Submitted by
Users who Dugg This
Robin Oakley
216 Followers
Russ Smith
18390 Followers
inajeepFeb 3, 2012
Do your self a favor and please don't stop at the infographic alone. Go to the actual site and read the review of the state(s) you are interested in. This is a very deep and scathing review of our science education. It is straightforward and unapologetic. It shows that the ball we dropped in education is quite large and it will crush us if we don't do something to improve education of science.
ect5150Feb 3, 2012
I guess I will have to click through based on your suggestion, but having South Carolina and Virginia at an A- while North Carolina at a D doesn't seem to match up.
scabnabbitFeb 3, 2012
"Tennessee presents four biology courses at the high school
level: Biology I, Biology II, Human Anatomy and Physiology,
and Ecology. Among the four, only Biology II even attempts
to cover the full scope of biology, but even there, the
standards are often vague and repetitive. Worse still, it
isn’t clear that all students are required to take Biology II,
which means that students could graduate from Tennessee
high schools without having been exposed to much of the
essential life science content."
Wow. That's horrible. Seems like they haven't changed since I went to school in the 80s.
I remember skating by on Bio I. And everything was so vague it was a joke. I just wrote vague stuff back. That and the dissect a frog bit which always ended with a girl freaking out and therefor no one really finishing.
In Ecology our teacher was a coach who just said stuff like: "The world's messed up. When birds are all up on you, like a brother, in the park expecting something, that's not what's supposed to be happening." Then he'd write stuff on the board and leave to deal with coaching concerns.
I'd forgotten that stuff.
drcrankFeb 3, 2012
Remember to cover your eyes and ears and drown out all of this negative nancy information by continuously repeating "We're number 1!".
scabnabbitFeb 3, 2012
Even when I was in school in the 80s, it was "uncool" to like science. (Which was rough on the teachers, who as I remember where competent.) It was just the mood of the nation at the time. (Maybe still is - being an idiot is always preferable to the peer group.)
There's also the religious aspect. I remember a year in Chemistry where the teacher flat out said we wouldn't be going over chapters x,y,z, because they were propaganda from believers in evolution. I remember being completely shocked, but looking around no one else was. So we skipped those and learned to spin our answers to bash evolution to make the grade.
I got an A in that class and didn't learn a thing.
NoGodzFeb 3, 2012
That whole "science" thing? It's just a theory.
sonicmolechaserFeb 3, 2012
I live in Indiana. How the f**k did we get an A-? I think we still teach that diseases are caused by a small toad or dwarf living in the stomach.
menellomFeb 3, 2012
Just six months ago, SERI ranked California as "below average" on science and math education. That they're suddenly ranked as the only A-rated state in the country for scientific literacy brings into question the basis of the TFI's survey.
Also, I'm calling shenanigans on Iowa's "D" grade. Scientific literacy isn't great in the more rural counties, but it's high in the larger towns and cities (where the majority of the population is).
al3efromanFeb 3, 2012
You have to read the article linked in this article (for some reason they make you work for it). Science education standards are set by states, not rural counties or big cities alone, so it wouldn't make sense to rank them separately. If you look at the Iowa portion of this article, you can see their specific criticisms.
http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2012/2012-State-of-State-Science-Standards/2012-State-Science-Standards-Iowa.pdf
It may very well be true that folks in the larger urban population centers are more literate in science and even receiving a better science education, but that isn't because they have a better or worse curriculum laid out for them by the state. I suspect that they might have a better pool of science teachers from which to draw, but that's not what these ranking are about.
smurfzFeb 3, 2012
B+ for Kansas. I'll take that
nekokittayFeb 3, 2012
I've surprised Wisconsin and Oregon have Fs. And Indiana an A-? That's surprising too.
nickymouseFeb 3, 2012
I'm not too surprised. Indiana has been regarded a bible thumping, basketball watching fly over state. However, the state, corporations, and universities have created quite the environment to promote science in the state.
