It Takes a Village to Raise an Idiot: Fixing US Science Education

It takes a village to raise an idiot: fixing US science education

Alan Dove

J Clin Invest. 2002;110(8):1057-1060. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI16959.

Science and Society

For years, tests and surveys have highlighted a paradox in American science education: the nation that leads the world in research brings up the rear in public understanding of science. How can this be? The Third International Mathematics and Science Study, begun in 1995, yielded an important insight. Comparing the educational systems of 50 countries, the study found that US students scored near the top of the group at the fourth-grade level. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill after that. By the eighth grade, the American students drop into the average group, and they almost reach the global bottom by the time they finish high school. The US research enterprise compensates for this nosedive by focusing on undergraduate and graduate student training. This approach explains the paradox in which an ample pool of highly qualified scientists drives competitive research while the general public remains largely ignorant. Still, the kindergarten- through-12th grade (K–12) educational decline has far-reaching implications for research, none of which are positive. As Costello Brown, Director of Educational System Reform at the National Science Foundation (NSF; Arlington, Virginia, USA) puts it, “We are not even going to have the people who can vote responsibly as Americans on issues surrounding global warming, the environment, and whatever else if they don’t know the difference between a pound and a millimeter.” Education experts like […]

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It takes a village to raise an idiot: fixing US science education

Alan Dove E-mail: [email protected]. J. Clin. Invest. 110:1057–1060 (2002). doi:10.1172/JCI200216959.

For years, tests and surveys have high- Education experts like Brown often pseudoscientific or antiscientific lighted a paradox in American science speak in the future tense, but current beliefs. With the advancement of education: the nation that leads the policy debates on issues like stem-cell knowledge, science itself has become world in research brings up the rear in research, cloning, and the teaching of more complex. public understanding of science. How evolution (see “In the beginning, there While many of these trends are not can this be? was darkness”) show the legacy of this unique to the US, efforts at reforming The Third International Mathe- ongoing problem. Now professional science education here face the added matics and Science Study, begun in organizations and some individual obstacle of federalism. More than 1995, yielded an important insight. researchers are coming to appreciate almost any other area of public policy, Comparing the educational systems the volatility of a system in which a education in the US is controlled at of 50 countries, the study found that benighted public underwrites ground- the state level, so current reform US students scored near the top of breaking science. The problem can no strategies call for changing 50 the group at the fourth-grade level. longer be ignored, and the scientif- autonomous systems. “I would say Unfortunately, it’s all downhill after ic community needs to become part that if we were going to have a big that. By the eighth grade, the Ameri- of the solution. reform of K–12 science education in can students drop into the average this country, it would have to come group, and they almost reach the A colonial organism from the federal level,” says Beth Mon- global bottom by the time they fin- Science education in the US repre- telone, a biologist at Kansas State Uni- ish high school. sents the melding of two of the most versity (Manhattan, Kansas, USA), The US research enterprise compen- complex systems ever devised by who is involved in school reform. sates for this nosedive by focusing on humans: the body of scientific knowl- State control of education, however, is undergraduate and graduate student edge and the institution of American a sacred cow in US politics. Asked if fed- training. This approach explains the public education. There is general eral control would make curriculum paradox in which an ample pool of agreement that this Byzantine enter- changes easier, the NSF’s Brown highly qualified scientists drives com- prise is in need of major reform, but responds with a chuckle, “That’s a ques- petitive research while the general the factors that drove its deterioration tion that is hypothetical. As a federal public remains largely ignorant. are difficult to pinpoint. bureaucrat, I’m not even going to go Still, the kindergarten-through-12th Following a longstanding national down that road.” Brown explains grade (K–12) educational decline has tradition, fingers of blame have been that the NSF and other far-reaching implications for research, pointed in virtually every direction. federal agencies have to none of which are positive. As Costel- Even a cursory study reveals a help shape states’ lo Brown, Director of Educational Sys- plethora of possible causes. A agendas indirect- tem Reform at the National Science post-Sputnik wave of science ly: “We don’t Foundation (NSF; Arlington, Virginia, teachers, drawn by patriotism USA) puts it, “We are not even going and relatively high salaries, has to have the people who can vote mostly retired. Many school responsibly as Americans on issues districts are going broke. More surrounding global warming, the students now come from unsta- environment, and whatever else if they ble households, many below the don’t know the difference between a poverty line. Celebrities and politi- pound and a millimeter.” cal leaders increasingly embrace

