Education reform group ranks Indiana high in science standards
By The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 11:18 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana's public school science standards are some of the best in the nation, according to an education reform group that ranks the state as one of only seven whose standards earned an ‘‘A.''
A report released Wednesday by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation also found that Indiana was one of only three states that received an ‘‘A'' on both the 2000 and 2005 analyses prepared by the Washington, D.C.-based group. California and Massachusetts also received an ‘‘A'' both years.
A panel of scientists ranked each state's science standards based on criteria that included clarity and fairness of expectations for students at each grade level, organization of subject matters and difficulty of expectations.
The Indiana standards, which cover the teaching of everything from biology to astronomy for primary and secondary schools, earned praise from one of the scientists, who stated that they were written in ‘‘admirably straightforward language.''
Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed called Indiana's ranking good news for the ongoing effort to boost students' test scores in science and math, subjects deemed key to the state's economic future.
‘‘This is further evidence that Indiana has set the bar in the right place,'' Reed said in a statement. ‘‘Now the challenge is to ensure that all our students are prepared to meet these high expectations.''
The foundation's report found that nearly half of the 49 states surveyed received either a ‘‘D'' or an ‘‘F.'' Only seven states - California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Virginia - earned an ‘‘A.''
The report appraised the quality of the states' K-12 science standards as they rush to meet the No Child Left Behind Act's mandate for testing.
‘‘We all know that great standards like Indiana's don't guarantee a good education for a state's students, but weak standards make it much less likely,'' said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Fordham Foundation's board of trustees.
Paul Gross, the study's main author, said the best plans from across the nation emphasize teaching important scientific facts.
He expressed concern, however, that some Indiana lawmakers intend to sponsor legislation during the 2006 General Assembly that would mandate the teaching of ‘‘intelligent design'' to counter students' studies of biological evolution.
Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism - a literal reading of the biblical story of creation - repackaged in a way to get around court rulings that found creationism injects religion into public schools.
Gross said he doesn't believe Indiana lawmakers would wipe out what he called its ‘‘highly competent treatment of the biological sciences.''
‘‘But what could happen in Indiana, or anywhere, is the attachment of some silly disclaimer about evolution. We'll have to see. I hope that doesn't happen,'' he said.
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