In this column I have often urged the physics community to expand the number of people who study physics in our schools. One step in this process is for us first to focus more on the students we are trying to teach and less on the subject matter that we want to teach. If we have a group in front of us, we should teach physics at a level and in a form that they can learn, rather than decide which of the students is “good enough” to be able the learn the material we want to teach. The Physics First movement is one way some of our teachers and schools are moving to more universal access to physics in our schools. Although physics is traditionally viewed as a course taken by 12th-graders in high school, there are an increasing number of schools in which physics is being taught to 9th-graders. (Informal inquiries suggest that up to 200 schools teach physics at the 9th grade.)

Who should study physics? What kind of physics should high school students be taught? What impact will physics for 9th-graders have on the other sciences taught at our high schools? Who will teach physics if the numbers of physics students expands dramatically?

The recent action by the San Diego school district to require that all 9th-graders take physics has created controversy and visibility for the movement to expand dramatically the numbers of students who study physics. While the controversy itself is quite interesting, some of the discussions have brought into focus several issues that interest AAPT members.

AAPT supports “physics for all,” and we encourage schools, teachers, school districts, and parents to support such an objective. This means that our communities should shift away from any presumption that many students lack the interest or the ability to study and to learn physics. This will be a difficult shift for some teachers, administrators and parents who feel that physics should be limited to only the top echelon of students.

AAPT believes that all high school students can learn physics, so long as it is presented in ways that reflect the interests and the abilities of the particular students who are learning the material and the teachers who are teaching the material. Physics can be taught with lots of conceptual emphasis and little mathematical emphasis; it can also be taught with little conceptual emphasis and lots of mathematics; there are innumerable intermediate positions. No one form is inherently “better” than another. The choice depends on the readiness of the students and the teacher and on their educational status and objectives.

Physics taught to 12th-graders will differ from the curriculum offered to 9th-graders. Both groups can learn physics, and students should be encouraged to take physics at both levels. While many physics teachers have little experience in teaching the subject to 9th-graders, those who do have such experience will be important resources in assisting those who do not. Since the “norm” in the United States is to view physics as a 12th-grade course, the growing interest in teaching physics to 9th-graders is an important “experiment” that will require patience and systematic attention to the results and implications of teaching physics at this level. Just like other experiments, this one will require planning, monitoring, and analysis. It warrants extensive discussions within our community.

Since there are different approaches to teaching physics and since doing so at the 9th-grade is still “unusual,” AAPT does not argue that one textbook is any better than another. Rather, a decision about textbook selection should be made with the strongest consideration being given to the views of those who teach physics. If physics is taught to ninth graders, this will induce a rethinking of how other sciences are taught in the other high school years. On the other hand, physics should also be taught to twelfth graders who might not otherwise have studied that subject in high school, in this case with little direct impact on the other science subjects in the earlier years.

As is true with all activities and discussions within our community, AAPT will focus on our mission to “enhance the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching.” Our Philadelphia national meeting, described elsewhere in this issue, has several papers and sessions about physics at the 9th grade. Anyone interested in the policy and pedagogical implications of increasing the number of high school students and doing so in the 9th grade will want to be seated in those sessions.