Reform from the local to the global. High-school students in the US use inexpensive pho- tometers to confirm NASA data on atmospheric aerosol levels — and help to demonstrate the effectiveness of taking science education beyond the classroom.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation | October 2002 | Volume 110 | Number 8 1057 In the beginning, there was darkness . . . In March, the sion was subsequently reversed, it is part of a nationwide pattern. Ohio State Board of Education held a hearing to listen to argu- Alabama’s Board of Education now inserts a disclaimer under- ments about evolution. Rather than refuting the classic creation- mining evolution in its biology textbooks, and the Illinois school ist doctrine that the earth was created in six days, scientists testi- board has gradually purged the word “evolution” from its curricu- fying before the board had to answer a more subtle version of lum, replacing it with “change over time.” In Louisiana, one recent creationism called “Intelligent Design” by its proponents. Intelli- survey showed that 29% of the state’s biology teachers support gent Design advocates argue that living organisms are so complex teaching creationism. that they could not have arisen through Darwinian evolution — State school boards are loathe to offend a politically powerful instead, the complexity hints at an “intelligent designer” driving group, and the overall state of science education in the US leaves the process. average citizens ill-equipped to take a stand on the issue. The result Lawrence Krauss, a physics professor at Case Western Reserve Uni- is that creationism, a peculiar doctrine supported by a minority of versity, prefers to call Intelligent Design what it is: “an attack on sci- citizens, has permeated K–12 biology education nationwide. ence.” Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek and other popular Most scientists have taken a dangerously laissez-faire attitude books, adds that “we do a miserable job of conveying to people about the issue, according to Krauss. “The scientific community what science is already, and this is just going to make it worse.” has always just assumed that the correct idea will win out because Unfortunately, the situation in Ohio is not an aberration. In that’s the way it works in science,” but “that approach doesn’t 1999, for example, the Kansas school board decided to discour- work very well when there are people with a vested interest in the age the teaching of evolution. Although this highly publicized deci- opposite happening.”

say to them that you must do this par- think, leave because their hands are even increases state-level control of ticular curriculum or you must do that, tied for a variety of reasons. There are a education, but requires all states to but we say whatever you’re doing has to lot of regulations that teachers need to implement a variety of measures have a logic and has to get more kids meet, and those regulations may have aimed at increasing accountability, involved in science and math.” The little to do with what their students are primarily through testing (see “Multi- agency, which currently has a budget of actually learning,” says Roseman. ple choices”). The Act became law at more than $350 million dedicated to Ironically, well-intentioned efforts to the beginning of 2002. improving science education, can also reform the system have often added to No Child Left Behind is probably the assist grass-roots reform efforts once the stresses driving teachers away. Fads most ambitious federal education they have begun at the state or local level. in educational theory have led school reform in decades, but education Whatever political difficulties con- systems to adopt and then reject every- experts understand that substantive front science education, the key to thing from “open-space” schools to change will necessarily be gradual. the solution — and part of the prob- “whole-language” reading, leading “We’re dealing with difficult and com- lem — clearly lies with science teach- many teachers to regard proponents of plex issues . . . that don’t really lend ers themselves. change with a wary eye. themselves to short-term fixes. One of Recruiting and retaining good sci- Recruiting problems and high the things that I think we’ve learned is ence teachers, though, is difficult. turnover have predictable effects. “I that it requires sustained efforts to “The teaching salaries for science and think a lot of students get the mes- bring about sustainable change,” says math majors are not competitive sage early on that the teachers are the NSF’s Brown. with jobs in the private sector,” uncomfortable with [science], and He should know. Brown directs the explains Jo Ellen Roseman, Acting therefore they’re uncomfortable with NSF’s Systemic Initiatives, projects Director of Project 2061, an educa- it,” says Lawrence Krauss, chair of the intended to help school systems tional reform effort at the American Department of Physics at Case West- make large-scale changes in science Association for the Advancement of ern Reserve University (Cleveland, education. The initiatives have Science (AAAS; Washington, DC, Ohio, USA) and an outspoken advo- focused on two types of systems: USA). Roseman adds that one obvi- cate of educational reform. Krauss rural districts with endemic poverty ous solution, offering higher salaries adds that role models outside the and urban districts with a range of for math and science teachers than classroom amplify the problem, since problems. The results have been for other those in other areas, is “people who sort of outright pro- mixed. “There are some pockets of “probably not something the unions claim their scientific illiteracy are val- excellence where individual schools would encourage.” ued greatly — like the current Presi- or clusters of schools have done a Still, data collected by Project 2061 dent of the US.” tremendous job with math and sci- suggest that in affluent school dis- ence. But the issues of scale in getting tricts, at least, a majority of high school Waiting for the impact . . . a Chicago or a Detroit or an science teachers have a degree in a sci- Scientifically illiterate or not, the Pres- Atlanta to do it on a sustained level entific discipline. As is usually the case, ident, along with Congress, decided in district-wide is still a major chal- poor districts do not fare as well. Other 2001 to overhaul the Elementary and lenge. We haven’t succeeded, but statistics from the project are less Secondary Education Act, the 1965 we’ve made an awful lot of progress.” encouraging, including the finding law that has defined the federal gov- But as a result of No Child Left that around half of all starting teachers ernment’s role in education. The huge Behind, the Systemic Initiatives are will leave the profession within five phalanx of changes, titled the No being left behind. The NSF has moved years. “Some of our best teachers, I Child Left Behind Act, maintains and $160 million from the Systemic Initia-

