Berkeley Parents Network: Chemistry at BHS

Berkeley Parents Network

Chemistry at BHS

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Berkeley Public Schools > Berkeley High School > Chemistry at BHS

August 1999

My daughter likes chemistry, got A's in it without any struggle. She took the chemistry SAT and scored in the low 500's. She said there was a lot of material on the test that she had never seen before, and she couldn't answer many questions. I don't understand this. Does BHS not teach material on this test, or is the test way out of line for what is covered in a 2-semester high school chemistry course?

My son had a similar experience with the SAT in Chemistry except that he discovered the problem a few weeks before the test when he looked at a SAT Chemistry Review book and discovered that there were many questions on topics that they had not covered. Unfortunately there was not enough time to learn all that new material in the last 2 weeks of school what with papers and finals.

I did call the head of the science department to ask why students hadn't been taught this material. Her explanation was not satisfactory--she indicated that no high school could teach all the chemistry material, she also indicated that his having had a new teacher to BHS (and chemistry) may have been part of the problem.

Since there will be a new science department head this year, I am planning to call him right after school starts and suggest that science teachers alert students to this problem at the beginning of the year and tell students which areas they (the teachers) will not be covering but are likely to show up on the test. That way students could learn this "extra" material themselves as they go along. Another idea is for the student to consult a SAT Review book early in the year to try figure out what material they're not being taught (not that easy to do, but worth a try).

It would be helpful if other parents who experienced this problem also called the new head of the science department to see what he planned to do to deal with this problem. I also don't know if this was a problem only for Chemistry or if it occurs in Biology or Physics.

Concerning the Chemistry SAT preparation, my son had AP Chem and got 770 on his June SAT. He thinks he did poorly on the test. ( !!!!) He did go to a BHS review session for that, but was also preparing for the AP Chem test, so he had a lot of class review, which he thinks wasn't all that helpful. He said the SAT was still like a reading test, where you had to analyze the data they gave you. There were some things on the test he swears he never learned. I couldn't get him interested in even looking at a SAT chem prep book. I don't think you can compare students by their classes or what was offered or not in the class. Absorbtion rates differ as do test taking abilities.
Ellen (8/99)

Regarding Chemistry at BHS, our bright daughter had a discouraging experience when she got taught by Mr. Mathew Bissell. Mr. Bissell it seems told the class that he "did not know the material and was going to learn it with them" (presumaby by trying to teach it). My daughter was taught poorly, was confused (and could not tell if the shortcoming was with her ability to learn, or the way she was taught the material) and did not do well in SAT Chemistry. Only if we had known what was happening in the class, we could have sought help (e.g., meeting the teacher, hiring a tutor).

As the events turned out, we learned of what had happened at the Chemistry class much later on, when it was too late, because dealing with all the other pressures at school kept our daughter from discussing this particular issue at home.
Anonymous 9/99

I posted a message earlier regarding my child's chemistry class at BHS last year. She got all A's with little effort, and then scored in the low 500's on the SAT2. I finally got the assistant chair of the chemistry department on the phone to discuss this with her. She had a great deal to say, but none of it explained how a student could get straight A's in chemistry and find there were a great many questions on the SAT that covered material she had never seen.

I am concerned about this beyond the issue of the low score. Chemistry is my daughter's particularly strong interest area, and I expect she will go on to have a career in science and technology. It appears she has not had an adequate chemistry preparation at Berkeley High, and that has serious implications for her academic future. I realize she can make up any weak areas by taking junior college classes, but why should a bright, motivated student have to "make up" classes that she already took in high school? Should arrange to take her high school science requirement at a junior college?

I have to say I am troubled by what this incident suggests about the level of science education at Berkeley High. It is not what I expected.

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