ACS Presidential Agenda, 2005
Secondary Education

Many members have expressed concern about education, especially education of pre-college students, and wondered aloud if there is a correlation between the state of pre-college science education and the public’s perception of science, especially chemistry. Today, sixty percent of high school students take chemistry, but few will take it from a chemist; and yet, for many of us—myself included—a high school chemistry teacher with a passion for the subject was the determining factor in our choice of career. To that end, next year I would like to focus on pre-college education, and especially high school education.

1) Greater involvement of high school teachers in ACS. We are in the process of changing the by-laws to make membership more accessible to teachers. We should also understand from teachers—members or not--the value they see or do not see in ACS and understand how we can make membership itself more attractive to them. We provide a great deal of material, especially on our website, and we should be reevaluating whether it is sufficiently accessible, correctly priced, relevant in content and more importantly, valued by our target audiences.

I have asked the Office of Education in conjunction with the Society Committee on Education, the Division of Chemical Education and Membership to initiate such a study in order to determine the specific teacher needs we are filling or can fill more effectively, and redesign our programs, memberships and pricing accordingly.

2) Second-Career Teachers. I believe that those who love chemistry make better teachers; as a result, I would like to see more chemists teaching. We should understand and work to remove the barriers that keep technically qualified people who want to teach from doing so. Developing the certified degree with chemistry education option is a good start for encouraging “first career” teachers. On the other hand, we have a number of members who are voluntarily or involuntarily early retirees who might want a new start in high school teaching.

To this end, I would like us to promote the concept of and need for “second career teachers.” The target audience is our membership, particularly those members who are searching for the next phase of their careers.

I have asked the Office of Education to develop or make available documentation regarding the necessary education and certification or alternative certification requirements for technically qualified people who would like to teach in high school as either a first or second career. Much of this information exists and should be collated and made available on our website.

I would also like Communications to assist in designing a program of outreach to members so as to raise awareness of the potential for high school teaching as a second-career. I am planning at least one Presidential Event at the national meetings highlighting this information and showcasing actual Second-Career Teachers and their challenges, successes, needs and recommendations.

Teaching is not for everyone; but it is for some people. And a chemistry degree alone is not sufficient training for teaching high school in the twenty-first century. However, we can work with the National Science Teachers Association to understand the necessary set of information and develop or promote curricula which, when accompanied by a good apprentice teaching opportunity and mentoring can prepare a candidate to teach and receive appropriate certification in far less than the time it takes to earn a full degree in education.