health-related R&D (Figure 2.2). Defense
R&D, which is predominantly development funding, also has science and technology runs counter to what she sometimes
risen dramatically over that period, with an especially sharp hears from students, Sullivan said. Students “seem to have
increase since the terrorist attacks of 2001. a sense that these are not good-earning jobs—and perhaps
The growth of employment in science and engineer- they’re not, compared to financial services or top-tier jobs on
ing fields has outpaced job growth in other sectors of the Wall Street. But against the broad backdrop of the U.S. labor
economy for decades (Figure 2.3). Furthermore, the earning pool, [there are] sustained job growth and better financial
power of workers with science and engineering degrees, prospects for graduates with science and engineering degrees
regardless of the area in which they work, is higher than for than for those who lack [them]. The data are quite clear and
their peers in other areas. The earning potential of jobs in strongly sustained over many decades in that regard.”
25 6
U.S. All S&T Employees
Germany
S&E
UK
5
Japan
20 Life Scientists
South Korea
Physical Scientists
China
4 Engineers
Employees (millions)
Mathematics/Information
15
T hous a nds
Technologists
3 Technicians
10
2
1
5
0
0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
1985 1987 1989 1 991 1993 1 99 5 1997 1 999 2001 20 03 2005
FIGURE 2.1 The United States and China now account for the
largest number of doctoral degrees 2-1
New awarded in the natural sciences F IGURE 2.3 Science and technology employment has risen
New 2-3
and engineering. SOURCE: National Science Board. 2008. Sci- dramatically in the past half century. SOURCE: National Science
ence and Engineering Indicators 008. Two volumes. Arlington, Board. 2008. Science and Engineering Indicators 008. Two vol-
VA: National Science Foundation (volume 1, NSB 08-01; volume umes. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation (volume 1, NSB
2, NSB 08-01A). 08-01; volume 2, NSB 08-01A).
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SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
People with science and engineering degrees work in 60
every major sector of the economy: management, finance, 1990 2000 2005
information, government, education, manufacturing, and 50
various technical services. Even among employees with
doctoral degrees, only 44 percent work in college and uni- 40
versity settings, while 33 work in the for-profit sector. Also,
Percent
30
the number of jobs in all sectors of the economy that require
the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in science or engineer- 20
ing is growing. People with science and engineering degrees
are not confined to laboratories or professional service firms, 10
Sullivan said. “There’s good employment throughout the
economy.” 0
Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12
Mathematics
K-12 edUcaTioN 60
1990 2000 2005
Among the new data available in the 2008 Indicators are 50
longitudinal data on the concepts and skills that students
master as they move through the early grades. For example, 40
more than 90 percent of fifth graders are proficient in mul-
Percent
30
tiplication and division, but only about 40 percent are profi-
cient in rates and measurements, while the proficiency level 20
for fractions in the fifth grade is barely above 10 percent.
Among twelfth graders, 96 percent are proficient in simple 10
arithmetic operation on whole numbers, but only 79 percent
are proficient in simple operations with decimals, fractions, 0
powers, and roots, and only 4 percent are proficient in solving Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12
Science
complex multistep word problems.
The overall proficiency level in mathematics has been
FIGURE 2.4 Proficiency in mathematics has risen for fourth and
New 2-4
climbing in the fourth and eighth grades since 1990, but it has
eighth graders since 1990 but has remained largely stable in science.
been stable at those grades in science, and twelfth-grade pro- SOURCE: National Science Board. 2008. Science and Engineering
ficiency in science has fallen somewhat since 1996 (Figure Indicators 008. Two volumes. Arlington, VA: National Science
2.4). “We’re not making the progress that we claim to and Foundation (volume 1, NSB 08-01; volume 2, NSB 08-01A).
are working to make when it comes to science proficiency,”
said Sullivan.
