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Amid Massachusetts Governor's Science Push, Many Students Lag

Posted on: Thursday, 20 January 2005, 12:00 CST

Jan. 20--Nearly a third of the state's eighth-graders failed the MCAS science exam last spring, an indication that Governor Mitt Romney's push to make science a graduation requirement would cause thousands of students to fail.

In the state's five largest school systems, more than half of the students flunked the eighth-grade science and technology test, and educators say science instruction lags behind English and math in textbooks, equipment, and teacher training.

Many teachers work in science classrooms with outdated labs and too few textbooks and microscopes.

School leaders differ on whether eighth-grade science scores signal trouble ahead for high school seniors, while state officials say they doubt eighth-graders' performance predicts the future.

School officials say they support increasing the emphasis on science only if the state supplies enough money for teacher training, materials, and tutoring to help students pass the test.

As part of a new education initiative he began promoting last week in his State of the State address, Romney plans to urge the state Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday to agree to add passing MCAS science tests to the state's graduation requirements.

Students now must pass only the math and English exams. His plan is likely to inflame controversy surrounding MCAS, which became a graduation standard in 2003 over the objections of teachers and others.

Ann Reale, a senior policy adviser to the governor, said state education officials have discussed making science a graduation requirement for almost two years, but the education board has yet to act.

"There's no guessing when or if it would have been taken up again," Reale said.

Under a state Department of Education proposal, science has been tentatively scheduled to become a testing requirement starting with the class of 2009 -- this year's eighth-graders. Now, students take only one general science exam in fifth and eighth grades. The state's plan is to give multiple exams to high school students, depending on the courses they take.

This year, the state, on a trial basis, is giving high school students separate exams in biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering and technology. State officials have not yet decided how many tests students would have to pass to meet the science requirement.

While Romney sees the science tests as a way to improve students' preparation for college and careers, school superintendents and others say Massachusetts schools are not ready to immediately make science a high-stakes test.

"I hope he's prepared to put the kind of resources that we're going to need to get our students to that level, particularly in the urban schools," said Eduardo Carballo, superintendent of Holyoke public schools, where 69 percent of the eighth-graders failed the science and technology MCAS last year. "Without that we're just going to be talking about pie in the sky."

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Source: The Boston Globe

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