Mississippi posted a failing grade for state academic standardsfor primary and secondary school science in a recent reviewconducted by a panel of scientists and teachers, but local schoolleaders say the information is dated and the state has alreadybegun addressing those shortfalls.

“I don’t think it’s an accurate reflection of Brookhaven orMississippi today,” said Brookhaven School District SuperintendentLea Barrett.

She said it took time for the reviewers to collect and evaluatethe data. In that time, many districts have recognized weaknessesand are making changes to shore them up.

The “The State of State Standards 2005” report, based onNational Science Education Standards, evaluated three major areasof study – life, physical and earth/space science.

Life sciences fared fairly well, but Mississippi was evisceratedfor its instruction of the origin of life.

“In the life sciences, there is plenty of coverage, but it israther sporadic,” reviewers said. “A few lines of evidence forevolution are touched upon, but Mississippi takes remarkable painsto avoid using the word ‘evolution,’ which might alone justify thegrade ‘F’.”

Mississippi was not alone in receiving a failing grade. Nearlyhalf of the 50 states received grades of “D” or “F” in the report,the first comprehensive study of science academic standards since2000.

Fifteen states, including Mississippi, flunked and another sevenearned “D” grades. Nine states and the District of Columbia meriteda mediocre “C” grade.

Barrett said she disagreed with the report’s findings onevolution, at least as it pertains to her district.

“I don’t think we avoid teaching evolution as scientific theoryhere in the Brookhaven School District,” she said. “I think I wouldbe remiss as an educator if they didn’t understand the theory ofevolution.

“However, we will not teach that as a belief system,” Barrettcontinued. “I don’t think you can delete it, but I never want theBrookhaven School District to usurp the rule of the parents indetermining spiritual values for their children. You walk a fineline sometimes as an educator.”

Richelle Ratcliff, curriculum coordinator for the Lincoln CountySchool District, agreed.

“We, too, disagree with the findings,” she said. “We strive veryhard to ensure our students are exposed to all levels ofthinking.”

A teacher can provide students with alternatives to evaluate andconsider without influencing them to any particular result,Ratcliff said. She added it was important for students tounderstand there are theories “out there” which may not reflecttheir own beliefs.

Results in earth/space science were mixed, with secondaryeducation receiving most of the criticism.

“Earth and space science background is built up in K-8 in placeswell enough, but high school courses do not take full advantage ofthis,” reviewers said. “They are shallow and repeat material fromearlier grades.”

Curriculum is driven by state graduation and college entrancerequirements, where biology and chemistry carried more weight andtended to make the physical sciences more of a “compensatory”class, Barrett said.

“At the secondary level, we want to ensure our students areprepared for the state testing and graduation requirements,”Ratcliff said. “We’ve striving to add rigor to our earth/spacescience program.”

Changes are already being made statewide and at the local levelto address those needs, they said.

“We’ve already moved back to a more content-driven curriculum,”Barrett said.

Biology I is already on state accreditation tests and a pilotprogram of science testing for grades five and eight conducted thisyear will be mandatory next year, she said.

The physical sciences fared best in Mississippi. Reviewers saidthe “coverage is broad and many standard topics are mentioned. Butfor K-8, there is not enough real chemistry content, the vocabularyis weak, and there is no serious use of mathematics.”

Ratcliff agreed there was “a need to strengthen the vocabulary”and that elementary science has suffered since state-mandatedtesting was instituted.

“Science has not been tested in elementary grades, so there hasbeen a tendency to focus more on the tested subjects – reading,math and language arts,” she said. “Now, we are trying torestrengthen those programs which have weakened over time sincethere has not been a formal state assessment.”

Barrett said she also could not argue with the results of thefindings in the physical sciences.

“I think that’s true,” Barrett said. “I think for a while in theteaching of science we gave so much weight to the discovery methodwe did possibly move away from a strong content curriculum. I thinkthat was done statewide and even nationally.”

The “discovery learning” method was one area targeted by thereport as a common problem shared by low-scoring states. The methodinstructs students of scientific concepts through unsupervisedexperimentation, such as learning about frog ecology by watchingfrogs.

“You can pass along a lot of information in the half-hour youspend watching frogs,” Barrett said. “(But) it’s a time-consumingprocess and I believe content suffered for that, especially in thelower grades.”

However, Ratcliff said discovery learning is a valuable toolwhen used in moderation.

“We are still encouraging hands-on instruction,” she said. “Ithink that’s a good way for students to learn – when they areforced to search for information – but it’s only a component ofoverall instruction.”

Brookhaven may be in better shape than other districts in makingthe transition to stronger science instruction, Barrett said. Lastyear, Brookhaven High School became the first public school todefeat the Mississippi School of Math and Sciences in the RegionalScience Bowl to advance to national competition.

The report’s letter grades were based on a rigorous criteriathat included whether standards contain clear and fair expectationsby grade level; whether they showed logical progress from grade tograde; whether there was an appropriate amount of content; whetherexpectations were specific enough and set high goals to equipstudents with the skills they need for college; and if thestandards were approached seriously or incorporatedpseudo-scientific fads or politics.