T C E B TRIANGLE COALITION ELECTRONIC BULLETIN APRIL 5, 2001 VOL. 7, NO. 14 _____________________________________________________ Published by the TRIANGLE COALITION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION _____________________________________________________ THIS WEEK'S TOPICS: HOW TO FIX AMERICA'S SCHOOLS CONNECTICUT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WIN THE NATIONAL ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGE INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRA: IT'S ELEMENTARY MANY TEACHERS SAY THEY'RE TOO BUSY TO WEAVE INTERNET INTO CLASSES THOUSANDS OF PUPILS START SATURDAY CLASSES IN ENGLISH, MATH, AND SCIENCE ATLAS OF SCIENCE LITERACY RELEASED BY AAAS'S PROJECT 2061 AND NSTA ____________________________________________________ HOW TO FIX AMERICA'S SCHOOLS (Source: Business Week, March 19, 2001) If you take it for more than a political slogan, President Bush's motto for education reform--"no child left behind"--is a wildly ambitious goal. It is every bit as audacious as Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty or John F. Kennedy's race to the moon. Since the U.S. first embraced universal public education decades ago, there has been a largely unspoken assumption that some children will never earn a high school degree. Now, says National Urban League President Hugh B. Price, Bush is "asking our schools to do something that no society has ever done, to educate all children well, regardless of their circumstances." In effect, Bush is declaring that in the Information Age, a solid education is a fundamental civil right. The President's pronouncement is the culmination of nearly twenty years of mounting efforts to fix America's schools. The educational crusade began in earnest with A Nation at Risk, a 1983 report commissioned by the Reagan Administration warning that "a rising tide of mediocrity [in our schools] threatens our very future as a nation." In 1989, then-President George Bush and the nation's governors held the first-ever national education summit, where they set sweeping goals -- from eliminating illiteracy to vaulting U.S. students to No. 1 in the world in math and science. There has been scant progress toward meeting those goals. Less than half of America's schoolchildren read proficiently at their grade level. U.S. 12th-graders still score well below teenagers in almost every other developed country on mathematics and science tests. The 74% of students who have completed high school by the age of 18 rank the U.S. #17 in graduation rates after decades of leading the world, according to the Education Trust, a research group in Washington. Low-income and minority students fare the worst. Only 29% of all fourth-graders read proficiently at their grade level; but among low-income kids, the figure is 13%. By the end of high school, black and Hispanic children perform only at the level whites do in eighth grade. What would it take to achieve the President's goal of "no child left behind?" A broad range of experts and educators helped draw up seven strategies that, pursued together, would go a long way toward fixing America's schools. In evaluating solutions, there was one basic test: There must be compelling evidence that they work. The ideas that follow have all been battle-tested. In seeking them out, schools, districts, and states were visited that have beaten the odds, often in some of America's toughest neighborhoods. Seven ideas that work: 1. Pay Teachers for Performance; 2. Make Schools Smaller; 3. Hold Educators Accountable; 4. Offer More Variety; 5. Provide Adequate Funding; 6. Increase Time in School; 7. Use Technology Effectively. (Editor's Note: The full article and more details about each item may be found at www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_12/b3724001.htm.) ************************************ CONNECTICUT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WIN THE NATIONAL ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGE An ultrasonic device to aid people with visual impairment by using sound waves to detect obstacles in a person's path, which was designed by students at Staples High School in Westport, CT, has won first place in the 12th annual National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC) national finals competition. The annual competition, a program of the not-for-profit education organization JETS, Inc. (The Junior Engineering Technical Society, Inc.) that is sponsored by NEC Foundation of America, asks high school students to create a device that can solve a specified social need. A panel of judges at the national competition, held February 20 and 21 in Washington, DC, chose the invention -- dubbed the Universal Navigational Assistant, or "UNA" -- from 14 regional winning teams from across the country. Nationwide, about one hundred schools participated in the 2001 competition. As they create devices that could become feasible solutions to important social needs, the competition gives students insight into the essence of engineering, including working as a team and defending their design, and encourages them to consider engineering careers. It also gives students hands-on experiences with math, science, and technology, consistent with the mission of JETS, Inc., a member of the Triangle Coalition. NEDC regional competitions are held each year in December and January, and the NEDC finals competition is held during National Engineers Week in February. More information on the 2002 NEDC can be obtained by contacting Marie Wiggins or Howard Spiegelman at JETS, Inc. at 703-548-5387 or [EMAIL PROTECTED], or online at www.jets.org. ************************************ INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRA: IT'S ELEMENTARY (Source: Education Week, March 28, 2001) American middle schoolers are increasingly being moved into algebra courses. In what was once a rite of passage in high school, now middle schoolers -- some as early as 7th grade -- are now expected to learn about the mathematics of variables and quadratic equations. In California, for example, all students are expected to learn algebra in the 8th grade, according to the state's standards. To get students ready for that leap, the consensus among mathematicians and educators is that students need to be introduced gradually to algebraic concepts throughout the elementary school years. While there's wide agreement that algebra should be introduced in the early grades, differences remain over how to teach it. California's math standards -- which follow the traditional method of teaching the subject -- emphasize mastering addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in the early grades. Algebraic concepts are introduced as ways to apply the algorithms. "You should be doing certain kinds of variable equations all the way along," said Wayne W. Bishop, a professor of mathematics at California State University-Los Angeles and one of the authors of the California standards. "You can't just assume you're going to dump everybody into 8th grade algebra if you haven't done some preparation with elementary linear equations." Teachers should mix simple word problems into arithmetic as