Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.—Robert Frost

From the White House, to most Governor’s houses around the country, Americans are being led down a pathway that the creative and innovative would not take; and that is the road less traveled. We are following road signs that tell us that in order to compete in the global sphere, and to increase economic growth, we must improve student achievement, especially in math and reading. Neither of these road signs are based on any research evidence. They are based on political dogma that has its roots in fear and authoritarianism.

For example, in their provocative paper, Into the Eye of the Storm: Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand, Lowell and Salzman provide convincing arguments and data that student achievement levels in math and science have no effect on the enrollment of students in science and engineering in college, nor is there a positive relationship between achievement levels and national economic peroformance.

Most in politics would have parents and the general public believe that the sky is falling and we are in dire straights when it come to science and math education in the United States. The fact is that science education is led by the one of the most able bound, professionally prepared, and stable group of educators, as reported by the National Science Foundation, and that American science teachers report very high job satisfaction.

Furthermore the NSF reports that the United States has consistently led the world in inventiveness as measured by the number of patents applied for between the period 1985 – 2005. and this sems to be continuing. The community of scientists in the United States has consistently produced thousands of peer reviewed articles per year, and is only exceeded in this output by the European Union, which is comprised of many nations. The United States also graduates more individuals with doctoral degrees than any other nation in science scince education and engineering. Furthermore, K-12 students fare very well on tests, and consistently show improvement over time, and with its peer group of industrialized nations, does very well. We are not in 21st place of rankings as someone (whom I admire) in the White House recently said.

One of the problems we face, and as pointed out the Lowell and Salzman, is that many of the factors that affect student achievement are nonschool factors. For example it has been shown by PISA researchers that the impact on test scores by factors such as single-parent families (as much as 18 – 30 scale points difference), parental education level, family income, and other socioeconomic factors play a significant role in achievement.77

We need to take another road to improve education in general, and science education specifically. Assuming that teaching to a “common” test will result in some kind of improvement of the American economy, and the general well-being of the nation is narrow, and not based on evidence.

Perhaps the road should be blocked.or work on it slowed to enable an alternative roadbed that will be open to talent development, creative and inventive projects and processes, professional teachers and their leaderhip in charge and leading the way.

We need to take the road less traveled, and that would be the humanistic science education path that we have explored at this weblog.