New Report Finds Wide Disparities in State Bioscience Education Efforts

A new report published by BIO, Battelle and the Biotechnology Institute finds that student achievement in biosciences varies widely between and within states. It also finds that many states lag behind in programmatic efforts to improve bioscience education, even as the life science industry grows in stature as a common priority for TBED initiatives.

The report, which was released to coincide with the start of this year's BIO convention, argues that state education systems across the country must improve to make the U.S. competitive in biotechnology. On average, only 28 percent of students taking the ACT obtained a score indicating readiness for college-level biology. Only 52 percent of 12th graders were at or about a basic level of achievement in the sciences. Science achievement among twelfth graders actually declined between 1995 and 2005 nationwide, though this was not true for all states.

Several states are singled out in the report for their leadership in incorporating bioscience into their standards and improving student performance. The high-achieving states, in alphabetical order, include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin. Even in these states, however, gaps exist between science achievement for lower-income and higher-income students.

The report provides several recommendations for states seeking to improve their bioscience education systems, including:

• Incorporating biotechnology as they revise science standards and bringing in biotech research scientists when developing these standards;
• Committing to improve student achievement in biology and life sciences and ensuring that high school graduates are prepared for college coursework;
• Improving the collection and dissemination of student participation and performance in the life sciences; and,
• Taking a more systematic approach to bioscience-related teacher development and training.

"Taking the Pulse of Bioscience Education in America: A State by State Analysis" is available at: http://www.bio.org/local/battelle2009