title: Creating opportunities for science PhDs to pursue careers in high school education.
abstract: The United States is confronting important challenges at both the early and late stages of science education. At the level of K-12 education, a recent National Research Council report (Successful K-12 STEM Education) proposed a bold restructuring of how science is taught, moving away from memorizing facts and emphasizing hands-on, inquiry-based learning and a deeper understanding of the process of science. At higher levels of training, limited funding for science is leading PhDs to seek training and careers in areas other than research. Might science PhDs play a bigger role in the future of K-12 education, particularly at the high school level? We explore this question by discussing the roles that PhDs can play in high school education and the current and rather extensive barriers to PhDs entering the teaching profession and finally suggest ways to ease the entrance of qualified PhDs into high school education.
authors.affiliation: The Bay School of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94129 Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158.
authors.forename: Kari M H
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Ronald D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Vale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002321:Career Choice; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult