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Bid to Boost High School Math, Science Requirements Faces Battle; Educators, Others Say Doyle's Idea May Cause More Problems Than It Would Solve

Posted on: Sunday, 23 January 2005, 15:00 CST

Bid to boost high school math, science requirements faces battle

Educators, others say Doyle's idea may cause more problems than it would solve

Gov. Jim Doyle said in his recent "state of the state" address that he had an answer to one aspect of what needs to be done to better educate Wisconsin students.

The answer -- requiring three years of math and three years of science in high school to get a diploma -- will likely have a lot of appeal. Such ideas are popular.

President Bush also is talking about raising the bar in high schools, largely through requiring reading and math testing nationwide in ninth, 10th and 11th grades. In general, calls for demanding better work from high school students are being heard often.

But sometimes an answer raises a lot of questions itself, and that appears to be the case with Doyle's proposal.

One question with no firm answer is how much difference such a change would make since a large number of high school students, especially those heading toward college, already take three or more years of math and science.

And there are other questions: Will this cost anything? If so, who will pay? Will it have any effect on how many elective courses a student can take, such as music or a foreign language? When it comes to weaker students, will schools really raise the bar by adding a third year or will they just take what they do now and spread it out?

Educators and school officials are beginning to ask themselves such questions, and there are indications the proposal will get a chilly reception.

The proposal was an unanticipated addition to Doyle's education agenda, apparently prompted by a recent report that listed Wisconsin as one of the states setting the math bar too low.

The report came in December from Achieve, a national education advocacy group led by corporate leaders and state governors. It argues that too many students nationwide are leaving high school unprepared for college and work. It calls for requiring more math courses overall in high school.

It said eight states do not have statewide high school graduation requirements. Among the other 42, plus the District of Columbia, Wisconsin is one of thirteen with the two-year math requirement, it says.

As Doyle told the Legislature, "Wisconsin -- unlike most other states -- requires only two years of math and science in high school. In fact, we're in the bottom 13 states in math and science requirements."

A different measure

But requiring two years of math or science for a diploma doesn't mean kids take only two years. In math, one recent report suggests, Wisconsin may actually be a leader in the United States when it comes to students taking challenging courses.

Joe Donovan, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, said that in 2002, a report from an organization of leaders of state education departments concluded that 58% of Wisconsin students took high-level math courses in high school, and was behind only Texas, West Virginia and North Carolina, each at 59%.

Donovan said the report said 90% of high school seniors in Wisconsin had taken geometry, 72% had taken Algebra 2 and 51% had taken trigonometry and pre-calculus.

Donovan also said a DPI study in 2002-'03 found that fewer than a quarter of the state's 426 school districts require three years of math and about one in six requires three years of science. Only about 50 require three years each of math and science.

However, some of the districts that don't require three years in either subject are among the highest performing in the state. Whitefish Bay, for example, requires only two years, but District Administrator James Rickabaugh said officials would be very concerned if there were a trend among students to take only that much. There isn't.

"My sense is that the vast majority of our students would already be taking more than that," he said.

As far as making three years state policy, Rickabaugh was reluctant to venture an opinion.

"The devil is in the details," he said. "At first glance, it looks simple, until you really begin to get into the details."

New Berlin is one of the districts that does require three years of math and science, and Superintendent James Benfield said the higher standard has become well accepted in the several years since it was implemented. In fact, he'd prefer if students took four years of math and science, although he's not making that a policy proposal.

He said a key part of making the three-year standard mean something is making sure that all students, including those who are weak in math or science, get progressively harder classes from year to year and get the help they need to succeed in them.

"If you put kids in higher-level courses, you have to support them," he said.

Enthusiasm and concerns

State Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Berlin), chairman of the Senate's education committee, said he thought Doyle's idea looked great.

"We can never go wrong by requiring more of our students," Olsen said. "The question is how do get this done." Among other things, he said he wanted to hear what school officials and educators have to say.

He may not hear such warm things. Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, was distressed when he heard about the proposal.

"It's a mandate, an unfunded mandate," he said. He said he thought the idea of the state imposing such a requirement flew in the face of the current philosophy of setting standards for student performance and holding schools accountable for students meeting those standards, but giving local schools flexibility in deciding how to pursue the standards.

He also said he thought a three-year rule could cause staffing problems and additional expense in some districts, especially those that are small and have declining enrollments.

DPI spokesman Donovan said the department is supportive of Doyle's proposal and wants to work with school districts and others on what it would mean.

"The important part is that we appreciate that the governor has placed an emphasis on mathematics and science and we look forward to working with our partners . . . to see how we can advance this," he said.

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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