National Perspective on Earth Science Education

1
National Perspective on Earth Science Education

• AGI Member Society Council Meeting
• GSA Annual Meeting, 2001
• Michael Smith
• Caitlin Callahan
• Matthew Smith

2
The Big Picture

• School districts - 14,571
• Schools - 92,012
• K-12 Enrollment - 46.9 million
• 9-12 Enrollment - 13.1 million
• K-12 Teachers - 2.9 million
• 7-12 Teachers - 1.03 million
• Average MS Population 594 (136 - 1,036)
• Average HS Population 752 (261 - 1,461)
• Grade 9 students 1995-96 3.7 million
• High school graduates 1998-99 2.5 million

3
State School Enrollments

• State K-12 9-12
• California 5,986,872 1,656,111
• Texas 4,033,697 1,077,158
• New York 2,873,492 848,976
• North Dakota 113,434 37,737
• Vermont 105,980 31,863
• Wyoming 91,194 31,301
• Heritage Foundation Chief Council of State
  School Officers

4
Vision versus Practice

• -States with content standards - 49
• -Earth science (ES) in state standards - 49
• -ES counts for required course credits - 37
• -ES content on a state high school test - 23
• -ES content in course req. for graduation - 8
• -ES course required for graduation - 2
• -Main assignment ES teachers certified - 29
• -Grade 9-12 students enrolled in ES - 7

5
Textbook Adoption

• 20 States select or recommend textbooks
• Select
• AL CA FL IL MS NM OK OR SC TN TX
• Review and recommend
• AR ID IN LA NC NV UT VA WV
• Council of Chief State School Officers, 2000

6
Highest Ninth GradeEarth Science Enrollments
(1998)

• State Pop. Rank
• Arkansas 78 34
• New York 67 3
• Maine 58 41
• Idaho 57 39
• Vermont 48 49
• North Carolina 37 10
• Connecticut 36 30
• Iowa 35 29
• Nebraska 34 37
• Indiana 33 14