Keith Sheppard Angela Kelly
Physics and Chemistry Offerings in New York State:Enrollment, Policy and Needs
United States
United States
United States
• Different State Science Curriculum• Different Science Graduation Requirements• Different Teacher Certification Requirements
New York State
Some Facts about New York State
• 4th Most populous state (19.5 M)– {56% white, 16% Black,7% Asian, 18% Hispanic}
• 62 Counties• Contains New York City (8.2 M)• Population not evenly distributed
– ~70% in downstate • School Population (2.7 M)– {49% White, 19% Black, 8% Asian, 22% Hispanic}
Some Facts about New York Schools
• School Population (2.7 M)– {49% White, 19% Black, 8% Asian, 22% Hispanic}– 49% Free and Reduced Lunch
• 7 Categories of School
• 54% of NYS students in high needs schools
New York State
• Distinguishing Features of NY Science Education?
New York State
• Distinguishing Feature of NY Science Education?– Regents Exams – Earth Science– And…
New York State School Districts
Largest School DistrictsDistrict State Enrollment
New York City NY 999,150
Los Angeles Unified CA 707,627
City of Chicago IL 413,694
Dade FL 353,790
Clark County NV 303,448
Broward FL 262,813
Houston ISD TX 202,936
Hillsborough FL 193,517
Hawaii HI 180,728
Largest School DistrictsDistrict State Enrollment
New York City NY 999,150
Los Angeles Unified CA 707,627
City of Chicago IL 413,694
Dade FL 353,790
Clark County NV 303,448
Suffolk County NY 264,000
Broward FL 262,813
Nassau County NY 211,000
Houston ISD TX 202,936
Hillsborough FL 193,517
Hawaii HI 180,728
New York State
NY Graduation Requirements for Science
• 6 ‘credits’ of MST– de facto three years of science
• One Living Environment, One Physical Setting• Pass One Regents Science Exam• TWO Science Regents Exams for Advanced
Diploma
Who Takes Which Science?
Subject # TakingExam
% Passing (65%+)
% Mastery (85%+)
% State
Living
Environment236,323 81 32 ~100
Earth Science 165,998 72 30 ~ 70Chemistry 108,466 78 20 ~45
Physics 49,262 79 32 ~21
New York State
Source: New York State Report Card Data 2010-11.
Who Takes Which Science?
Subject # Taking % Passing (65%+)
% Mastery (85%+)
Living
Environment92454 69 15
Earth Science 45268 51 11Chemistry 26662 66 14
Physics 12247 73 14
New York City
Source: New York State Report Card Data 2010-11.
Who Takes Which Science?
Subject # Taking % Passing (65%+)
% Mastery (85%+)
Living
Environment18312 61 10
Earth Science 7620 40 5Chemistry 3693 58 16
Physics 1778 68 32
Bronx
Source: New York State Report Card Data 2010-11.
Who Takes Which Science?
Subject # Taking % Passing (65%+)
% Mastery (85%+)
Living
Environment680 100 94
Earth Science 1 0 0Chemistry 803 100 64
Physics 778 98 63
Bronx High School of Science
Source: New York State Report Card Data 2010-11.
Who Takes Which Science?
Subject # Taking % Passing (65%+)
% Mastery (85%+)
Living
Environment17362 60 6.6
Earth Science 7619 40 5Chemistry 2890 47 3
Physics 1000 44 7.5
Bronx - Bronx High School of Science
Source: New York State Report Card Data 2010-11.
Who Takes Which Science?
• If you attend school in the Bronx your chances of taking Regents Physics are 1 in 9 (Chemistry 1 in 4)
• If you attend school in the Bronx (not BHS of Science) your chances of taking Regents Physics are 1 in 20 (Chem 1 in 10)
• If you attend school in the Bronx (not BHS of Science) your chances of passing Regents Physics are 1 in 40 (Chem 1 in 20)
• If you attend school in the Bronx (not BHS of Science) your chances of passing Regents Physics with mastery are 1 in 200
(Chem 1 in 200)
Chemistry
Course # Enrolled # Teachers
Regents Chemistry 115404 2031
AP Chemistry 8268 312
College Chemistry 1621 72
Other Chemistry 23191 609
Source: New York BEDS Data 2010-11
Physics
Course # Enrolled # Teachers
Regents Physics 52980 1168
AP Physics B 8549 294
AP Physics C(Mech)
1713 91
AP Physics C(Elec)
1193 46
Other Physics 14,315 404
Source: New York BEDS Data 2010-11
Physics Students
Regents Physics
% Total
AP Physics B % Total
AP Physics C: Mechanics % Total
AP Physics C: EM % Total
Other Physics % Total
All of NYS 52980 100% 8549 100% 1713 100% 1193 100% 14315 100%
New York City 16724 32% 1515 18% 148 9% 409 34% 5853 41%
Nassau County 5851 11% 1729 20% 258 15% 220 18% 297 2%
Orange County 1099 2% 100 1% 74 4% 18 2% 201 1%
Putnam County 467 1% 170 2% 0 0% 0 0% 153 1%
Rockland County 1168 2% 295 3% 72 4% 65 5% 320 2%
Suffolk County 5913 11% 1549 18% 181 11% 128 11% 646 5%
Westchester County 3112 6% 605 7% 395 23% 75 6% 1782 12%
Tot. of 11 Lower Counties 34334 65% 5963 70% 1128 66% 915 77% 9252 65%
County Physics Teachers
Regents Physics
% Total
AP Physics B % Total
AP Physics C:
Mechanics % Total
AP Physics C:
EM % TotalOther
Physics % Total
All of NYS 1168 100% 294 100% 91 100% 46 100% 404 100%
New York City 239 20% 30 10% 5 5% 7 15% 90 22%
Nassau County 126 11% 55 19% 14 15% 9 20% 12 3%
Orange County 22 2% 6 2% 3 3% 1 2% 8 2%Putnam County 11 1% 6 2% 0 0% 0 0% 4 1%
Rockland County 24 2% 9 3% 4 4% 3 7% 11 3%
Suffolk County 125 11% 54 18% 10 11% 6 13% 25 6%Westchester
County 64 5% 22 7% 15 16% 4 9% 50 12%
Tot. of 11 Lower
Counties 611 52% 182 62% 51 56% 30 65% 200 50%
Nassau County
Solutions – New York State
1. Change NYS graduation requirements– “Physical Setting”– Unintended consequence of testing culture– Boosting enrollment in physics and chemistry
Solutions – New York State
2. Explore units of analysis– Richer disaggregate data– Opportunity to learn in different contexts– Who is teaching what? In middle school?– How many teachers do we need in what
certification areas?
Solutions – Administration
3. Educate administrators– Who controls access– Superintendents guidance counselors
Solutions – Higher Education
4. Role of research university– Offering advanced science, teaching labs– New Science Education Ph.D. – influence policy– Research on SES outliers
Top Related