Students struggling with science proficiency

Although fourth- and eighth-graders in Hawaii’s public schools saw gains in science proficiency last school year, scores remained lower than hoped, and proficiency among 10th-graders didn’t budge at all.

New Department of Education figures show 45 percent of Hawaii fourth-graders were proficient in science in the 2011-12 school year, from 43 percent the year before. In the eighth grade, 31 percent tested proficient, from 26 percent.

The picture was gloomiest among high school sophomores: For a second year, just 22 percent tested proficient in science.

Reading and math proficiency levels, which rose in every grade level last school year, are far higher: 71 percent of Hawaii students are proficient in reading, 59 percent in math.

DOE officials said there are a number of reasons for the lower-than-desired science scores. They include the reality that schools can only do so much with their tight resources.

And under the 2001 federal No Child Left Behind law, the primary focus has been on math and reading. (The law requires schools to meet annual proficiency goals for math and reading.)

In contrast, while fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders are annually tested in science, the scores don’t factor into whether a school is determined to have met goals under NCLB.

Derrick Tsuruda, DOE science educational specialist, said improving science scores can’t be about taking emphasis away from math and reading. Instead, he said, one strategy is to weave interactive science instruction into other courses.

"It’s not shifting the focus from math and ELA (English Language Arts) to science, but more incorporating the science," Tsuruda said. "By doing that, it’s not going to be looked at as another thing that they (schools) will have to do."

To encourage this approach, the DOE is offering teacher training and extra support at about 30 schools. The training assists teachers in developing science, technology, engineering and math units that will appeal to modern learners.

Preliminary school-by-school HSA science numbers show campuses vary greatly in the percentage of students proficient in science. At more than two dozen schools, for example, 10 percent of students or fewer were proficient in science.

But other schools had very high marks.

A seemingly impossible 100 percent of fourth-graders at Hoku­lani Elementary in Manoa tested proficient in science (54 percent met standards and 46 percent exceeded them).

Hokulani Principal Alan Ramos said the school stresses hands-on learning in science, such as water quality testing in nearby Manoa Stream. "Kids get to use science concepts, apply them to their lives in real-world situations," he said.

Among high schools, Mililani High saw the highest scores, followed by Kalani High. At Mililani, 43 percent of 10th-graders tested proficient, while 46 percent "approached" proficiency.

DOE officials say the reasons behind the lower scores for sophomores might not all be linked to teaching. It could be a matter of what 10th-graders are tested on versus what they’ve learned. That’s because while the science portion of the Hawaii State Assessment focuses on biology, some 10th-graders haven’t yet taken biology or are in the process of taking it.

As a fix, the DOE has discussed plans to develop an end-of-course biology exam to replace the HSA science test.

In the meantime, several high schools continue to see percentages of students proficient in science in the single digits.

At Kealakehe High last school year, just 2 percent of sophomores (four students in all) tested proficient in science. Fifty-six percent were "well below" proficiency in the subject.

Kealakehe Principal Wilfred Mura­kami said the low scores don’t reflect student knowledge, but how courses are ordered at the school. Students usually take biology in their junior or senior year, he said, and take physics as freshmen.

"If you look at our math scores and our reading scores, they’re very good," he said. (Some 76 percent of Kealakehe 10th-graders were proficient in reading, and 62 percent were proficient in math in the school year that just ended.) He said he could glean "very little" from the school’s science scores.

"Our science curriculum is solid," Mura­kami said.