Schools

Putting Darwin in classroom

A local teacher helped draft new science standards.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
Published January 19, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Kathryn Bylsma, science department chairwoman at John Long Middle School in Pasco County, was a microbiologist before becoming a teacher 15 years ago.

Most recently, she served on the committee that wrote the state's proposed revisions to the science curriculum standards. Those standards have proved controversial, especially the provision that would require the teaching of evolution as a main idea behind modern biology. She talked with reporter Jeff Solochek about her time on the committee.

How did you get involved with the state standards? There are very few teachers from this area, and some districts have none.

I work for FCAT Explorer. Every year I'm on the content item review, and I asked ... the last time we met, 'It's time to revise the standards. When is that going to happen?' So during the course of the summer I sent another letter to ... my contact with FCAT, and she said, 'Well, it's about time. Let me forward your name.' Then (a state coordinator) sent me an e-mail and asked for my resume. So this summer I sent them my resume and the next thing I knew, because of my opportunities with Pasco County, I guess that was what they were looking for.

Tell me about the opportunities you've had.

I write a lot of curriculum for Pasco County. ... I do a lot of workshops in the summer for science. So it's just something I have a passion for.

Why are you so passionate about science?

Science is how things work. It's a very general category. It applies to darn near everything. There doesn't have to be a specific procedure to it. That's what I like about it. But I can explore. And I want my kids to ask questions. How does this work? Or, why does it work this way? That's how I approach science, and we need to encourage kids to do that.

Why do you think they needed to be changed?

The nature of science. We've learned so much since the last time the standards were written about child development, about what is developmentally appropriate for a child to be able to process. So taking that information and applying that to what our standards said to teach this child, is that appropriate? ... I think teachers are going to be absolutely thrilled.

Why then are people focusing on just one standard, the evolution standard?

If you say that word (laughs). I had said up front, 'Can you just say change?' And I don't think you'd have had that same response. I really don't. I think the general public does not necessarily delve into what the change is, and that this is a theory about the change. It's not a law. Helping kids understand the nature of theories based on this information, have a thought, and pursue it from there. I think this will help clarify.

Do you ever have students who raise their hands and say, 'That's not what they taught me in church,' for instance?

Oh absolutely. Absolutely. You routinely come in conflict with children's moral standards from the home. And that's why you have to say, 'In the science community, this is the information that we have.' Now, your belief system is your belief system, and it's not my right to trample on that or to mix you up, confuse you somehow. It's not up to me to do that. But in the science community, this is the evidence we have.

If evolution is the science, as the way that most scientists accept it now ...

Don't say most. You can't even say most. I understand that, yes, this is a working theory. And as a science teacher, I am conflicted in my beliefs. But I am willing to understand that melding the two is a possibility. So I try to show kids, just like any other decisionmaking, I understand based on this information. But (your) parents have said this. Now let me put the two together. I am compassionate about that. I raised kids. I get it.

How did you consider all the public comment?

We were instructed first and foremost last summer to create, to form, world-class standards. ... We used the PISA standards that rated Finland first and foremost in almost every area. The Singapore standards were very high as well, internationally. Then we were instructed to use Massachusetts and Indiana, the National Academy of Sciences. We used a lot of world-class standards. Then we took into account developmentally appropriate data. Taking Science To School, an awesome text from the National Academy. ... It's been a long process.

Pinellas had four (on the standards committee) but Hillsborough had none and Hernando had none. Do you make yourself available to other districts to go and help them?

Truth be told, no one has asked me to do that. I just feel so fortunate to have been involved in this. ... To make sure that students have every available opportunity, that has to be our first criteria. There can't be anything beyond that. So teacher training will follow. Staff development and professional development will follow. But it's funding. You have to have money. I'm hoping the public will really support us that way, too. We have to get this to kids.

Do your students know that you sat on this committee?

They do. And I wrote out a letter this last time because my administrators had asked me to communicate thoroughly to the parents why I am not in the classroom. The kids seemed to understand that 'She's doing work.' And I have a blog site, so I talk to them every day when I'm gone. How did it go today? What are the hurdles? What do we need to do differently? So I stay in constant communication with them. And the parents have been so supportive. I think that most of our parents understand that I'm out of the classroom for a constructive reason. I'm not at the beach.

To see the full text of this interview, visit the Gradebook at blogs.tampabay.com/schools. Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4614.

[Last modified January 18, 2008, 22:07:01]