DickybowFeb 5, 2012
As an outsider, I see fundamentalist religion with its claws around the throat of a Nation. So sad to see theists using heart-felt bigotry as an argument against the painful reality.
carlmosconiFeb 3, 2012
A disgrace!
silentspyderFeb 3, 2012
While I know math and science go hand in hand, I wish they would tone down the math and bring up the science. History and science were always the belittled subjects, at least in my jersey school.
Closed AccountFeb 3, 2012
at least my state didnt try to legislate the value of Pi...
Signed....NOT AN INDY RESIDENT!!
darth0Feb 3, 2012
Unfortunately, they also just tried to pass a bill to add religious creation theories to science classes.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/creationist-school-bill-looks.html?ref=hp
ramondayFeb 3, 2012
The only science you people need to know involves a creature that solely exists to get you. I'm talking, of course, about manbearpig. 1/2 man, 1/2 bear and 1/2 pig. I'm super serial.
encognitoFeb 4, 2012
Louisiana gets a B? Bulls**t.
hiphopisdeadFeb 4, 2012
I find it hard to believe this is accurate. Wisconsin is pretty highly ranked (#2 in the nation, I believe) in SAT and ACT scores. The ACT does contain a science section and most midwest students take the ACT before the SAT due to school preference.
al3efromanFeb 4, 2012
The title posted here is not the same as the title of the source for the article. It's mislabeled and misleading. The source article is actually titled "The State of State Science Standards 2012" which is something quite different than literacy.
This article is speaking to the quality of the state-wide curriculum, not the scientific literacy of the actual students. Excellent teachers can overcome a lacking curriculum, but that doesn't mean the state provided any quality guidance.
http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/the-state-of-state-science-standards-2012.html
rickthebrickFeb 4, 2012
Michigan gets a C. The University of Michigan and Michigan State are both world wide renowned science universities.
assassyn360Feb 3, 2012
Go Arkansas!
sloppyjoes7Feb 3, 2012
This isn't a study.
It's an anti-Christian advocate arguing for more evolution.
His #1 point (literally) is that evolution should be taught more, and is more important than any other issue he found.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
publiclurkerFeb 4, 2012
Well imagine that, asking to actually teach science. Of course we wouldn't expect a superstitious, pointy haired imbecile like you to comprehend such elite concepts now would we?
sloppyjoes7Feb 4, 2012
Believing in evolution has nothing to do with one's ability to work within a scientific field.
al3efromanFeb 4, 2012
Accepting the reproducible work of previous scientists and accepting evolution or disproving it through your own reproducible experimentation is exactly the type of thing that makes a good scientist.
Believing in evolution has nothing to do with anti-Christian advocacy. Can you point me to the part where they take their anti-Christian stand?
realcoolguy9022Feb 3, 2012
Damn, and here I thought Minnesota had enough environmental wackos to make it to the top tier. Hey California have your scientists solved that debt problem yet? Don't worry we're well on our way to destroying our shipping industry here with environmental regulations (based on SCIENCE!).Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
crom99Feb 3, 2012
You do understand that this article is about schooling and not state budgets, right?
realcoolguy9022Feb 3, 2012
More than you know. Environmental indoctrination starts early.
crunchdiggFeb 3, 2012
Are you pointing out that teaching actual science and reasoning might lead to ... environmentalism?
equinox2o12Feb 3, 2012
I'm sorry, the world no longer requires your services, as minimal as they were. You are free to leave.
realcoolguy9022Feb 3, 2012
Moon colony here I come!
darth0Feb 3, 2012
Yeaaaaa..... Not so much.
publiclurkerFeb 4, 2012
then you must be about six weeks old to be so lacking in intelligent (i.e. what smart people call your indoctrination). remember, just because reality doesn't agree with your own self-serving, morally bankrupt opinions does not mean that your betters should abandon it.
realcoolguy9022Feb 4, 2012
There you go projecting yourself into your own comments again.
FrankLuskaFeb 5, 2012
He has got to do something when he's not spewing hate about others, must have been break time.