November 3, 2009
House Subcommittee Examines Engineering in K–12 Education
On October 22, the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education held a hearing to examine the potential benefits of, challenges to, and current models for, incorporating engineering education into grades K–12. “We on the committee are dedicated to improving STEM education in this country, and are always exploring those areas with potential to have a positive impact on student learning and achievement in STEM fields,” said Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), subcommittee chair. “This year alone, we have held three hearings on K–12 STEM education, but those have focused primarily on science and math. Today we examine the ‘engineering’ in STEM,” Lipinski said.
Advocates for K–12 engineering education who testified at the hearing argued that incorporating engineering concepts into traditional science and math education is an untapped way to attract more students, and a more diverse student population, to STEM subjects. Last month, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academies’ Center for Education released a report, Engineering in K–12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects. Dr. Linda Katehi, chancellor of the University of California, Davis, and chair of the panel that produced the report, noted that their work suggests that in the past 15 years, an estimated six million K–12 students have experienced formal engineering education. “The presence of engineering in K–12 classrooms is an important phenomenon, not because of the number of students impacted, which is still small relative to other school subjects, but because of the implications of engineering education for the future of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education more broadly. In fact, our committee came to the conclusion that engineering education could be a catalyst for more integrated, and effective, STEM education in the United States,” she said.
More information on the hearing, including testimony and a webcast.
2009 Math NAEP Results Released
At an event in Washington, D.C., the results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics were released. The results indicated no significant change in the performance of the nation’s fourth graders from 2007 to 2009, but some gains for eighth graders.
Nationally representative samples of more than 168,000 fourth graders and 161,000 eighth graders participated in the 2009 NAEP in mathematics. At each grade level, students responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge and abilities across five mathematics content areas: number properties and operations; measurement; geometry; data analysis, statistics, and probability; and algebra.
Although the overall average score for fourth graders in 2009 was higher than the scores in the six assessment years from 1990 to 2005, it was unchanged from the score in 2007. The upward trend seen in earlier assessments for eighth graders continued with a two-point increase from 2007 to 2009. Other results indicate that the percentages of fourth graders performing at or above Basic (82 percent) and at or above Proficient (39 percent) in 2009 were unchanged from those in 2007, although they were remained higher than in the assessment years from 1990 to 2005. The percentages of eighth-graders performing at or above Basic (73 percent) and at or above Proficient (34 percent) in 2009 were higher than those in 2007 and in all earlier assessment years.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released a statement about the results, saying, “Today's results are evidence that we must better equip our schools to improve the knowledge and skills of America's students in mathematics. Our students have made real gains in math over the past two decades, but for the first time since NAEP's mathematics test started in 1990, student achievement in fourth grade has not improved. More must be done to narrow the troubling achievement gap that has persisted in mathematics, and to ensure that America's students make greater gains toward becoming competitive with their peers in other countries.”
Read Secretary Duncan’s press release. Read the report, including state data snapshots.
ED to Hold Public Meetings on Ways to Improve Assessments
On October 21, the Department of Education (ED) announced in the Federal Register that it would hold public meetings across the country to “listen and learn” from assessment experts and practitioners. According to ED, the goals are to “gather technical input to inform the development of a Race to the Top Assessment Competition; and to enable states, who will be the competition applicants, and the public to participate in and learn from these events.” Meetings will take place over six days in November and December in Boston, Atlanta, and Denver. The department will share on its Web site both the transcripts of the meetings and all written input received. Department officials will use the input gathered to design the application for the assessment competition; consortia of states, the prospective applicants for the competition, will then use the information to shape their proposed assessment designs. The department plans to publish the application early next year and will award grants by next fall. "The next generation of assessments will provide information that helps accelerate student learning and improve teachers' practice,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “At these meetings, experts will give us their best ideas so we can support states' efforts to build the new assessments our country needs to ensure that our students are prepared for success in college and careers.” View the Federal Register notice.
Duncan Calls for Reform for Colleges of Education
Speaking at Teachers College at Columbia University on October 22, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for America’s colleges of education to “dramatically change how they prepare the next generation of teachers so that they are ready to prepare their future students for success in college and careers.” Duncan stated, “By almost any standard, many, if not most, of the nation’s 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st-century classroom. America’s university-based teacher preparation programs need revolutionary change--not evolutionary tinkering.” Duncan highlighted emerging efforts to improve teacher education that are being led by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, as well as individual colleges of education. According to Duncan, teacher-preparation programs should ensure that new teachers will master the content of the subjects they will teach and they will have well-supported field-based experiences embedded throughout their preparation programs. More information or read Duncan’s full remarks.
