- (Page A-1 )
-
- S.D. schools wrestle with higher math, science
standards
-
- Sharon L. Jones
- STAFF WRITER
-
- In this global, high-tech economy, how much math and
science do students
- need to understand to succeed? And what about music, the
arts, history,
- geography and foreign languages?
-
- The San Diego Unified School District board will grapple
with these
- questions today while considering whether students should
be required to
- pass advanced algebra, geometry, biology, chemistry and
physics to
- graduate.
-
- If the district adopts Superintendent Bertha Pendleton's
recommendation,
- San Diego Unified will become one of the first districts in
California to
- make University of California admission requirements for
mathematics and
- science a standard for all students.
-
- Pendleton says that's a good thing. So does state
Superintendent Delaine
- Eastin, who has been pushing lawmakers to raise statewide
high school
- graduation requirements.
-
- Others aren't quite so sure.
-
- Some worry about arts and music being neglected by students
with less time
- for electives. Others worry about slower students not
getting the tutoring
- they need to succeed.
-
- The debate isn't isolated to San Diego Unified. In
classrooms and
- boardrooms around the county and across the country,
educators are talking
- about raising standards to better prepare students for
tomorrow's work
- force.
-
- In the Sweetwater Union High School District, a graduation
requirement task
- force met yesterday for the first time. A report is to be
presented to the
- board this fall.
-
- "The bottom line is: Everybody is raising the bar,
worldwide," Sweetwater
- Superintendent Ed Brand said. "Anybody who is not is
going to be destined
- to a second-class education. We're not going to be one of
those districts."
-
- In Oceanside, a task force began discussing the issue in
June.
-
- "There's no doubt that the requirements will go
up," said Bruce Montgomery,
- director of instruction for Oceanside Unified.
-
- Eastin is trying to get state lawmakers to raise math and
science
- requirements. Currently, students must take two years of
mathematics and
- two years of science before graduation.
-
- The state superintendent agrees with Pendleton that too
many students are
- taking basic math courses and avoiding lab science courses.
Eastin's
- solution: Require algebra, geometry and two lab sciences.
-
- "I think we lie to kids by not telling them the type
of rigor required at
- (University of California) and (California State
University), and to be a
- policeman, or a mechanic, or a member of the building
trade," Eastin said.
- "I tell kids 10 years from now there will be two types
of people:
- well-educated and hardly employable."
-
- At the national level, the National Science Foundation is a
driving force
- behind much of the discussion over higher math and science
graduation
- requirements.
-
- The foundation is providing five-year, $15 million grants
to each of 20
- school districts -- including San Diego, Los Angeles and
Fresno -- in part
- because of the poor performance of U.S. youngsters on math
and science
- international tests.
-
- Eric Hamilton, who oversees Urban Systemic Initiative, the
foundation's
- educational reform program, said districts receiving the
grants are
- expected to set standards for what students should know and
be able to do
- in math and science at each grade level. Those standards
must be higher
- than today's standards, he said.
-
- Hamilton said the foundation is not telling districts
exactly what courses
- they should require. He knew of no other district receiving
the
- foundation's grants that has made biology, chemistry and
physics a
- graduation requirement, but he said he believes that all
San Diego students
- could pass those classes.
-
- "I don't have an interest in putting a youngster in a
no-win situation
- where a child can't learn, but we've been dealing in
excuses for a long
- time," he said.
-
- The districts receiving the foundation grants are raising
graduation
- requirements in various ways.
-
- Chicago gives students a choice of five lab sciences:
biology, chemistry,
- environmental science, earth/space science, or physics.
-
- Fresno allows students to choose between the traditional
- biology-chemistry-physics college-prep sequence or a
three-year integrated
- course.
-
- Los Angeles Unified is considering requiring a three-year
course that
- integrates the lab sciences.
-
- San Diego Unified's grant application was turned down twice
before it
- specified biology, chemistry and physics as future
graduation requirements.
-
- If the school board rejects the proposal to raise
graduation requirements,
- Hamilton said, the district may lose future grant payments
unless
- administrators convince the foundation that they are still
committed to
- raising educational standards in math and science.
-
- "If you are going to change, what are you going to
do?" Hamilton asked.
-
- Currently, San Diego Unified high school students must pass
three years of
- mathematics and two years of science.
-
- Pendleton has proposed phasing in the higher graduation
requirements so
- students entering fourth grade this fall would be the first
to face them in
- full. Biology and algebra would be required as of 2002,
geometry in 2003,
- chemistry and intermediate algebra in 2004 and physics in
2006.
-
- Without the new requirements, San Diego Unified already has
a higher
- percentage of students taking chemistry and physics than
all but three
- districts in the county, according to state figures.
-
- In 1995-96, 44.1 percent of San Diego Unified's juniors and
seniors took
- chemistry and physics. Carlsbad led the county that year,
with 73.4 percent
- of juniors and seniors taking chemistry and physics,
followed by San
- Dieguito, 51.1 percent, and Coronado, 48.7 percent.
-
- Vista, Mountain Empire and Ramona scored at the bottom,
with 13.8 percent,
- 16.7 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively, of juniors and
seniors taking
- the rigorous lab science requirements.
-
- In Fresno, this fall's incoming freshmen will be the first
to face new math
- and science requirements that will make them eligible for
admission to the
- University of California. Students must complete three
years each of math
- and science, including algebra, geometry and lab sciences.
-
- Since the new requirements were put in place, more Fresno
students have
- taken upper division math and science courses, but the
failure rate has
- remained the same, said Georgina Takemoto, the assistant
superintendent who
- oversees Fresno's grant.
-
- "Over time, students will be coming in with higher
math and science
- skills," Takemoto predicted.
-
- But science isn't all there is to life, some critics say.
-
- "With adding more math and science courses to the
curriculum, you are
- inevitably going to force these students out of the other
areas of the
- curriculum that lead them to being a more whole and
complete person," said
- Dean Hickman, a music and math teacher at Scripps Ranch
High School. "I'm
- not just talking about music and art, but language."
-
- Nidia Davenport, a bilingual science teacher at San Diego
High School, said
- she believes that all students can pass chemistry and
physics, but only if
- "they have a good foundation."
-
- "We cannot talk about giving them physics and
chemistry when they don't
- know enough about mathematics," she said. "If
they are not ready, not
- prepared, they are going to fail, and we're not going to do
anything good."
-
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