OLYMPIA Ilwaco High Schools Shawn Stern is one of five teachers in the state to be part of the Science Assessment Leadership Team that will assess and recommend questions for the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) for biology that the Class of 2015 must pass to graduate.

Im excited about the opportunity to assess the assessment tool we will use for end of course testing in biology, Stern said. The state is doing this right and I know that test scores will go up. 

Just 49.9 percent of 10th graders in the class of 2013 passed the science HSPE. Of the 78 Ilwaco students in the class of 2013 who took the science HSPE, 38 met the standard (48.7 percent) and in Naselle 14 of 25 students passed the science test (56 percent). One reason for the state-wide poor performance was that the test was about one-third biology, one-third earth science, and one-third chemistry and physics, two courses almost all sophomores had not taken.

   On June 7, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn proposed House Bill 1410, which delays the science requirement until the class of 2015 and it was signed into law. The state will move from a single, comprehensive science exam to an end-of-course exam in biology and Stern will play a key role in making that test a reality.

   This experience will help me a great deal in knowing what to teach our students at Ilwaco. The committee wont know exactly what questions will be on the HSPE, but Ill have a good idea of the types of questions and the rubrics used to grade the answers. I will be better able to prepare my students for the test, Stern said.

Sterns academic background includes a bachelors degree in biology and anthropology from the University of Washington in 1994 and a masters degree from City University in 1996 in which he developed a science curriculum around Lewis and Clarks expedition. In 2003 he completed an internship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as part of their Science Education Partnership and he has continued to attend annual meetings and special summer training in biotechnology. He has received about $10,000 in equipment from Fred Hutchinson Center for Ilwaco students. 

Stern spent two summers at Washington State Universitys Long Beach Research and Extension Unit doing research on controlling invasive species in southwest Washington aquatic environments. Several of Sterns assessments were included in his National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Portfolio in 2007. 

Stern developed a geo-physical science class at IHS that integrated chemistry, physics and earth science topics into a year-long course based on the Washington State Science Standards.  In 2007 he created a second-year science course called bio-chemical science that integrated biology and chemistry concepts.

He has taught at Ilwaco for 15 years after one year in the Tacoma School District. Stern will teach biology, chemistry and advanced placement environmental science next year at IHS. In 2009 he reviewed existing high school curriculum and materials as to how they aligned with Washington science standards.

From Aug. 15 to 19 in Olympia Stern and four other teachers will review a battery of questions 30 to 50 biology teachers from around the state submitted. Students should be much more successful on the biology test than the present science exam. Most sophomores will just be completing a course in biology when they take the test and that should go a long way in helping them do well, Stern concluded.