Boys and girls start kindergarten at about the same level
As in mathematics, new tests in science measure different
overall in mathematics performance. By the end of fifth
aspects of proficiency, such as making inferences, under-
grade, average boys’ gains are greater than girls’ by a small
standing relationships, interpreting scientific data, forming
margin. With respect to race and ethnicity, average perfor-
hypotheses, developing plans, and investigating specific sci-
mance gaps already exist in kindergarten and widen across
entific questions. Again, boys show slightly higher average
the full span of grades. By fifth grade, the average score for
scores in third grade and maintain a small difference through
a black student is equivalent to the average score for a white
fifth grade. By third grade, white and Asian-American stu-
third-grader. Students with mothers who have higher levels
dents are higher in average score than African Americans
of education start kindergarten with higher scores than stu-
and Hispanics, and by fifth grade, none of these gaps have
dents whose mothers have less education, and these gaps also
narrowed.
increase through fifth grade. The same observation is seen
The numbers of high school students who have taken
for families with incomes below the poverty line compared
specific courses in most of the sciences and engineering have
to families above the poverty line.
grown since 1990 (Figure 2.5). For example, the number
One interesting finding is that these gaps correlate strongly
taking chemistry rose from 44 percent in 1990 to 55 per-
with loss of learning during the summer. Lower- and upper-
cent in 2000 before falling off slightly in 2005. Similarly,
income students make similar gains during the school year,
the number taking advanced biology (where “advanced” is
but lower-income students experience sharper declines in
defined as courses that not all students are required to take)
performance over the summer while upper-income students
rose from 26 percent in 1990 to 39 percent in 2005. This is
do not fall back as sharply.
an important trend, said Sullivan, because taking advanced
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STRENGTHENING HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
70
1975 1985 1995 2005
100
92
White, non-Hispanic 90
60 88 87 88
90 85 86
84 85 85
Black, non-Hispanic
81
Hispanic
80
Asian/Pacific Islander
50 70 70
67
70
63
62
60
40
Percent
Percent
50
30
40
30
20
20
10
10
0
All races/ethnicities White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic
0
Advanced Any chemistry Any physics Environmental Engineering Engineering or
biology science science
FIGURE 2.6 The high school completion rates of minorities have
technologies
increased substantially since 1975. These rates measure the per-
New 2.5 centage of 18- to 24-year-olds who are 6 enrolled in high school
New 2.not
FIGURE 2.5 The percentages of high school graduates who have
and hold a high school diploma or equivalent credential such as a
taken advanced science and engineering courses have increased
general equivalency diploma certificate. SOURCE: National Sci-
since 1990. SOURCE: National Science Board. 2008. Science
ence Board. 2008. Science and Engineering Indicators 008. Two
and Engineering Indicators 008. Two volumes. Arlington, VA:
volumes. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation (volume 1,
National Science Foundation (volume 1, NSB 08-01; volume 2,
NSB 08-01; volume 2, NSB 08-01A).
NSB 08-01A).
Teachers
courses is correlated with higher rates of college enrollment,
higher rates of success in first-year college courses such as
The 2008 Indicators has several new types of information
college algebra, and a greater likelihood of further workforce
about the preparation and quality of teachers, including infor-
training. Completing advanced mathematics classes in high
mation on pre-service education, practice teaching, degree
school also is directly associated with women’s majoring
attainment, and certification status.
in mathematics and science in college at higher rates. “An
Mathematics and science teachers with fewer than five
important leverage point if we want to move more women
years of teaching experience who report having practice
into chemistry or any other field in college is to be sure that
teaching opportunities were more likely than teachers who
we’re working hard on giving them a strong core curricu-
did not have practice teaching opportunities to have learned
lum in math, certainly in high school, and setting them up
about different pedagogical techniques, such as assessing
strongly for that in middle school.”
students and using a wide variety of instructional materials.
High school completion rates of 18- to 24-year-olds
The percentage of teachers who report having done practice
increased from 84 to 88 percent from 1975 to 2005 (Figure
teaching is inversely related to the concentration of minor-
2.6). These rates went up much more for African Americans—
ity and poor students in schools, so the teachers of minority
from 70 to 86 percent—and for Hispanics—from 62 to 70
and poor students are less likely to have engaged in practice
percent—than for other groups over that period. Yet “this is
teaching. “We are shorting our students and giving our early
one of those indicators that becomes striking when we place
career teachers a much harder hill to climb when we don’t
ourselves in the international comparison,” Sullivan said.
give them practice teaching opportunities,” Sullivan said.
