Hawai'i middle schools may add required science
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
After years of disappointing test scores, Hawai'i middle school students would have to take science in all three years under a new Board of Education policy.
Science is now required only in the sixth and seventh grades.
Middle students would also have to take and pass social studies in the seventh and eighth grades. Currently, they take social studies both years but are required to pass only one class to advance to high school.
School board members will consider the changes tonight at a meeting on the Big Island. If approved, the policy would take effect in the 2004-2005 school year.
"I'm jumping up and down," said Justin Mew, science education specialist at the Department of Education. "We're one of the only states (that don't require science every year in middle school). We don't stand a chance against other states unless we give the students a chance to learn."
Hawai'i scores consistently among the lowest of states in the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test.
In 2000, nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders scored below basic proficiency in science, and nearly half of the state's fourth-graders scored below basic levels.
Educators see the scores as a clear message that more needs to be done to improve science education.
A 1996 survey showed only about 30 percent of Hawai'i middle-school students were taking science, compared with more than 90 percent nationally.
School board member Denise Matsumoto said the policy change is part of raising academic expectations and giving students a better foundation for high school.
"The only problem that schools have is the limited number of hours in the day," Matsumoto said. "There's fewer periods to have electives."
Under the provisions of their contract, teachers at each school may choose whether to have six or seven periods in a day. Matsumoto said each school would have to decide how to accommodate the additional science class. Only a few schools around the state already have adjusted their schedules to allow for more science classes.
Principal Richard Anbe said Kawananakoa Middle School started requiring all core subjects — math, reading, English, science and social studies — in all grade levels in 1993 as a way to keeps its standardized test scores and academic performance high.
"When your test scores are high, it's difficult to show significant gains," Anbe said. "We wanted to at least maintain and improve our scores."
The school designed a rolling schedule with six periods per day. Students take seven classes, with each meeting about four times per week. One day, students might attend classes one through six; the next they would attend classes two through seven, and so on.
"We've been getting questions about it from all over the state," Anbe said. "I'm in favor of teaching the core classes every year."
Principal Caroline Wong said Moanalua Middle School used to require a half year of science in the eighth grade, but now requires a year of science in every grade. The change was made after looking at the results of the standardized test and hearing parents' concerns, Wong said.
"If kids aren't getting the instruction they need, is if fair to test them on it? We feel this was a decision made based on the needs of the kids," she said.
To accommodate an additional class, the school switched to a block schedule for one week a month. Students attend only three classes per day during that time, leaving them time to work on projects.
Wong said the change also has allowed the school to keep its fine arts program and teach practical skills such as home economics as part of project-based learning.
Mew, the DOE's science education specialist, said middle schools now offer science in all grades, but it is an elective in the eighth grade, so few students choose to take it.
"If it's not required, they don't take it," Mew said. "Schools can keep their arts programs and offer more science. It can be done, and it's being done. You might have to think outside the box a little bit."
Matsumoto said studies have shown that students who take science at all grade levels do better on standardized tests.
"This has been a big issue for science teachers," said Karen Ginoza, president of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association. "If we're doing NAEP, it tests science. The concern that comes out is, how do we keep in the fine arts? Not all students learn the same way."
Ginoza emphasized the importance of making sure the schools have enough money to buy additional textbooks and materials needed to offer additional classes.
Kawananakoa and Moanalua middle schools each received additional money to expand curriculum, either from the state or federal Department of Defense.
Education officials hope that if they pass the new policy, state lawmakers will follow through with money to extend the curriculum change statewide.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
