POSTED: Saturday, Feb. 06, 2010

Now is not the time to give up on school reform

As I grew up, I dreamt of being many things, including an astronaut. I was fortunate to attend schools (in Minnesota) that encouraged, challenged and prepared me for success in college, work and beyond, and in 1978 realized my childhood dream, eventually flying on three NASA space missions.

When I retired from NASA, I chose to dedicate myself to improving the education system. Schools should help each student obtain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to stay in school and pursue whatever path they might choose after high school graduation, be it an astronaut or auto technician. My current work focuses on reforms in both K-12 and higher education to prepare excellent mathematics and science teachers for 21st century schools.

Regardless of the path a student chooses, mathematics and science literacy - the power to think clearly, solve problems, and design innovative solutions - is critical for every student's future. It is hard to imagine a living wage job in the next 10-20 years that won't require technical knowledge and skills far beyond those required today, but not beyond the capacity of our children to learn.

The state Superintendent of Public Instruction's recent proposal to delay and weaken current mathematics and science graduation requirements calls into question whether we are serious about ensuring all students graduate from high school ready to succeed. I disagree with the proposal, and urge the state to keep the requirement. The current law calls on educators to help children meet the mathematics and science graduation requirements by 2013. It is not an abstract ideal without consequences for the next generation. Delay makes life easier for the adults in the short term, but disadvantages children and our society in the long term.

Our state's track record in this regard is poor. We set goals and deadlines for change, but continue support for behaviors in schools and classrooms that we know are failing most of our students. When it doesn't look like we will meet our goals, we move the deadlines. This sends the message to many students that the system doesn't really care whether they succeed or not.

The current state of mathematics and science education in Washington is also poor. We rank dead last among the 50 states in total time science is taught in our elementary schools, only 45 percent of 10th graders passed the mathematics WASL and 39 percent passed the science WASL in 2009. We should increase our efforts to prepare students, not back away.

Without a plan to improve mathematics and science teaching and learning dramatically, fully funded and based in research, we will continue to fail. This is especially true for the neediest students, especially those who did not pass last year's mathematics and science WASL. Our economy cannot afford to support a mathematically and scientifically illiterate majority.

The good news is we know how to help students succeed. Student learning is cumulative, students taught poorly or not taught subjects like science at all in the early grades enter middle or high school with insurmountable deficits. Every year is important. The state needs a detailed plan for helping K-12 schools support effective professionals to teach all subjects effectively to all students every day, every year, with no excuses, and a system to measure their progress.

Some schools across the state that share the issues normally used as excuses for failure or mediocrity are succeeding. Here are two schools from our work that beat the odds:

-- Over ten years, through the coherent use of district and outside funds, a visionary principal led Nooksack Elementary School in the Nooksack Valley School District to build a culture in their building where every employee believes that every student can achieve at high levels in all subjects and that it is their responsibility to get them there. In 2004, the science WASL passing percentage was 41. Last year, the school's 5th grade WASL passing percentages were 96 in reading, 94 in mathematics, and 93 in science.

-- At the Markishtum Middle School/Neah Bay High School on the Makah Indian Reservation, no students passed the 10th grade science WASL in 2004. In 2009, a stunning 44 percent passed due to the work of a gifted principal and committed teachers.

It is time for us all, especially the state organizations, to learn from these schools, to step up and take our responsibility to prepare the next generation seriously.

George "Pinky" Nelson is Director of the Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Program and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Western Washington University in Bellingham. He was a NASA astronaut from 1978 to 1989. Last year was he inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.