July 2008 — Features
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High Schools : An Equation That Works
As secondary students continue to show little interest in the four STEM subjects, combining technology use with engaging instructional practices may be the only way to reach them.
I GREW UP HATING SCIENCE. I just didn't see its
relevance to everyday life. But first as a teacher and then as a
parent, I developed a completely new understanding of what
science is, and how it is all around us. I was startled to discover
that, in fact, I loved science, and regretted that my lackluster
formal science education may have completely deterred me
from pursuing a science career.
The same inadequate science education seems to have survived a generation. My own children explore, experiment, and discover at home, but at school their science instruction happens intermittently-- in a tradeoff with social studies-- and only rarely with an interactive component. I don't blame their teachers, but rather I wonder if our focus on high-stakes testing and our related content choices haven't nullified what we know about good teaching and what our students need from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education.
The lack of US students entering the science, technology, engineering, and math fields is one of our primary educational woes. Surveys show that the small percentage of US college students who choose to major in a math or science field gets even smaller by the end of students' freshman year. Indeed, STEM has such minimal appeal that it has come to be thought of as a "special" education for our nation's brightest students. While STEM teaching should absolutely be used to prepare students to become leaders in the global economy, it is critical for all students, can transform education for all learning types, and should be available in every high school, not simply the magnet schools that serve the cream of the crop.
While the responsibility of STEM education falls to all grade levels, it's in the high schools where we most need to deliver it in a way that interests and motivates students-- which means not via the teacher-centered model common to math and science instruction. That alone would help reduce our disturbing high school dropout rate. Nearly 7,000 students drop out of US high schools each day. Somewhere along the way, due to their lack of achievement or our lack of relevance or failure to provide support over the course of their schooling, we lose them. That we have them initially creates both a responsibility and an opportunity to make their education useful, engaging, and suited to their learning styles. Compelling STEM instruction can give these disengaged students-- those 7,000 who drop out each day-- a reason to be interested in school.