1058 The Journal of Clinical Investigation | October 2002 | Volume 110 | Number 8 tives budget into programs to help dis- many states to align their science cur- Throwing the book at them. Sci- tricts cope with the testing required by ricula with one or both documents. The ence education in the US may be plagued the new law. While currently funded result is a somewhat more uniform sys- with problems, but at least American stu- Systemic projects will continue for the tem, but still a patchwork. “I don’t think dents have been given the most compre- length of their grants, the program is any state has really wholeheartedly hensive, lavishly illustrated textbooks in not accepting new applications, and adopted the national standards without the world. Brown expects it to be phased out. changing it somehow to fit that state,” That is, in fact, one of the problems. While the government shifts its says David Vannier, Professional Devel- International comparisons show that, focus from one effort to another, the opment Coordinator for the Office of while US science textbooks cover more scientific community has been build- Science Education at the NIH. subjects than any of their foreign coun- ing a conceptual framework that has Even with spotty implementation, terparts, they do so in less depth, and clear explanations are often sacrificed to been conspicuously absent from US though, the curricula provide a start- make room for facts and vocabulary lists education: a national science curricu- ing point for additional reforms. Cur- — knowledge that is easy to test. Tradi- lum. In 1993, The AAAS’s Project 2061 rently, most US high schools teach tionally, science textbook content has released its Benchmarks for Science Liter- biology first, then chemistry, and been dictated partly by the state curricu- acy, describing the scientific knowl- reserve physics for the most gifted stu- la of Texas and California, the two biggest edge students should have at different dents in their final year. Some markets for school books, and partly by levels of schooling. The National Acad- researchers now advocate reversing this the need to cover the material on as many emy of Sciences (NAS; Washington, order, since understanding modern state tests as possible. The product of DC, USA) followed suit in 1996, advo- biology requires some understanding these diverse market forces is usually a cating similar goals in its National Sci- of chemistry, which in turn requires chimera that looks as if it were created by a committee. In most cases, it was. ence Education Standards (NSES). some understanding of physics. In an effort to bring a more positive Neither the NSES nor the Benchmarks Roseman agrees that “there are cer- force to the market, the AAAS’s Project carries any legal weight, but the credi- tainly some aspects or some key ideas 2061 has analyzed the strengths and bility of the AAAS and NAS persuaded to be learned in physics that need to be weaknesses of the current crop of science learned before some other ideas in textbooks for different grade levels and chemistry or biology,” but favors a publicized its results. The Project has also Multiple choices. Nobody knows holistic approach. In Project 2061’s convened conferences for textbook pub- whether US schools will have more suc- Atlas of Science Literacy, published in lishers, the research community, and pol- cess teaching science in the future, but icymakers to address the problem. “We’ve they will definitely have more tests. As a 2000, related concepts in the curriculum are linked together without set- heard from a number of the commercial result of the No Child Left Behind Act of groups who say that they’re going to . . . 2001, every state must implement an ting rigorous divisions between attempt to make their books better array of tests for students at various lev- physics, chemistry, and biology. Many aligned with the curriculum,” says Jo Ellen els, as well as for teachers. The exams for European schools employ a single sci- Roseman, Acting Director of Project 2061. different subjects are to be phased in over ence course that links concepts like The publishers are probably sincere, the next few years; student science tests this, but Roseman concedes that but change will nonetheless be slow. will start in 2007. “problems to implementation [in the Since writing and publishing a textbook Since there is no legally mandated US] are huge.” is a multi-year process, and most states national science curriculum, each state’s only buy new books every few years, test will be geared to its own standards From the ground up reformers expect the changes to take at and lesson plans — or, as many critics least a decade to reach students. argue, vice-versa. Instead of trying to implement sweep- There is also concern that testing could ing changes all at once, other efforts amplify current inequities in the nation’s have focused on developing pieces of a directly into any curriculum that is educational system. “States that have working system that can be bolted reasonably aligned with the NSES, more money can do more innovative test- onto the existing educational frame- replacing more traditional material ing [for] deeper concepts, but states that work, then modified and linked while still teaching the same lesson. don’t are going to have to use . . . multi- together at some point in the future. For example, “instead of studying the ple choice,” says David Vannier, Profes- The NSES and Benchmarks have given onion root tip, as fascinating as that is, sional Development Coordinator in the reformers a useful way to coordinate they learn about cancer. At the end of NIH’s Office of Science Education. Dif- ferences are even arising at the local level: these grass-roots efforts. the day, they get the same idea about some wealthy districts are preparing for Shortly after the publication of the mitosis, but they also know a little the science test already, while poorer dis- NSES, for example, the NIH began cre- more about cancer,” says Vannier. Pro- tricts in the same state are still not ready ating Curriculum Supplements to viding complete packages that fit into for upcoming reading tests. nourish the ailing system. The first the curriculum also helps circumvent Some of the criticism of testing, howev- three supplements focus on the cell inadequate textbooks (see “Throwing er, may be misplaced. “People like to biology of cancer, emerging infectious the book at them”). blame the test developers, who are the diseases, and human genetic variation. In addition to providing useful same people who make the textbooks, but Each supplement consists of one to health information and fulfilling cur- if people wanted innovative, problem-solv- two weeks’ worth of 45-minute les- riculum requirements, the NIH mod- ing type tests, they would make them,” says Vannier. The challenge, it seems, will sons, complete with lesson plans, ules are designed so that students be convincing school boards to ask. handouts, and computer software. arrive at answers by constructing mod- The supplements are designed to fit els and formulating hypotheses. The