early as 1st grade, Mr. Bishop said. They should even use "x" as a variable as part of the teaching, he said. By contrast, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' standards downplay the algorithms and treat algebraic principles more fully. In addition, teachers are encouraged to use real-life examples to illustrate the mathematics. One example in the standards has students filling in the blanks of a chart projecting the cost of bunches of balloons. The chart says that one balloon costs 20 cents, two cost 40 cents, three cost 60 cents, and four cost 80 cents. Students are expected to complete the series that extends to a bunch of seven balloons. Using variables such as "x" is "too abstract," contends Lee V. Stiff, the NCTM's president. *********************************** MANY TEACHERS SAY THEY'RE TOO BUSY TO WEAVE INTERNET INTO CLASSES (Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 30, 2001) Although 84 percent of teachers in a national poll said computers and Internet access improve the quality of education, 78 percent said they are too busy to take full advantage of those technological tools. Ninety-seven percent of teachers said they have Internet access at their schools, and 78 percent said they feel comfortable using the Internet. Yet two-thirds said the Internet hasn't been well-integrated into their classroom activities, and 60 percent said they were online for less than 30 minutes a day. Asked about possible barriers to Internet use, 78 percent said they were hindered by "lack of time." That was far more than those mentioning slow-speed access (50 percent), lack of equipment (47 percent), or lack of technical support (46 percent). The national telephone survey of 600 teachers was conducted Jan. 31 through Feb. 6 by a pair of Republican and Democratic polling firms for NetDay, a nonprofit organization based in Irvine, CA, that encourages the use of technology to enhance and improve K-12 education. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points. "Five years ago, the biggest barrier was lack of access, because only 15 percent taught in schools that were wired to the Internet," said Julie Evans, CEO of NetDay. "Today, the concern is lack of time, or interest in using their time, to weave the Internet into their teaching plans and classroom activities," Evans said. Teachers said they use the Internet most commonly as a research tool for lessons (55 percent), to communicate with other teachers (42 percent), or to help students with projects or questions (41 percent). Slightly fewer mentioned their own professional development (36 percent), calendar planning (30 percent), or monitoring student work (22 percent). They were least likely to use the Internet for chat rooms (10 percent), taking an on-line class (13 percent), posting lesson plans (18 percent), or communicating with their students' parents (20 percent). (Editor's Note: For more information visit www.netday.org.) ************************************ THOUSANDS OF PUPILS START SATURDAY CLASSES IN ENGLISH, MATH, AND SCIENCE (Source: The New York Times, March 27, 2001) While their friends slept late or scurried off to ballet classes, tens of thousands of New York City schoolchildren went to school on Saturday for either remedial or enrichment classes in English, math, and science. The Saturday classes are being offered to 34,000 children in second through 12th grades in 26 of the city's 32 community school districts, officials said. They were conceived by Deputy Chancellor Judith A. Rizzo and championed by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in his State of the City address in January. The program is smaller, however, than anticipated last January, when Mr. Giuliani proposed sending 84,000 struggling New York City schoolchildren to school for a sixth day. Board of Education officials said that the city provided only $8.4 million this year, enough for a smaller program through the end of the school year. The program will be expanded to its full size in September, at a cost of $34 million, officials said. It is the first time in recent memory that the board has provided a sixth day of school on such a large scale, officials said. There are three types of classes being offered around the city, officials said: intensive intervention for children who are trailing far behind state and city standards, accelerated classes for children who are doing well, and tutorials for high school students who need help to pass the state Regents examinations now required for graduation. Math and science classes are being offered to 18,000 students, and English classes are being given to 16,000 students. Courses are being taught by Board of Education teachers who answered advertisements for the job. Certified teachers were given priority, although there are shortages of certified math, science, and bilingual education teachers systemwide. Officials could not provide information on how many students attended the initial Saturday classes or how many of the teachers were certified. They said their focus was on making sure the classes were available for students who wanted them, rather than on forcing students to go. ************************************ ATLAS OF SCIENCE LITERACY RELEASED BY AAAS'S PROJECT 2061 AND NSTA Taking account of student learning from grade to grade is essential, especially in science, where key concepts, like the structure of matter, become more complex as students progress. Unfortunately, few tools exist to help educators visualize and plan for the growth of student understanding. In a first-ever joint publishing arrangement, Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) are providing educators with an innovative tool that graphically depicts connections among key learning goals for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The "Atlas of Science Literacy" presents a series of strand maps that illustrate how student understanding of key science, mathematics, and technology topics builds and grows from grade to grade. Each map displays the ideas, skills, and the connections among them that are part of achieving literacy in a particular topic, showing where each step along the way comes from and where it leads. In addition, each map is accompanied by a summary of the relevant research on student learning. Topics mapped include gravity, plate tectonics, flow of matter in ecosystems, natural selection, maintaining good health, communication technology, and statistical reasoning. Development of the maps has been a painstaking process based on more than a decade of study by scientists and K-12 classroom teachers. Project 2061 is at work on additional maps that will include learning goals from Benchmarks for Science Literacy not included in the current volume and illustrate more connections to already mapped learning goals. Copies of Atlas of Science Literacy are available for $49.95. For more information call 800-222-7809 or use an online order form at www.project2061.org/order/AtlasOrder.pdf. _____________________________________________________ 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 CPS Science Teacher List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
