[Gradschool] TX is 2nd State to Add 4th Year of Math, Science

[Liza Wisner]

FROM: Laura Rosales

FYI FOR College of Education Students: 

Texas will require students to complete four years of math and science to graduate from high school, beginning with freshmen in 2007-08. The current requirement is three years of each.

The only other state with a four-year requirement is Alabama. 

Struggling students may have the requirement reduced to three years of math and two of science with school and parent permission. However, some teachers worry that the performance of middle-of-the-pack students may suffer if they buckle under the weight of the requirement and have less time for electives. 

"I'm really concerned about what will happen with the dropout rate," said Paula Barnhouse, a counselor at MacArthur High School, in Irving. 

Even top Texas universities don't require applicants to have four years of math and science. Rice University, for example, requires three years of math and two years of laboratory science. 

Music and art teachers are asking the state to encourage students to continue taking electives by raising the number of credits required to graduate from 24 to 26. 

"The arts touch our souls," said Nina Boothe, president of the Texas Art Education Association. "Calculus never touched my soul." 

WEBSITE: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/071706dnmetrequired.1a20f17.html 

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