Dunton weighs in on science issues
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

KEN DUNTON

Editor's note: The subject of science education at the Port Aransas Independent School District has made news with new summer science camps and recently released results of state-mandated testing. Weighing in on those topics and more in the following Q&A is Ken Dunton, a longtime member of the PAISD Board of Trustees and research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute. Dunton also is one of the principal folks running UTMSI's GK12 program, in which marine science graduate and undergraduate students help teach science in elementary and middle school classrooms in Port Aransas.

South Jetty: Students in Port Aransas schools generally did well this year in the state-mandated testing known as TAKS - the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. However, failing science scores on TAKS tests this year for too many Brundrett Middle School students was the deciding factor in PAISD being rated by the Texas Education Agency as recognized rather than the top rating of exemplary, according to Billy Wiggins, superintendent of PAISD. As a scientist and member of the PAISD Board of Trustees, what are your reflections on this?

Dunton: I'm going to speak to you as a scientist and as a community member. I'm not going to speak to you as a board member. I'm going to keep that out of this. I have to. I think, just as a community member and scientist, the first reaction is somewhat disappointment. … But the truth of the matter is, Texas as a whole in science is even lower than what Port Aransas is scoring, and that, to me, is much more significant than what is going on in Port Aransas. … For instance, state TAKS results were at 64 percent in science for 10th grade. That's unbelievable. I don't know how Texas compares to the rest of the country, but in terms of how this country compares to the rest of the world -- in eighth-grade science, for example, we're barely in the top 10 when you put the U.S. against other countries. … That is not a good sign for a country that put the first man on the moon.

SJ: How are Port Aransas schools doing in science instruction?

Dunton: We have really good teachers in science in Port Aransas. … There are always bumps in the road, but we as a whole in Port Aransas are doing, I think, exceptionally well. … If you look at our SAT scores for Port Aransas students, ours are among the very highest in South Texas.

S.J.: What do you think was the reason our eighth-grade science test scores suffered?

Dunton: I honestly don't know. … That's something I'm sure the administration is working on.

SJ: Most school districts in Texas have problems scoring well on the science part of the TAKS. Why?

Dunton: There has been a very heavy emphasis on reading and writing to get those scores up across the state. … But the result of that is, there are more resources put into those subject areas, at the expense of science.

SJ: What needs to be done? Dunton: In the amount of funds spent per student in educationTexasranksinthe bottom 25. … We should be spending a lot more money on education than we are. … The second thing is bringing science back into the classroom, formally, at a much earlier stage. They don't really spend significant amounts of time on science until the fifth grade. That's the reason I'm trying to push local programs that … engage (children) in science, and not just teaching with textbooks but getting (students) outdoors and allowing them to work with real scientists and real-life environments.

SJ: You said at the June school board meeting that Texas science teachers are afraid to teach due to creationists attacking evolution. Would you reiterate that and elaborate?

Dunton: I'm not going to reiterate. (Laughs.) The only thing I will say about that is … I think science teachers should be provided genuine support from administrators to teach science. Science teachers are in classrooms to provide students with information on the definition of science and the scientific method, basically. The simple definition of science is just basically … the human activity of seeking natural explanations for what we observe in the world around us. For a fifth grader, that's science. We're seeking natural explanations for what we observe in the world around us, and from that definition, that allows teachers to help students collect data to test explanations of things they observe, to develop hypotheses about what they observe and to understand how hypotheses develop into theories and how good theories become maybe reliable theories. … There is always continued testing of a theory, and so even the most reliable theory can be rejected after centuries of viability. And that's very important. That defines science. It's a testable phenomenon. It's something you can collect data on, on observable phenomena. That is what distinguishes science from the testing of any other phenomena, especially supernatural phenomena. And I think teachers need to be allowed to develop that explanation in class and stick with it.

SJ: Do we have those problems in Port Aransas?

In Port Aransas, we definitely don't have a problem with teachers being afraid to teach science. One of the reasons is, they're so well trained, from attending workshops after workshops, and being involved in the GK12 program and some of them have even worked in academic science labs. I think we are blessed with some really, really good science teachers. If we ever have low TAKS scores in science, it is not related to teachers being afraid or compromising what they're teaching in class.

SJ: For the first time, science camps for kids are being held at PAISD this summer. How is it going?

Dunton: The feedback the first two weeks has been nothing less than extremely, extremely positive. … I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with a group of students on seaweeds … We went down to the jetties, we collected seaweeds, we talked about them outside, we brought them back, we spread them out and talked about the different groups and … placed them on paper and basically created pieces of artwork. You could not believe how excited the students were. ... They were so into it.

There is no memorization. It's very student-centered learning. … We take them outside in nature and give them the opportunity to collect and bring things back and look at them under a microscope … and have some ownership in what they're doing. … There's also interaction with scientists - both grad students and professors at the university. And, of course, there is the opportunity to visit all kinds of habitats. … We've taken (students) to lakes, rivers, estuaries, the jetties, the beaches and there's lot more coming.

SJ: Tell us about GK12.

Dunton: GK12, as established by NSF (the National Science Foundation), is an opportunity to partner grad students and (other) research scientists at universities with kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers and students. The idea of this is … to get teachers comfortable with contacting universities … to establish long-term connections that will enable them to enrich the scientific experience in the classroom at any level, from elementary to high school. (Another) objective of the program is to encourage grad students in the sciences to make connections with K through 12 students and teachers throughout their professional careers … to continue promoting the importance of science as a human activity in this country. This (program) is nationwide … and it's funded in the hundreds of millions of dollars by now.

The third purpose of GK12, for us, is what we're doing right now; it's called sustainability. … We want that partnership to continue. … We want to see faculty and students share their experiences, share their knowledge with the community. And what could be a better place to share your knowledge and understanding of science than with school kids? They bring it home and share it with their parents ... (and it) works its way up into the adult population.