| Chapter
Overview
Chapter Organization
Chapter Overview  Increasingly, nations need a skilled, knowledgeable workforce and
a citizenry equipped to function in a complex world. Competent workers
and citizens, in turn, need a sound understanding of science and
mathematics; elementary and secondary schools are responsible for
ensuring that they acquire this knowledge. Yet in the United States
in recent decades, few parents, policymakers, legislators, or educators
have been satisfied with student achievement in mathematics and
science. This dissatisfaction has spawned numerous efforts to reform
and improve schools.
Twenty years have passed since A Nation At Risk urged higher
academic standards, better teacher preparation, and greater accountability
for schools as ways of improving student achievement (National Commission
on Excellence in Education 1983). Other reports and commissions
subsequently set ambitious goals, among them that U.S. students
would rank 'first in the world in mathematics and science achievement
by the year 2000' (U.S. Department of
Education 1989). When 2000 arrived, another national commission
concluded that U.S. students were 'devastatingly far from this goal'
(National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the
21st Century 2000).
Seeking to give school reform efforts new momentum, the Federal
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 introduced strong accountability
measures for schools, requiring them to demonstrate progress in
boosting student achievement. (This act became law in 2002.) The
act specifies steps that states must take and timelines for their
implementation; these steps included immediate development of standards
for mathematics and development of standards for science by academic
year 2005. (Academic year 2005 refers to the school year that begins
in fall 2005.) The NCLB Act also requires school districts to assess
student performance every year in grades 3 through 8, beginning
in academic year 2005 for mathematics and in academic year 2007
for science. Schools that do not demonstrate progress in improving
achievement for all students will initially receive assistance,
but they subsequently will be subject to sanctions if they still
fail to show improvement.
Chapter Organization
This chapter presents data on the developments, trends, and conditions
that affect the quality of U.S. elementary and secondary mathematics
and science education. It begins by summarizing the most recent
available information on U.S. student achievement. The chapter then
examines data on aspects of the education system thought to be linked
to student performance, including course offerings, coursetaking,
statewide curriculum standards, accountability systems, and instructional
practices.
Because of the critical role that teachers play in helping students
meet high standards, the chapter also reviews data on mathematics
and science teachers, including their academic ability, education,
preparation, and experience; participation in teacher induction
and professional development activities; salary levels; and working
conditions.
The widespread use of computers and the Internet is changing education.
This chapter therefore examines indicators of student and teacher
access to information technologies (IT) at school and IT use in
the classroom. And finally, it reviews data on high school students'
transition into higher education and the prevalence of remedial
education at the college level, a discussion that leads into the
examination of college-level S&E in chapter
2.
Although this chapter focuses on overall patterns, it also looks
at variation in access to education resources by school poverty
level and minority concentration, and in performance by sex, race/ethnicity,
and family background, when such data exist. In the conclusion,
we bring together these data in summary form.
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