ERIC Number: EJ1085822
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jan
Pages: 1
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
And the Survey Says…
White, Susan C.
Physics Teacher, v54 n1 p17 Jan 2016
Since September, we have been examining the relationship between high schoolphysics enrollments by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. We have seen that the number of seniors and the number of physics teachers is roughly evenly divided into each type of school: those where students are typically better off economically than their peers at other schools in the area, those where students' economic status is typical for the area, and those where students are worse off. We have seen that even though the number of seniors and the number of physics teachers is roughly equal, the number of students taking physics is not. As we see in the figure, the enrollments in various types of physics classes are not equivalent either. While the total number of students taking Physics First or conceptual physics is about the same, the number of students in advanced classes--honors, AP, or second-year physics--is heavily skewed toward the better off schools. It is hard to know the direction of any cause and effect, but it is clear the students attending better off schools are more likely to take physics and are more likely to take more advanced physics classes in high school.
Descriptors: Physics, Enrollment Trends, Teacher Student Ratio, Career Choice, Advantaged, Socioeconomic Status, Racial Differences
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A