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In 1998, the Texas State Board of Education approved a new curriculum that
removed earth science courses from science courses that would meet graduation
requirements in Texas high schools. This action drastically de-emphasized earth
science in the curriculum of a state that has historically benefited from earth
resources.
In a column in Geotimes last September, I pointed out that earth resources
have an important impact on the economy of Texas and that, as a result, the
students of Texas and the citizens of the state need a basic understanding of
earth processes and resources. “The omission of earth science as a recommended
science course is a disconnect from the needs of the citizenry and the economy
of the state,” I wrote.
Many other geoscientists agreed with me. With the help of the American Geological
Institute (AGI), I initiated a letter-writing campaign in the state to call
attention to the de-emphasis of earth science in the state’s curriculum.
The Texas State Board of Education received letters voicing concern about the
lack of earth science in the curriculum. Many of these letters expressed the
need to have an educated citizenry at a time when resources and the environment
are critical issues for the state, the nation and the world. The letter writers
were individual geoscientists and professional societies from around the state.
The campaign was positive, and the chair of the State Board of Education invited
geoscientists to give testimony to the Board’s Committee on Instruction.
A steering committee — composed of University of Texas-Dallas professor
David Dunn, AGI Executive Director Marcus Milling, Dallas-based professional
geologist Stanley Pittman, and me — undertook the task of soliciting people
who would be willing to go to Austin to speak on behalf of earth science in
the Texas curriculum for kindergarten through high school. To provide a balanced
presentation, we invited people from the diverse cultural and geographic areas
of the state as well as from many professional disciples in the geosciences.
We invited 28 people, and they all accepted the task of speaking before the
Committee on Jan. 10.
Those who testified are firmly convinced that including earth science in the
curriculum of Texas high schools is critical to the intellectual development
of our students as well as to the economic growth of the state, the nation and
the world. They represented leaders in their respective fields at the state,
national and international levels. Present were individuals and corporate representatives
who explore for and produce oil and gas, coal, stone, aggregate materials and
minerals. Also present were researchers who study water resources and environmental
and soils issues, as well as those who link Earth and space, including astronaut
and geologist James Reilly. Representing the education community were university
faculty and administrators from some of the state’s finest institutions,
a number of dedicated middle and high school teachers, and two college geoscience
students. Two educators from other states presented their views on geoscience
education, providing a national perspective.
The common thread that binds those who testified is their passion for seeing
that the school children of Texas receive a proper earth science education,
particularly
during high school.
For example, Rodger Bybee, executive director of the Biological Sciences Curriculum
Study and a major player in the development of the National Research Council’s
(NRC) National Science Education Standards, pointed out that the NRC standards
include earth and space science as content to be taught separately from the
other sciences, and that they should be part of science in all grade levels:
elementary, middle and high school.
Michael Smith, Director of Education at AGI, stressed that both the Standards
and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, published by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, call for science literacy for all students,
the improvement of science instruction, and the inclusion of earth science throughout
K-12. According to Smith, 49 states have developed science content frameworks
connected to the national reform documents in some way, including Texas. Thus,
it appears that the current K-12 curriculum in Texas does not adhere to its
own or to the national standards.
Speaking about what our future citizens need to know, Arthur Green, chief geoscientist
at ExxonMobil Exploration Co., stressed that effective citizens need a basic
understanding of Earth’s processes if they are to make informed decisions
about their lives and are to vote intelligently on complex issues that are increasingly
global. Sharon Mosher, the William Stamps Farish Chair in the Department of
Geological Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin and the immediate past-president
of the Geological Society of America, said that her children and their friends
suffer from a lack of earth science education in high school. Hence, she said,
they are not being prepared for the future, in which many decisions and issues
will require a basic understanding of earth science.
As Reilly said: “There hasn’t been a moment when I had a chance to
look down on our planet from orbit where I haven’t been amazed at how geology
has played a significant role in the development of humankind.”
Next step: the Earth Science Taskforce
The members of the Committee on Instruction were impressed by the testimony.
The result was that the chair of the committee, Geraldine Miller, instructed
the Texas Education Agency to form an Earth Science Taskforce to investigate
and suggest ways to include earth science in the curriculum of Texas high schools.
The taskforce will consider two important points: what earth science courses
will meet the graduation requirements for science; and the inclusion of earth
science in the high school assessment test, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills (TAKS).
The formal appointment of the taskforce did not happen immediately. Dunn and
Pittman held several meetings with Miller to discuss appointments and logistics.
Dunn, Pittman and I met with the Texas Commissioner of Education, then Jim Nelson,
in March to further discuss the taskforce. However, the commissioner left that
post a week after our meeting. Dunn and Pittman later met with the new commissioner,
Felipe Alanis, to update him on our initiative and seek his support. His support
helped to facilitate the appointment of the taskforce.
The Texas Education Agency appointed the members of the Earth Science Taskforce
June 28. The members include five geoscientists, two earth science teachers,
two educators who are not earth scientists, and three members of the Texas Education
Agency staff. I am chair and Dunn is vice chair. We held our first meeting in
Austin on July 22 to begin the process of developing the recommendations that
we will submit to the Committee on Instruction in the spring.
The new state-mandated curriculum also removed the middle school assessment
test, further reducing earth science in the curriculum. The new federal education
act, commonly known as No Child Left Behind Act, mandates a middle school assessment
in science by 2007. The taskforce, therefore, will also study the earth science
curriculum and assessment in middle school.
The taskforce would not exist without the efforts of the dedicated geoscientists
who wrote letters, testified to the Texas State Board of Education and met with
public officials. Personal visits to key people in state government were critical.
A coordinated effort by many people made the difference. Geoscientists became
involved in public policy in order to effect a change that will ultimately benefit
thousands of school children in Texas. We have a long way to go to achieve our
ultimate goal, but we feel confident that we will succeed.
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