Many states in the U.S. are alarmed by news from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Science 2005 Report Card, released Wednesday – science proficiency appears to dwindle as students reach high school. One state fairly concerned with science education is Illinois. About 70 percent of Illinois 4th and 8th graders lack proficiency in physical, life and earth sciences, according to the NEAP results released Wednesday (4th grade snapshot, 8th grade snapshot). Illinois students performed worse than over half of the 44 participating states. The Illinois scores on the rigorous national exam stand in stark contrast to performance on the easier state science exam. Last year, nearly three-quarters of Illinois 4th and 7th graders passed the state science exam.

Ginger Reynolds, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for the Illinois State Board of Education, argued that

The results are important and we will look closely at them, but our focus is on the state test because we know that teachers align their curricula to the state exams. The state test results show that our schools are teaching according to the learning standards that we have adopted as a state.

What can be done to improve the state of science education in Illinois? The American Society for Engineering Education has proposed one solution: a workshop on K-12 engineering education for Chicago-area K-12 science and math teachers to be held on June 17th in Chicago, IL. Teachers will have hands-on opportunities to learn how to implement K-12 engineering activities mapped to Illinois state standards and bring science and math alive for their students.

Learn more about the nation’s science report card from the Department of Education and the Chicago Tribune and what ASEE is doing to improve STEM education in Illinois at the ASEE Workshop on K-12 Engineering Education website.

Image courtesy of Purdue University