Oklahoma Schools Falling Behind In Science

Oklahoma's schools are falling behind in science according to the A-through-F school grades handed out by the state Wednesday.

Most of the middle and high schools in Green Country scored Ds or Fs in science and biology; Even A+ schools struggle in science - Bixby High and Tulsa's Booker T got an A+ overall but a D in science, and A+ Bartlesville High earned an F in science.

To fix the problem, science teachers met Thursday to learn how to implement new science academic standards that will take effect in two years.

Science teachers from across the state are getting new science standards; they said there is both frustration and excitement surrounding the new science curriculum.

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Teachers turned into big kids Thursday and took the class themselves. The goal of the class is to give kids hands on approach to learning science.

Oklahoma's science courses were based on Priority Academic Student Skills, PASS, but that curriculum is a thing of the past because the new school thinking is all about an interactive classroom experience.

Tiffany Neill with the Oklahoma State Department of Education said, "It's important for students to design something, see how it works and begin to think about how it should be changed based on what they know with science."

The State Department of Education said the standards build upon what's already being taught in Oklahoma classrooms, but some teachers said students are struggling with existing concepts.

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"I spent an entire semester getting seventh graders to understand what a cell is and how it works, and now I have about 15 other standards that I have to teach that I haven't even begun to get them to understand how to grasp,” one teacher said.

Teachers were shown how the hands on method can help students learn.

“These standards, again, provide more opportunities for teachers to help students do science to learn science. Being really active to do science and learn in the classroom, so we see a focus of that more in these new standards,” Neill said.

The two-day workshop for science teachers focused on showing students how to use science to solve everyday problems; but there is concern surrounding how to explain the new Oklahoma academic standards to many students who can't pass existing state assessments.

“Where does the time come from, there are specific performance expectations that I haven't had to worry about before,” one teacher said.

The district does have some time before all of this is rolled out. PASS standards are still in effect right now; in fact, the assessment testing for the new standards won't be implemented until the 2016-2017 school year.