When compared with 22 other OECD (Organisation for
New indicators also show that more than 90 percent of
Economic Co-operation and Development) countries using
teachers report participating over the past year in profes-
similar measures of graduation rates—with Norway first and
sional development activities consisting of short-duration
Mexico last—the United States is sixth from the bottom.
workshops, conferences, and training seminars (Figure 2.7).
Finally, in international comparisons of mathematical
Yet many years of evidence show that more than 40 to 50
and scientific proficiency, U.S. students do quite well in the
hours of professional development and continuity of training
fourth grade. Eighth graders are still holding their own with
are essential to have an effect on teacher practice, teacher
respect to mathematics and science. However, high school
competency, and improving a teacher’s content knowledge,
students do markedly less well in international comparisons,
Sullivan observed. In contrast, only about a third were able
especially when tests measure the ability to apply knowledge
to access university courses related to teaching, and about the
gained in school to less familiar problems.
same percentages were able to engage in research on a topic
of interest. Also, teachers report participating in an average
of just 32 hours of subject matter professional development.
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SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
three or more years of both mathematics and science for high
Mathematics Science Other
100
92
91 91
school graduation, even though many national reports and
90
organizations have identified that amount of mathematics and
80
science as an essential core curriculum in the subjects.
70
In national surveys, 67 percent of Americans say that
60
greatly increasing the number and quality of mathematics
Percent
50
and science courses would improve high school education,
43
38
37
40 36 35
and 62 percent say it is crucial for most students to learn
32
30
higher mathematics skills. Yet when parents are asked about
21
20 16
their own children, they tend to say that they are satisfied
14
10
with the amount of mathematics and science they study in
school. Furthermore, today 20 percent fewer respondents
0
Workshops, University courses Observational visits to Engaging in research
feel that children are not taught enough mathematics and
conferences, training related to teaching other schools on a topic of interest
sessions
science than in 1994.
One difficulty, said Sullivan, is that education in the United
FIGURE 2.7 More than 90 percent 2.7 public middle and high
New of
States is the equivalent of a radically divided market because
school teachers report participating in workshops, conferences, and
it takes place in 16,000 largely autonomous school districts.
training sessions over the past 12 months, with smaller percent-
If a new drug is developed by a pharmaceutical company,
ages participating in other professional development experiences.
it can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration
SOURCE: National Science Board. 2008. Science and Engineering
(FDA) and then sold to everyone in the United States. But
Indicators 008. Two volumes. Arlington, VA: National Science
“if you have figured out the equivalent of . . . the latest cure
Foundation (volume 1, NSB 08-01; volume 2, NSB 08-01A).
in science education, you must, in a sense, persuade 16,000
FDAs that this is the antidote to their ills. And therein lies one
dimension of what makes this problem so massive.”
“So we’re only about halfway there in terms of the number
PUBlic aTTiTUdes aNd eXPecTaTioNs
of hours we probably should be providing to our teachers to
improve skills in the classroom.” Polls show that the general public’s primary source of
Sullivan made a personal plea to focus on the middle information about scientific issues is the Internet, followed
school years. Scientists in colleges and universities tend to by television, books, and magazines and newspapers (Figure
focus on high school because courses organized by discipline 2.8). The Internet and television have been capturing the
appear at that level, but “middle school, in my opinion, is attention of rising percentages of the public, while books
the sweet spot.” Those are the years when children decide have fallen precipitously (the proportion of those who say
whether they are good at mathematics and science and start that books are their primary source of scientific information
making choices accordingly. Science and mathematics decreased from more than 20 percent in 2001 to less than 10
teachers in high school tend to have more skills than the percent in 2006).