Report Credits ARRA with Saving Education Jobs
The Domestic Policy Council, in conjunction with the Department of Education, released a new report that suggests that state governments can credit the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) with creating and saving at least 250,000 education jobs across the country. The report finds that funding has allowed states to “restore nearly all of their projected education budget shortfalls for FY09 and FY10. Filling these budget gaps has allowed the ARRA to avert layoffs of educators in school districts and universities across the nation, saving and creating at least a quarter of a million education jobs, while helping school districts make progress on reforms that will improve teaching and learning in America’s classrooms.” “This is one more indication of how the Recovery Act is helping soften the blow of tough times, by keeping educators on the job and teachers in the classroom,” said Vice President Joe Biden. Read the full report.
NBPTS Holds Briefing on National Board Certification and School Reform
On October 21, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) held a briefing to discuss the role that the growing trend of employing cohorts of National Board Certified Teachers plays in our nation’s school reform movement. The briefing highlighted the positive impact that board-certified teachers are having on the culture of learning in schools, teaching practices, and student learning, as well as examined the broader context of teacher quality and school reform. Last year, the National Research Council of the National Academies found that students taught by National Board certified teachers made higher gains on achievement tests than students taught by teachers who have not applied or did not achieve certification. “Research shows that National Board certification improves student achievement and learning, develops effective teachers, retains teachers and makes a difference in high-need schools,” said Bob Wise, chair of the NBPTS Board of Directors and former governor of West Virginia. According to Wise, “The focus of NBPTS has expanded from individual teachers achieving National Board Certification into a systemic movement that is changing the culture of learning in classrooms, schools and districts.” More information.
Forum for Education and Democracy Holds Briefing on Effective Teachers
On October 22, the Forum for Education and Democracy held a briefing titled “Effective Teachers, High Achievers: How Strengthening the Teaching Profession Can Improve Student Learning.” The briefing focused on the challenges that impede student access to highly qualified and highly effective teachers in struggling schools. The panelists discussed the current state of education and investments in the teaching profession in the United States, as well as how to close racial, ethnic, and income disparities in student access to quality teachers. Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, addressed teacher distribution inequity in the United States and provided statistics from across the country about students and teachers in high-needs schools. She stated that low-income and minority students are “consistently assigned to less qualified and less able teachers than are their peers. These inequalities undermine their educations, their life chances, and ultimately our collective future.” She stated that unlike high-achieving nations, the United States often leaves the supply of “good- and high-quality teachers to chance with no systematic approach to recruitment, preparation, evaluation, development, or retention.” All the panelists agreed that the single most important school influence on student learning is the quality of the teacher. Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, discussed what the United States can do to make a better investment in the teaching profession. She outlined seven recommendations for the federal government: create incentives for recruiting teachers to high-needs fields and locations; strengthen teacher preparation programs; make teacher education performance-based; support mentoring for all beginning teachers; create sustained, practice-based, collegial learning opportunities for teachers; develop teaching careers that reward, develop, and share expertise; and create an initiative to prepare and support expert school leaders. More information.
NCTE Launches First National Day on Writing
On October 20, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) launched the first National Day on Writing to recognize the significance of writing in the daily lives of millions of Americans and to “draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in and help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft.” In addition, NCTE launched the National Gallery of Writing with 19 partner galleries, including NCTM, and nearly 1,800 local galleries, to further highlight the diversity and range of writing created today. By the end of the week, nearly 18,000 compositions written by young and old alike had been submitted to these galleries. More information on the event and to view the National Gallery of Writing.
RAND Corporation Holds Briefing on Ending Social Promotion
On October 19, the RAND Corporation held a briefing on ending social promotion and the effects of New York City’s fifth-grade promotion policy. According to RAND, “New York City Department of Education's test-based promotion and retention policy, which identifies and provides support for struggling students, has demonstrated positive effects for student achievement in fifth grade that continue into seventh grade.” Under the policy, general education students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 8 were required to perform at or above Level 2 on both the state English language arts and mathematics assessments in order to be promoted to the next grade. Performance at or above Level 3 was considered "proficient" under the No Child Left Behind Act, a higher standard than the promotion benchmark. Students who did not pass the spring assessments were enrolled in summer school. The policy also offered students multiple opportunities to meet promotion criteria. “The emphasis on early identification of students who are struggling academically and providing those students extra learning opportunities is a critical factor in the success of the New York City Department of Education's promotion and retention policy," said Jennifer McCombs, coauthor of the report and a policy researcher at RAND. Read the full study.
