Why Physicists leave teaching
DOI: 10.1063/1.2915846
Educators have long been concerned about the quality of science and mathematics education in US secondary schools. In recent years, this concern has spread: Congressional task forces, governors, mayors and the media have begun to recognize the serious educational crisis now facing the nation. While this time there is no dramatic event like the Sputnik of 1957 to spur increased attention to education, some fundamental challenges are becoming apparent. These include the decline in this country’s competitive edge in many areas of industry and research, the structural change in the nation’s industrial base from heavy manufacturing to high‐technology and service industries, and the revolution in information technology and exchange. In many ways we are entering a new era, and there are serious questions about how well prepared today’s youth and future generations will be to participate in it.
References
1. Information in this article derives from data produced by the American Institute of Physics, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Science Foundation, special studies by others, and the authors’ own personal experiences. While many of the available data are suggestive, the absolute numbers of secondary‐school physics teachers involved are generally too small to be statistically reliable. We hope that, in the future, more extensive data on secondary‐school teachers will be collected regularly.
2. Cooperative Institutional Research Program, 1982 Freshman Survey Results, UCLA Graduate School of Education, Los Angeles (1983).
3. 1981–82 Survey of physics and astronomy bachelor’s degree recipients, American Institute of Physics, New York (April 1983), publication number R‐211.14.
4. Teachers Survey data tape, National Science Teachers Association, Washington, D.C. (1983).
5. B. F. Porter, Local Community Power Structure, master’s thesis, New York University, New York (1964).
More about the Authors
Beverly Fearn Porter. American Institute of Physics, New York.
William H. Kelly. Lowa State University.
