Science teachers: DeVos's Education Department is misinterpreting federal law

[Eugene]

Last edited Sat Jul 22, 2017, 01:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Washington Post

Science teachers: DeVos’s Education Department is misinterpreting federal law

By Valerie Strauss July 2 at 12:40 PM

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Now, the National Science Teachers Association and the STEM Education Coalition have sent a letter to the Education Department saying it is misinterpreting the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the federal K-12 education law that replaced No Child Left Behind, in regard to science and school accountability plans.

The Education Department did not respond to a query about this issue.

The department is reviewing state plans for holding schools accountable as required by ESSA. The law was passed in December 2015 to replace the flawed NCLB, which went into effect in 2002 and dictated the use of English language arts and math standardized test scores to hold schools accountable for student achievement. In the years after NCLB was passed, many schools began giving short shrift to subjects other than reading and math, including science. That ran counter to a push in the Obama administration to increase STEM education — that is, science, technology, engineering and math — but it happened nevertheless.

The letter sent to the department, signed by David L. Evans, executive director of the NSTA, and James F. Brown, executive director of the STEM Education Coalition, says the department is telling states that science cannot be a priority as an accountability measure in evaluating student achievement under ESSA.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/07/02/science-teachers-devoss-education-department-is-misinterpreting-federal-law/

[Igel]

1. One of those "huh?" articles.

We hear complaints. Here's my take.

The ESSA specifies testing for reading, math, and science.

Then it goes on at length about reading and, to a slightly lesser extent, math. Science is in third place for discussion, and often when it is discussed it's in the context of a host of other topics--history, art, technology, engineering. Sometimes the list is mostly STEM; sometimes it's more expansive.

Take away: First two priorities are reading and math. Science is in third place.

I say this as a science teacher in high school. If the kids can't read--and many can't read appropriately--then it's harder to learn science and math. I can't assign them something to read. They miss test questions and instructions because they can't or won't read. In some cases it's hard to tell which: They way they're taught to deal with complex literature is to guess. Good luck guessing in a science text. "Gee, I wonder what vector means. I know, I'll assume it's just a number. It sort of makes sense."

If they can't do the math, science is harder. I spend a lot of time teaching math and getting them around math hurdles instead of over them.

You can't do science if reading and math aren't job 1 and 2. So the way ESSA is built makes a certain sense. It also means that science again comes in #3.


Now, the complaint is that the DOE is saying science isn't a priority. Wording is important here. Does the DOE say that science isn't the top priority? A top priority? One of the two top priorities? Not a priority at all, but perhaps something like beading is? Don't know what the article's actually claiming. Default reading: Advocates are advocating.