Massachusetts K-12 Is Tops In Physics, Math
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Dennis Berkey, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is involved in a state program that encourages middle and high school students to study engineering.
The United States is facing a shortage of advanced scientists and engineers, but Massachusetts is doing its part to help the nation regain its edge.
So says the American Institute of Physics (AIP), which recently ranked the Bay State as the best in the nation in teaching physics and math, which help prepare K-12 students for college majors in science and engineering. Those are the fields that will be facing a shortage of skilled workers over the next several decades, officials have warned. President Obama himself has trumpeted the goal of getting more students on a track to employment in the so-called STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
And institutions here in Central Massachusetts are playing a leading role in the state when it comes to achieving that goal.
“One of the problems is we haven’t had high enough expectations for our students,” said Dennis Berkey, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “If you raise the bar, the kids will rise to meet it.”
Of course, those kids are going to need skilled teachers as well as an understanding of what possibilities the STEM fields could hold for their future careers. WPI is working on both ends of that equation.
It has operated a K-12 STEM outreach program for more than a decade and is the lead university in the state for a national STEM education program called Project Lead the Way, a pre-engineering program for middle and high school students.
As one of the country’s first engineering and technology universities, Berkey said that WPI is well-positioned to produce science and engineering teachers that can educate the next generation of high-tech workers.
“To produce more scientists and engineers, we have to first produce better teachers of engineering and science,” he said.
Commissioner’s Take
The AIP’s ranking was no surprise for Mitchell Chester, the state’s education commissioner. Chester said that Massachusetts typically places high in education rankings. That the state is performing well in two key subject areas is heartening, he said.
“I do believe in celebrating what our educators and students are accomplishing,” Chester said.
But just because the state is doing better than others in teaching math and science doesn’t mean there isn’t more to be done, he added. If anything, Chester said he takes the recent ranking as a call to action for Massachusetts.
“We are not resting on our laurels and we are not becoming complacent about our strong achievement in Massachusetts,” he said.
From recently implementing more rigorous math standards in the state’s public schools to requiring tougher math testing for elementary school teachers to receive a license, Chester said the state is positioned to improve further in the coming years.
Doing The Right Thing
AIP reviewed and weighted publicly available data on eighth-grade National Assessment of Education Progress math exams; Advanced Placement exam results for calculus and physics; physics course enrollment among high school students; and science teacher certification requirements for each state.
In the final results, scaled from 1 to 5, Massachusetts scored 4.82, besting second-place Minnesota’s score of 4.06. Mississippi came in last place with a score of 1.11.
David Cedrone, executive director of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, said that he is thrilled to see Massachusetts ranking high in various studies. But like Chester, Cedrone said many challenges lay ahead for Massachusetts.
The STEM council has some analysis of its own with the help of the UMass Donahue Institute, and it has revealed achievement gaps in some Massachusetts school districts where there is less access to Advanced Placement courses.
Another curious trend that Massachusetts officials have noted is that students at better-performing schools express less interest in pursuing STEM careers than do students at schools that perform more poorly.
“It’s one of those things that really struck us,” Cedrone said, adding that the lack of interest could be driven by a lack of information on STEM careers.
The earlier a student is exposed to math and science, the better the chance that student will pursue a college major in related fields, said Mort Orlov, president of the nonprofit Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative (MMSI).
The Boston-based organization, which counts Berkey as a board member, aims to increase access to Advanced Placement courses — including calculus and physics — taught in the state’s high schools.
The results so far have been promising. MMSI says it has enrolled more than 4,500 new AP students since 2008.
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