The Journal of Clinical Investigation | October 2002 | Volume 110 | Number 8 1059 agency just released a new batch of sup- That’s where you can have the biggest sites would provide an incredibly plements and ultimately plans to pro- impact with the least amount of frus- important supplement to present duce and maintain about two dozen of tration.” Using similar tactics, other sci- ground-based measurements,” accord- them. So far, results have been encour- entists are already bringing plant and ing to Mims. He adds that get- aging. Teachers snatched up 25,000 animal genetics into classrooms, using ting teachers to participate in publica- copies of the first batch of supple- jewel wasps, flour beetles, and fast- tion-worthy research is an important ments, and the NIH has made the growing plants. step towards making them more liter- materials available online to feed the As environmental researchers are dis- ate in science. growing demand. “It’s also free,” says covering, these local projects can have Regardless of the specific project, Vannier, “Teachers really like that.” a global reach. This principle underlies scientists could clearly assume a bigger The additive approach also works well the Global Learning and Observations role in reforming education. “My own for individual researchers developing to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) goal is [to] get at least 15 to 20 percent their own solutions. Beginning in 1985, Project, created by former Vice Presi- of the faculty in math, science, and biologists at Kansas State University dent Al Gore. Students participating engineering to actually start to work created a set of lessons on radiation in GLOBE perform environmental with teachers,” says the NSF’s Brown, biology for public schools. The pro- measurements at their schools, then who plans to return to the University gram ultimately became a popular yeast load the data into the project’s pub- of California as a chemistry professor genetics lesson module known as the licly-accessible database. next autumn. Genetics Education Networking and Perhaps the most interesting aspect Of course, scientists will have to tai- Enhancement (GENE) Project. Supplies of GLOBE is that it is not simply a lor their approaches to fit their fields; for the lessons, including yeast strains classroom exercise. The data are actual- sending your favorite experimental and a comprehensive handbook, are ly used by earth scientists. For example, organism into a school or having now sold by Carolina Biological the GLOBE Aerosol Monitoring Pro- ninth-graders participate in your (Burlington, North Carolina, USA), a ject, run by Forrest Mims of the Geron- research will not be well-received if you major educational supply company. imo Creek Observatory (Seguin, Texas, study herpes. Tom Manney, the physics professor USA) and David Brooks of Drexel Uni- Instead, clinical researchers might who developed the GENE Project before versity (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consider a strategy that has been retiring, is optimistic that it will have a USA), provides critical fact-checking largely ignored by scientists so far: lasting impact: “These things keep information for NASA’s aerosol-moni- participating in local politics. Advo- going. There are a lot of teachers out toring satellites. The project is based on cates of anti-science positions have there who took [GENE Project] work- a sun photometer developed by Mims, had tremendous success with this shops, who have been very diligent which can be built for around $20. By approach, despite their relatively about continuing them and developing measuring atmospheric aerosol levels small numbers (see “In the begin- them with their colleagues.” Kansas and taking fish-eye photographs from ning, there was darkness”). As Case State’s Beth Montelone, who has picked the ground, schools participating in the Western’s Krauss puts it, “the scien- up and expanded Manney’s original program help researchers corroborate tists have to become proselytizers to project, argues that more scientists or correct what the satellites see. some extent. Individual scientists should “take a grass-roots approach “There are probably less than a few have to start thinking about what and try to enhance the scientific knowl- hundred ground-based aerosol moni- connections they have within the edge and capability of teachers, as you toring sites around the world. Thus a community and exploiting those and can by working with them directly. student network of a few thousand trying to reach out.”

1060 The Journal of Clinical Investigation | October 2002 | Volume 110 | Number 8