This page is a repository for questions and concerns that have been raised in our conversations with teachers and principals.  We will continue to update it regularly. 

If you have any questions or concerns that are not answered on this site, please contact us using the info on the "Contact Us" link at the left.  We will respond to you directly and will also add the information to this page, if appropriate. 

Q: I understand that students will only need to take one semester of physics and one semester of chemistry.  Does that mean we need to reduce our staff or that certified chemistry and physics teachers will need to teach the other course? 

We do not expect that schools will reduce their staff, or that chemistry or physics teachers will teach out of their area as a result of adopting our IDS.  The design is constructed such that students may take chemistry and physics in either order.  (We will not be offering an integrated chemistry/physics or physical science course.  We will be offering two one-semester courses, one in chemistry and one in physics.)  A student may take chemistry first (with a chemistry teacher) and physics second (with a physics teacher) or vice versa. 

So, chemistry and physics teachers who will be teaching 10th graders will teach the same semester course twice, with two different groups of students.  Physics teachers will continue to teach physics, and chemistry teachers will continue to teach chemistry. 

In most cases, there will be more students enrolled in chemistry and physics courses than there are currently, because all students will be required to take both, whereas currently they only choose one to graduate. 

In addition, physics and chemistry teachers will still be required for 12th grade courses.  We anticipate that many college-bound students will choose to continue with a second chemistry or physics course in 12th grade.  Building on the 10th grade courses, they will be prepared to take a full year of what would currently be considered an honors physics or chemistry course at that point. 

Q: The current CPS graduation requirements call for a year of chemistry or a year of physics.  Will our students meet that requirement?

The Board is aware that all three of the science IDS's diverge from the current high school science graduation requirements in some way.  They have said that they will revise these requirements, so that the course sequences associated with the IDS's will meet graduation requirements.