corresponding teachers in middle schools, depending on Knowledge of scientific facts and processes among the
the socioeconomic status of the school. “I urge you to think general public in the United States correlates closely with
about ways that you can . . . coordinate efforts to impact the attitudes toward science. People who know more about sci-
preparation and skills of middle school teachers,” she said. ence tend to believe that it has a positive role in society and
Local scientific societies, science museums, colleges and has the potential to contribute to the public good.
universities, and technology-based businesses all can help With regard to student attitudes, confidence in being
improve the skills, knowledge, and confidence of middle able to do mathematics or science correlates positively
school teachers. “You’ll have more kids to impact in high with achievement within countries. Yet across countries,
school if you can have a leverage effect at the middle school confidence is negatively correlated with achievement. In
grades.” other words, U.S. students with reported higher levels of
confidence scored lower than students in other countries
who reported themselves to be less confident. For example,
cUrricUlUm sTaNdards
39 percent of U.S. students said that they usually do well in
States recently have been improving their standards for mathematics, while just 4 percent of students in Japan said
K-12 education and bringing a better consistency to review- the same. Yet the average mathematics score in the United
ing and revising these standards—despite periodic calls for States was considerably lower than that in Japan.
teaching intelligent design creationism in science class- “We tend to believe that a large determinant of a student’s
rooms. Yet just slightly more than half of the states require success in school is ability,” Sullivan said. “In many other
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8 STRENGTHENING HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
ogy, Engineering, and Mathematics Education System3, says
that the nation faces two central challenges in constructing a
60
strong and coordinated STEM education system. The United
2001 2004 2006
States needs to achieve greater coherence in STEM learning,
50
including enhanced horizontal coordination and vertical
alignment among educational systems. The nation also needs
40
to ensure an adequate supply of well-prepared and highly
effective teachers.
Percent
30
The NSB directed attention to issues that influence the
quality of the teaching force in the United States, including
20
compensation, stronger pre-service and in-service teacher
education, increased teacher mobility between districts, and
10
greater commonality of national teacher certification stan-
dards. The board recommended establishing an independent,
0
non-federal, national council that could coordinate and facili-
Internet Books Television Magazines Newspapers
tate STEM programs and initiatives throughout the nation
while also informing policy makers and the public about the
FIGURE 2.8 Use as the primary source of information about spe-
New 2.8
cific scientific issues for Americans has decreased for books and state of STEM education in the United States. The council
has increased for the Internet and television. SOURCE: National would include representatives from foundations, higher edu-
Science Board. 2008. Science and Engineering Indicators 008. cation, business and industry, state and local governments,
Two volumes. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation (volume Congress, the executive branch, STEM educators, disciplin-
1, NSB 08-01; volume 2, NSB 08-01A).
ary scientists, informal STEM educators, and other organiza-
tions. The council could strengthen the linkage between high
school education and the workforce, in part by working with
cultures and countries, it is perceived and believed that the K-16 STEM-focused councils in each state.
correlation is with effort, with work, with investment, and
self-discipline.”
The loss oF leadershiP
In the 2007 report Rising Aboe the Gathering Storm:
Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic
Future,2 a committee of prominent national leaders stated,
“We fear the abruptness with which a lead in science and
technology can be lost—and the difficulty of recovering a
lead once lost, if indeed it can be regained at all.” Sullivan
pointed out that there remains a very sharp divide between
the perceptions of leaders in the United States and the percep-
tions of parents. Even though most parents know that more
mathematics and science are needed for students, they tend
not to extend that reasoning to their own children.
The National Science Board (NSB), which Sullivan vice
chairs, recently reviewed the past three decades of reports
on education in science, technology, engineering, and math-
ematics (STEM) and, responding to a congressional request,
developed a plan to “convert all those grand words into some
forward action.” The board’s report, National Action Plan for
Addressing the Critical Needs of the U.S. Science, Technol-
3National Science Board. 2007. National Action Plan for Addressing the
2National Research Council. 2007. Rising Aboe the Gathering Storm:
Critical Needs of the U.S. Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathemat-
Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. Wash-
ics Education System. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation.
ington, DC: The National Academies Press.
