Physics? Forget it in more than half of Kentucky’s high schools!

Education Week just reported on an astonishing study of the proportion of high schools in each state that offer high school physics. With all the “Happy Talk” we’re hearing from educators about getting kids ready for careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and given that physics is essential to enter those STEM careers, you’d think virtually every Kentucky high school would offer this course.

Well, not so!

This map from Education Week’s article tells the sad story, and the numbers look even worse than those several college professors in Kentucky shared with me a few years ago.

EdWeek Physics Course Map

According to the way the US Department of Education classifies physics courses, fewer than half of Kentucky’s school kids even have an opportunity to take this vital STEM subject!

Of course, as I have discussed before, Common Core and NextGen Science standards don't include standards for either high school physics or the supporting math subjects required. So, don’t expect Kentucky’s use of these standards programs to help fix this big problem of inequitable opportunity.

This sure is a lousy way to push more STEM!