T C E B TRIANGLE COALITION ELECTRONIC BULLETIN FEBRUARY 1, 2001 VOL. 7, NO. 5 _____________________________________________________ Published by the TRIANGLE COALITION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION _____________________________________________________ THIS WEEK'S TOPICS: TRIANGLE COALITION TO HOST CHALLENGES OF THE DECADE CONFERENCE BUSH TOUTS EDUCATION REFORM IN FIRST RADIO ADDRESS BETTER MATH TEACHING NEEDED, REPORT SAYS TEACHER RE-CREATION TOO MANY HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MAJOR IN WASTING TIME, COMMISSION REPORTS NEW SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES ADDED TO FREE WEBSITE INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD RETURNS TO NORTH AMERICA ____________________________________________________ TRIANGLE COALITION TO HOST CHALLENGES OF THE DECADE CONFERENCE The Triangle Coalition has announced a major conference this fall, "Challenges of the Decade." The goal of the conference is to build and sustain strong business, government, and education alliances in support of science, math, and technology education. The two-day event (October 18 - 19) will be held at The Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC. The conference committee is working on a agenda that will include keynote speakers from business, Congress, and education, as well as a panel of experts from the business community who will share their experiences collaborating with teachers. There will be many informative breakout sessions to choose from, related to business and alliances. Registration is $150 per person, or $350 for a team of three. More information will be available at www.trianglecoalition.org beginning in March. ************************************ BUSH TOUTS EDUCATION REFORM IN FIRST RADIO ADDRESS (Source: AOL News, January 27, 2001) One week after taking office, President Bush delivered his first weekly radio address Saturday, focusing on his top domestic policy proposal thus far -- reforming America's schools. "I want to make all of our public schools places of learning and high standards and achievement," Bush said. "Our country must offer every child, no matter what his or her background or accent, a fair start in life with a quality education." Bush has outlined a series of proposals to reform the nation's education system, including mandatory testing in math and reading for students aged from about 8 to 13 with rewards or penalties depending on the results. "Real reform starts by giving schools and school districts more authority and flexibility. We cannot expect schools to change unless they have the freedom to change," Bush said, referring to a portion of his plan that grants more power for the running of the schools to local authorities. "My plan respects the principle of local control, it does not try to run the schools from a central office in Washington." Bush's proposal would also allow poor students in failing schools to apply the federal and state aid their schools receive -- averaging about $1,500 per student per year -- to help low-income parents pay for private tuition, a tutor, or an after-school program. Some Democrats have objected to the voucher initiative because they say it would drain federal funds from already financially strapped public schools. Richard Gephardt, the top Democrat in the House, said the party did agree with some parts of Bush's plan, like requiring accountability and focusing on childhood reading. "But we believe that vouchers, which are in President Bush's plan, do not further the goal of improving public schools," Gephardt said in the Democrat's weekly radio address, aired an hour after the President's. ************************************ BETTER MATH TEACHING NEEDED, REPORT SAYS (Source: Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2001) A massive overhaul of math instruction in U.S. schools will be necessary if students are to achieve the skills and understanding required in today's high-tech world, according to a long-awaited report from the National Research Council. The chief goal should be to integrate the teaching of basic computational skills with instruction in the underlying concepts of mathematics, the report says. The math report, called "Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics," was written by a 16-member committee at the request of the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. The panel's charge was to review the diverse research on math learning in preschool through eighth grade and to recommend steps for policymakers. The report recommends that the nation groom all students to be "mathematically proficient," mastering much more than disconnected facts and procedures. That goal, the report says, "is an extremely ambitious one" that can be achieved only with systematic modifications to math instruction and new kinds of support for teachers and students. Among other recommendations in the report: * Beginning in preschool, educators should offer students the chance to extend their rudimentary comprehension of numbers. * In subsequent years, the curriculum should link calculations to everyday situations to help students make connections. Numbers and operations should be illustrated in different ways. For example, one-half could be shown as a fraction, a decimal, or a percentage. * Educators should teach important concepts in depth, rather than covering a multitude of topics superficially. * Significant time should be devoted to daily math instruction in every grade of elementary and middle school. * Exams should be carefully designed to test students' progress. * To help prepare teachers, colleges should create programs that emphasize thorough knowledge of math and the different ways that children learn the subject. On the job, schools should give teachers more time and resources to maintain or acquire understanding of math and improve teaching techniques. * More scientific research should be conducted on the many new math programs to see which ones are most effective. (Editor's Note: For more information, visit www.nsf.gov.) ************************************ TEACHER RE-CREATION (Source: Education Week, January 10, 2001) Borrowing principles from the world of business, the Milken Family Foundation is sponsoring a pilot program that seeks to redefine the teaching profession. Debbie Ong has never been satisfied just to coast along in her job. In the 10 years she's worked as an educator, Ong has volunteered to help write her district's mathematics curriculum, earned a master's degree in elementary education from Northern Arizona University, and spent weekends learning new ways to teach fractions and geometry through a program underwritten by the National Science Foundation. And yet, at the overwhelming majority of U.S. schools, Ong's job title would be the same as it was when she first stepped into her own classroom. In fact, the label would likely remain unchanged until the day she retired. Regardless of her talent and experience, she'd be a teacher. But not at Madison Camelview Elementary School. Here, the 32-year-old Ong is a "master teacher," as distinguished from the "mentor teachers" and "associate teachers" in her building. Recognized by administrators and fellow teachers as an exceptionally competent educator, she puts in extra hours trying to get her skills to rub off on others by observing them, coaching them, and planning their professional growth. In return, she receives an extra $7,000 a