Schools are urged to keep raising the bar on science standards to keep the state on top.

James Walsh, Star Tribune

Published May 24, 2006 in the Star Tribune

Minnesota students continued a string of strong performances on national science tests, according to results released Wednesday. But if they're going to stay near the top of the heap, educators say, schools must keep boosting science requirements -- and teachers must make science relevant.

Results of the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for fourth- and eighth-graders put Minnesota among the top 10 or 12 states in the country. Seventy-six percent of the state's fourth-graders scored at or above a basic achievement level on the science test and 33 percent were at or above proficient. For eighth-graders, those numbers were 71 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

That's good news to state Education Commissioner Alice Seagren. "We're holding our own," she said. "We're still up there with the high-achieving states."

Staying there, however, will be the trick.

Steve Pullar, who teaches chemistry and physics at the Math and Science Academy charter school in Woodbury, said the state still considers more advanced science as an elective class. But students need a steady diet of science if they are to excel, he said.

At Math and Science Academy, which serves kids in grades 6 through 12, all eighth-graders take a half-year of introductory chemistry and a half-year of introductory physics. In ninth grade, all students take biology. In 10th, they all take chemistry. And, in 11th grade, they take physics. Senior year is open for electives or other options, he said.

Would such a regimen boost test scores? "I believe they would," Pullar said. "Very much so."

Seagren said that Minnesota is moving in the right direction and that she expects performance on future tests to be even stronger.

The state adopted new graduation standards for science and developed a new online statewide science assessment that will be tested next spring. In addition, starting with this year's third-graders, Algebra I will be required by eighth grade, and Algebra II, along with chemistry or physics, will be a high school graduation requirement.

"It's a good step in the right direction," Pullar said.

Making a connection

To Rachel Peterson, who teaches middle school science at St. Helena Catholic School in south Minneapolis, good teaching is about helping kids make a connection to what's being taught. She pushes hands-on experiences to boost student achievement.

Her sixth-graders are studying astronomy by creating a project to present to the rest of the school, complete with Greek myths about the constellations. Her seventh-graders built worm boxes -- filled with worms Peterson bought at a pet store-- to show kids how to compost waste.

"I have these ideas, and we try it and it either works or, OK, that's something I take out for next year," she said.

Nationally, nearly 148,000 fourth-graders and more than 143,000 eighth-graders took the 2005 NAEP science test. Average scores for fourth-grade students were higher than in 2000, with minority and low-income students making significant gains. From 2000 to 2005, the gaps between black students and white students and between Hispanic students and white students narrowed. Overall, Minnesota's scores were largely unchanged.

On the eighth-grade test, Minnesota again showed no improvement from 2000 and, overall, scores across the country were unchanged. Again, however, the scores of black and Hispanic students improved.

Seagren acknowledged that much work remains to be done to close the achievement gap here. That requires encouraging more minority students and low-income students to take more math and science courses, she said.

While most of the states scoring better than Minnesota on the NAEP tests have less racial diversity -- such as North Dakota, Vermont and New Hampshire -- states such as Massachusetts and Wisconsin are diverse and score as high as or higher than Minnesota. Seagren said she hopes to spend time talking with her Massachusetts counterpart about what that state is doing to score at the top on national tests.

"We're not going to rest on our laurels," Seagren said. "We're just going to keep pushing and working hard to improve achievement for all our kids."

James Walsh • 612-673-7428

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