Palo Alto Schools Replace Honors Biology with Mandatory Ethnic Studies Course

Palo Alto, known for its links to California’s tech scene, has recently stirred the educational pot by making significant changes to its high school curriculum. A decision has been made to drop the honors biology class for freshmen, blending it with the regular biology course. Meanwhile, the district has introduced a mandatory ethnic studies class for freshmen as part of graduation requirements. These changes, though unrelated, highlight a shifting educational focus in California.

The move to eliminate the honors biology class is part of a “de-laning” initiative. This approach, also referred to as de-tracking, is gaining attention within the Palo Alto Unified School District. The aim is to merge biology and honors biology into a single foundational course.

This change is meant to adapt to evolving science standards and is intended to motivate all students to engage with science at a higher level during their high school years. Teachers believe this unified course will provide a comprehensive base, enabling students to excel in Advanced Placement (AP) and honors classes later on.

Changes in Palo Alto’s science curriculum have been in the pipeline for over a decade, following the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards by California in 2013. These standards seek to modernize education by emphasizing reasoning and research over rote memorization. The concept of de-tracking is often linked with promoting equity in education.

Traditionally, tracking separated students into advanced and regular classes, with advanced classes predominantly attended by white or Asian students, while regular classes had a higher representation of Hispanic and Black students.

The achievement gap among different racial groups has been a longstanding concern for educators and administrators. Critics of the tracking system argue that it contributed to this gap. The idea behind de-tracking is to bring students of varying abilities into the same classroom, with the hope that those who are less advanced will benefit and improve their performance.

San Francisco schools embarked on a similar journey in 2014 by eliminating Algebra for 8th graders in an effort to bridge the achievement gap and foster equity. However, this experiment did not deliver the desired results. The gap remained unchanged, and it became more challenging for advanced students to reach calculus by their senior year. Despite the setback, the concept was incorporated into statewide math standards.

The shift in honors biology in Palo Alto has been under consideration since 2018. Financial resources were allocated to develop a new curriculum back then, but the pandemic delayed its implementation. The first pilot of this new class took place during the 2022-23 school year. Although this move means advanced students will lose a pathway to progress more rapidly, proponents insist this approach won’t extend to other honors science courses.

Educators argue that combining the classes will simplify the transition from 8th to 9th grade, a time when students are still determining their appropriate academic level. “We’re so excited to teach this course because it’s truly about the learning, and not about a label for honors or for a grade,” expressed Joshua Little, a science teacher at Gunn High School. Meanwhile, Liz Brimhall, a seasoned science teacher at Palo Alto High School, assured that honors chemistry and physics courses remain unchanged.

While the school board was deliberating over biology classes, they were also engaged in a heated debate about introducing an ethnic studies class for freshmen. This course, essentially an unfunded mandate by the state, has been a topic of contention. Initially, administrators resisted the state requirement to add the course, marking a victory for its detractors. However, after a lengthy and contentious public meeting, the school board eventually voted in favor of the mandate.

The decision to include ethnic studies in the graduation requirements, beginning with this fall’s freshman class, concludes a two-year struggle over the course’s content. Palo Alto’s curriculum, which aligns with the state’s model, is considered inclusive, according to district officials. Critics, however, voiced concerns that the course might exacerbate divisions among racial groups.

The course curriculum focuses on teaching identity politics, intersectionality, systemic racism, and activism, based on the California model. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum centers on four foundational disciplines: African American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, Native American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander studies. This focus provides students with insights into the histories, cultures, struggles, and contributions of these historically marginalized groups, often overlooked in traditional US history courses.

The curriculum aims to address institutionalized systems of advantage and combat various forms of bigotry, including anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. Educators are encouraged to create lessons rooted in these disciplines, emphasizing themes of identity, history, power systems, and social movements to connect with all students’ experiences.

Critics argue that students immersed in grievance-focused studies may become uninformed activists. Instances of students supporting controversial movements and harassing others on college campuses in recent years illustrate this concern.

In California, the educational landscape is shifting towards more diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and intersectionality in public high schools, while advanced math and science courses that might expose achievement gaps are being reduced. This transformation hints at a broader trend that some believe could have far-reaching implications.