year on top of her base pay. Madison Camelview Elementary in Phoenix is one of five Arizona schools that is offering a glimpse of what tomorrow's careers in teaching might look like. The sites are the first in the country to pilot the Teacher Advancement Program, or TAP, an initiative of the Milken Family Foundation. On paper, TAP envisions schools with as many as six kinds of teachers. At the high end would be the experts in their schools, freed up from regular classroom responsibilities to keep abreast of advances in the field and to help colleagues grow professionally. (Editor's Note: For more information, visit www.mff.org/tap/) ************************************ TOO MANY HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MAJOR IN WASTING TIME, COMMISSION REPORTS (Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 18, 2001) High schools and parents let many seniors waste their last year of school, which helps explain why one-third to one-half aren't adequately prepared for college or the workplace, a report submitted Wednesday to Education Secretary Richard Riley concludes. ''Many students reported 'ditching' senior classes because the atmosphere encouraged them to consider the senior year a farewell tour of adolescence and school,'' said the report from Riley's National Commission on the High School Senior Year. ''I have heard too many college leaders describe the senior year of high school as a wasteland,'' Riley said. ''Many high school seniors literally check out, others spend more time working than going to school, and too many young people do not get the help they need (in choosing their courses) to make well-informed judgments about life after high school.'' The commission said many seniors apparently don't realize ''a high school diploma is no longer a guarantee of success in either postsecondary education or the world of work.'' About 30 percent of today's college-bound seniors have to take remedial courses in college, and many of those going directly into the work force find out they can't get jobs that would ever pay enough to support a family. Unlike their counterparts in many other countries, American seniors are more likely to hold down a job than to take courses in science or math. ''When push comes to shove, low-skilled, part-time jobs that earn students spending money appear to be far more important than school,'' the report said. (Editor's Note: The full report, ''The Lost Opportunity of the Senior Year: Finding a Better Way,'' is available at www.commissiononthesenioryear.org.) ************************************ NEW SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES ADDED TO FREE WEBSITE Several new resources for teaching and learning science have been added to FREE, a website that makes learning resources from 40+ federal organizations available in one place. To view a full list of resources in math and science, visit www.ed.gov/free. Sample new resources include: - "Building Big" (www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig) helps kids think about structures they see every day and the impact of technology on society. The website includes animated interactive labs on engineering concepts and problem solving activities; historical overviews that introduce bridges, domes, skyscrapers, dams, and tunnels, and the forces that affect them; and a database of engineering marvels. (Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Science Foundation) - "The Centennial of Flight" (www.centennialofflight.gov) is dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight and the development of aviation over the past century. It offers aerospace-related products and programs that help connect students and teachers to aeronautics and space flight. (Sponsored by The U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission) - "Learning Technologies Project" (http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/) is part of a government initiative, the High Performance Computing and Communications program, whose mission is to accelerate the development, application, and transfer of high-performance technologies to the U.S. engineering and science communities. The website offers resources such as online instructional materials tied to NASA missions, movies, aeronautics projects, and the Remote Sensing Public Access Center, which makes space instrumentation data available to the public. (Sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) ************************************ INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD RETURNS TO NORTH AMERICA The International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) will return to North America this year, giving us an opportunity to enhance the public's understanding of, and appreciation for, mathematics. The IMO, to be held in Washington, DC, in July, annually gathers 500 of the most talented high school aged mathematicians from more than 80 countries for a rigorous round of competitive mathematics problem solving. In the United States, preliminary competitions to the upcoming IMO will be held in February and March, and the final U.S. team members will be named in May. But although the event celebrates the very brightest young mathematicians, it also celebrates the fact that "math expands horizons" -- the theme of this year's event. The USA has a history of achievement in the IMO, scoring among the top 5 teams in 21 of the 24 years in which it participated. Excellent individual performances have earned 148 of the 156 team members gold, silver, or bronze medals. Most outstanding was the unprecedented perfect score by every member of the USA team at the 1994 IMO held in Hong Kong. IMO information, useful materials, and web links are available at http://imo2001.usa.unl.edu. IMO 2001 is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, Texas Instruments, and Wolfram Research. IMO USA Inc. was formed by 21 mathematics and mathematics-related professional associations, including NCTM. _____________________________________________________ This TCEB is made possible by a grant from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Please visit their web site at www.dupont.com for more information about their educational support programs. The TCEB is a newsletter provided to members of the Triangle Coalition. Members may forward individual articles or the issue in its entirety providing that credit is given to the Triangle Coalition, and all of the following contact information is included in any republication. For TCEB subscription or membership information, contact: Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education 1201 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 phone: 800-582-0115 fax: 202-289-1303 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.triangle-coalition.org To submit information for possible inclusion in TCEB, contact: Joanne Van Voorhis, Target Marketing, Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************ THE MISSION OF THE TRIANGLE COALITION IS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION AMONG LEADERS IN EDUCATION, BUSINESS, AND GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION. The Triangle Coalition membership includes business, labor, education, science, mathematics, technology and engineering organizations, and community and state-based alliances. ************************************ -- This is the ISTA-talk mailing list. 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