Some bad news before I go ...

From a report released by BIO: The Biotechnology Industry Organization:

  • On average, only 28% of the high school students taking the ACT , which is a national standardized test for college admission , reached a score indicating college readiness for biology and no state reached even 50%.
  • Only 52% of 12th graders are at or above a basic level of achievement in the sciences, and for 8th graders only 57% are at a basic level of achievement.
  • Average scores for 12th graders in the sciences have actually declined from 1996 to 2005 and shown no improvement for 8th graders both on overall and the life science component.
  • A significant gap exists in science achievement for low-income middle-school students, although the gap is slowly narrowing.

Read more here.

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