Poor results on MCAS science test

More than a quarter of Massachusetts high school students who took the MCAS science exam last spring flunked, with dozens of urban high schools across the state registering a failure rate of 50 percent or higher in the first comprehensive test of students' competency in different scientific subjects.

The results, released yesterday by the Massachusetts Department of Education, raise a warning flag for a state that has staked its future on the life sciences and high-tech industries. Business leaders, higher education officials, and the governor have highlighted the importance of the sciences to preserving economic vitality in Massachusetts.

The stakes are also high for Massachusetts students. Starting with the class of 2010, students will have to pass one of the four subject tests - in biology, chemistry, physics, or technology and engineering - to graduate.

This new requirement and the disappointing scores, state officials said yesterday, will force school systems to pay closer attention to how they teach science.

"This helps us create a sense of urgency around the parts of our education system that need to be strengthened," said Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and a member of the state Board of Education. "Given our economy, science will be a critical component of determining these kids' futures."

Educators who oppose including a science requirement in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System said that adding science to the growing list of exams students must pass to graduate will force teachers to teach to the test, will limit time for experiments, and could zap students' enthusiasm for the subject.

Statewide failure rates on the science MCAS tests ranged from 22 percent in physics to 39 percent in chemistry.

Students can score warning/failing, needs improvement, proficient, or advanced on the four exams; they must score "needs improvement" or above on one of the four tests to pass.

Currently, students can only take one of the subject tests a year, corresponding to the course they have just completed.

While the majority of the 101,809 ninth- and 10th-graders who took one of the exams passed, more than half failed or received the minimum passing grade. In 39 high schools, mostly in urban districts, that rate rose to more than 95 percent.

"Today's results for the science MCAS reaffirm once again that we still have work to do to close the achievement gap and to support every student in every school in every community to reach his or her potential," Governor Deval Patrick said in a written statement yesterday.

Currently, Massachusetts students are only required to pass the math and English MCAS to graduate; students in the class of 2010, now sophomores, will have to score "proficient" to pass the math and English tests, instead of the previous passing standard of "needs improvement." Under federal law, all students must be proficient in the two subjects by 2014 or their schools could face sanctions. Last spring, 71 percent of 10th-graders scored "proficient" or higher in English and 69 percent in math.

So far, 39 percent of students in the class of 2010 have passed a science exam and will not have to take another one. The Board of Education has not discussed raising the passing standard for science.

"Our goal is for students to be proficient but that doesn't mean that our passing standard has to be proficient, certainly not in the first two years of implementing a new test," said Jeffrey Nellhaus, acting education commissioner. "Now that schools have this data, they're going to be able to take a closer look at their quality of instruction and try to do a better job."

The state gave a general science and technology MCAS test to 10th-graders from 1998 to 2000, but discontinued it in 2001 because the test was too broad, said an Education Department spokesman.

At the time, more than a third of 10th-graders failed the science test, which was not yet contemplated as a graduation requirement.

Biology was the most popular of the four tests offered last spring; 65,930 students, or 65 percent of the students tested, took the test. Some schools in the state's urban systems - including Boston, Springfield, Cambridge, Lawrence, Lowell, and Worcester - posted the highest failure rates in this subject, with 50 percent to 100 percent of students flunking the exam. Statewide, 24 percent failed biology.

Students fared the worst on the chemistry exam, which only 15 percent of students took. More than a third failed statewide, but dozens of schools - including those in suburbs such as Danvers, Saugus, and Peabody - had much higher failure rates.

"It's upsetting that the scores are low," said Isa Zimmerman, a senior fellow in the office of the president of the University of Massachusetts and a former school superintendent.

"We're not starting the education of science early enough to capture children's imagination and their commitment to those disciplines."

Zimmerman is organizing a statewide conference in Sturbridge tomorrow to focus on strengthening the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math.

Educators across the state say they have or are considering ramping up how they teach science. Lowell High School began offering a life science class with a biology focus for struggling ninth-graders this fall, so they will be better prepared to take biology next year.

By the time they take the science MCAS in biology as 10th-graders, they will have had two years of preparation, said William Samaras, principal of Lowell High, where 56 percent failed the biology test.

At Brighton High, where 57 percent failed the physics test, freshmen this school year will get a full year of physics, doubling the amount they received last year.

It will offer test review sessions during the school day, as well as after school during the two weeks preceding the spring science tests, said headmaster Toby Romer.

In Springfield, where 59 percent failed the biology test, students will take yearlong courses in specific science disciplines starting in the sixth grade, so they learn the subjects in depth, instead of taking a general science course in middle school, said Superintendent Joseph Burke.

Nellhaus and other education officials said they expect the scores to improve in future years, as passage becomes a requirement, mirroring the rise in math and English scores after they became graduation requirements in 2003.

But some teachers are wary of the increased pressure. Gabriell DeBear Paye, a Boston high school science teacher, said the new focus on passing the science MCAS has cut down on the amount of time she has for in-depth experiments and science fair projects.

She used to have her students study plants from their cultures and conduct experiments on their nutritional and medicinal properties, exploring their uses in perfumes, dyes, and paper over a month.

"Now, everyone is so test-crazy that we sort of quickly hit on different subjects to make sure we cover everything," she said.

Matt Carroll of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.