More Resources African American Parents Consider Science Important

Parents are overwhelmingly interested in their children's science education and understand its importance, yet American performance in the sciences does not meet most parental expectations, according to a poll released today by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige.

An overwhelming majority of parents polled (94 percent) feel that a science education is important, and 85 percent of parents are also proactive about encouraging their children to take science classes. In addition, 72 percent of parents reported feeling comfortable helping their children with their science homework, and just over half (51 percent) of parents feel that they have more science education than their children, the poll of 1,000 parents with children between the ages of 13 and 17 found. (Complete poll results follow at the end of the release.)

Paige released the poll results at the nation's first Summit on Science, a meeting attended by over 700 educators, researchers, scientists and business leaders. Experts at the summit, a part of the No Child Left Behind bipartisan education reform, discussed the latest science education trends, methods and best practices, and ways to improve public understanding of the sciences. It also highlighted future challenges and laid the groundwork for creating solutions for more effective science teaching and learning.

"This poll shows that parents understand the importance of science in today's world and have a real enthusiasm for high-quality science instruction," Paige said. "Unfortunately, American academic performance in science is not matching up with parents' goals, as can be evidenced by the most recent science scores on the Nation's Report Card—the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP—where fewer than one-third of fourth-graders scored at or above proficient, scores for fourth- and eighth-graders have not improved, and scores for seniors are declining. This Summit on Science will set the stage for improving science instruction so that we can close the gap between expectations at home and execution at school.

"As a nation, we should not be satisfied with the status quo. We should aim to lead the world, not because education should be a competition, but because we must do all we can to educate each and every child in America, regardless of their skin color, spoken accent or where they live."

Joining Paige at the summit were National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Sean O'Keefe, Director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy John Marburger, Acting Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Arden L. Bement, Jr., President of the National Academies of Science Bruce Alberts and Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, among others. The Summit on Science is part of a multi-pronged effort to improve science education in the nation. It follows upon the work of the Mathematics Summit, held last year. Both summits are part of the president's Mathematics and Science Initiative, which are being developed and implemented by the Department of Education, NASA, NSF, as well as other federal agencies involved in education and workforce development.

Part of the solution to improving science education is to help ensure that students are taught by teachers with expertise in their subject areas. Research shows that having a highly qualified teacher in the classroom is the single most important factor in academic success. President Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative addresses this issue by requiring that all teachers be "highly qualified" by the 2005-06 school year. Yesterday, the department announced new options to help states certify all teachers as highly qualified.

"Unfortunately, many students today are taught math and science by a teacher without a major or a minor in the subject they teach. Our poll found that minority parents clearly understand the importance of science but their children may not be getting the best teachers to help them with the subject, which could explain the disconnect between parental expectations and academic success. The Mathematics and Science Initiative, conducted within the context of No Child Left Behind, will explore new ways to recruit and train highly qualified math and science teachers and to get them to the places they are most needed," said Paige.

In addition to the summit, the department has a discretionary grant program called the Fund for the Improvement of Education that has invested in five projects with respected partners to bring technical expertise to math and science instruction. Tied into these efforts is the president's support for Math and Science Partnerships, which will help strengthen math and science curricula and instruction by involving experts from the sciences and higher education and other leading authorities. Also, the president's latest budget includes more than $5 billion to better train teachers, to recruit new teachers, to provide loan forgiveness to math and science teachers in high-need schools and to help teachers cover their classroom expenses.

Today's summit falls on the second day of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Mathematics Education Week (ESTME), jointly sponsored by the Department of Education, NSF and other government agencies and scientific societies. During ESTME Week, scientists, engineers and mathematicians visit classrooms in communities across the United States. Last week, the president announced over 100 winners of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The teachers all attended the Summit on Science and are participating in other ESTME week activities.

Paige congratulated the Presidential award winners saying, "These teachers represent the top of their field, devoting their lives to making science and mathematics fun yet challenging for our nation's students. Someday, one of their students may walk on Mars, cure cancer or discover a new species—all because their teachers ignited sparks of interest and imagination in their classroom. Their dedication is indeed praiseworthy."

Part of ESTME Week includes Classrooms of the Future: Expo to Highlight Innovative Teaching and Curriculums, which comprises exhibits by 29 different organizations.

For further information on today's summit and the Department of Education's Mathematics and Science Initiative, visit http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/progs/mathscience/index.html

U.S. Department of Education
National Survey of Parental Attitudes Toward
Science Education
ESTME Week/Summit on Science

The following highlights are drawn from a nationwide poll of 1,000 parents (404 fathers and 600 mothers) with children between 13 and 17 years of age. The poll, conducted for the U.S. Department of Education, was fielded between March 8 and March 11, 2004.

Overview:

Parents are overwhelmingly interested in their children's science education and understand its importance. Parents are trying to take control of an important educational component of their children's future: the majority of parents, particularly mothers, say they take a proactive role in encouraging their children to take science courses. However, mothers are the least comfortable helping their children with science homework.

Minority parents overall are more likely to encourage their children to take science and are more likely to be more comfortable helping with science homework than their white counterparts, yet studies show that minority students tend to do worse on science assessments. Thus, there seems to be a disconnect between expectations in the home and what happens in the classroom.

Specific findings:

• Parents are very proactive about encouraging their children to take science classes.
  • 85 percent of parents report being "very" or "somewhat proactive."
  • Mothers report themselves to be more proactive than fathers (56 percent "very proactive" vs. 45 percent of fathers).
  • Hispanics are the most likely to be "very proactive" (67 percent), whites are the least likely (54 percent).

• Parents understand the importance of science-related courses for their child's success in the context of a global workforce.
  • 94 percent feel that that a science education is important overall (61 percent say "very important," 34 percent think it is "somewhat important").
  • Black and Hispanic parents are more likely than whites to consider science education "very important" (71 percent, 66 percent and 57 percent, respectively).
  • Older parents are more likely than younger ones to rate science education "very important" (69 percent of parents over the age of 50 vs. 56 percent of parents under the age of 40).

• Parents are comfortable helping their children with science homework.

  • 72 percent of parents overall feel comfortable helping their children with their science homework. (31 percent feel "very comfortable" and 41 percent "somewhat comfortable").
  • Mothers are almost twice as likely as fathers to be "very" or "somewhat uncomfortable" helping their children with science homework (30 percent of mothers feel "very" or "somewhat uncomfortable" vs. 17 percent of fathers).
  • Whites are less comfortable than Hispanics and blacks (37 percent of whites are "very comfortable" compared to 59 percent of Hispanics and 55 percent of blacks).

• Given the rapid pace of scientific and technological change, it is interesting that parents think that they received more science education a generation ago than their children do today, despite decades of advances such as the internet, the biotech revolution and nanotechnology.
  • Half (51 percent) of parents feel that they have more science education than their children.
  • Fewer Hispanic parents tend to believe they have more science education than their children than do parents of other races (Hispanics at 47 percent, whites at 52 percent and blacks at 52 percent).

Survey Questions PDF | MS Word

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