Science Education

The BayBio Institute offers a nexus between educators, industry and additional resources to bring together stakeholders who share a commitment to encourage young adults considering biotechnology career paths, and to improve life science education in Northern California schools.

We will launch new initiatives and articles continuously in this section.

sanofi-aventis Southwest Regional International BioGENEius Challenge

Under the Biotechnology Institute's direction, the sanofi-aventis International BioGENEius Challenge is an annual competition for high school students that recognizes outstanding research in biotechnology. This pertains to the Southwest Regional section of the competition.

The event takes place during the Biotechnology Institute's Annual Conference on Biotechnology Education in San Diego, CA (June 14-17, 2008).

SCIENCE REPORT CARD: F

School is out for the summer. Teachers are doing summer prep, continuing education and professional development. Administrators are makings plans for the 2007-08 school year. Meanwhile, do we know where California stands in secondary science education? Unfortunately, yes.

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education releases The Nation’s Report Card. In it, California is slipping to woeful new lows in science education.

At last report, California ranked second to last in 8^th grade student achievement levels, above Mississippi (and tied with Hawaii) for the percentage of students (56) who ranked “below basic” in science achievement. That’s not a typo – California indeed ranked 48^th out of 50 in 8^th grade science achievement.