NSF PR 01-80 - October 16, 2001
NSF Initiates Massive Effort to Rebuild Teaching
Leadership in Science and Mathematics
The National Science Foundation has launched a $100
million initiative to regenerate leadership in teaching
and research in mathematics, science and technology
by establishing Centers for Learning and Teaching
throughout the country. The centers will encourage
the development of new faculty and new materials to
boost learning in kindergarten through 12th
grade as well as prepare graduate students in areas
of critical national need to eventually assume leadership
roles.
"Not since the late 1950s has such an undertaking been
envisioned," said NSF Director Rita Colwell. "Our
country again faces new challenges and the work of
teachers, scientists and engineers will be critical
to our success as we enter this new era. By working
with local school systems, this initiative will reshape
the learning of thousands of students all over the
country."
In order to address the needs, NSF is funding five
new centers for $10 million each over a five-year
period. NSF funded two prototype centers in the past
fiscal year and intends to fund three more, bringing
the total funding to $100 million.
The new Centers for Learning and Teaching will help
encourage undergraduates to go into research and teaching
in sciences and mathematics and create a new cadre
of faculty with fresh ideas and talents. They will
replace a generation of people now retiring who entered
the fields as a result of the investments made in
the post-Sputnik era.
Research has shown serious problems in the workforce
of teachers in science, mathematics, engineering and
technology, said Judith Ramaley, NSF’s assistant director
for the Division of Education and Human Resources.
"In grades 7-12, approximately 33 percent of mathematics
teachers and 20 percent of science teachers have neither
a major nor minor in their teaching field; yet these
underqualified teachers teach more than 26 percent
of mathematics students and 16 percent of science
students," she said.
The problems are confounded by the pending retirements
of university faculty who prepare teachers. For example,
more than half of the faculty in universities that
grant doctoral degrees in mathematics education will
be eligible for retirement in two years and almost
80 percent will be eligible in 10 years.
"In addition to the retirements, the challenges of
teaching science, mathematics, engineering and technology
have changed drastically in the past 40 years," said
Ramaley.
The student population is even more diverse than it
was in the late 1950s and state testing requirements
have put an emphasis in boosting overall student achievement,
she added. Additionally, computer technology has opened
new possibilities for student learning.
The programs emphasize a diverse approach to teaching
and learning and confront problems in urban areas,
as well as disadvantaged communities across the country.
Research universities and other institutions will
work with local school districts to fashion practical
approaches to specific problems and provide models
for the rest of the nation.
Attachment: List of Centers
for Learning and Teaching
Attachment
Centers for Learning and Teaching
New Centers
The Diversity in Mathematics Education Center for
Learning and Teaching is a consortium of mathematics
and education faculty at three universities (the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of California-Berkeley,
and the University of California-Los Angeles) with
two large school districts and the California Subject
Matter Project (a state-wide project in mathematics
education). The center, based at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, looks for ways to improve teaching
of algebra to diverse populations. Success in algebra
-- considered a gatekeeper course -- determines if
students continue to advanced science and mathematics
instruction.
The Appalachian Collaborative Center for Learning,
Assessment, and Instruction in Mathematics is
a partnership of the University of Tennessee, the
University of Kentucky, Ohio University, Marshall
University, the University of Louisville and the Appalachian
Rural Systemic Initiative. It is based at the University
of Tennessee and looks at improving mathematics education
in isolated rural schools and boosting mathematics
faculty teaching in small colleges in the region.
The Center for Informal Learning and Schools
is a collaboration of the Exploratorium (a San Francisco
based museum), the University of California-Santa
Cruz, and Kings College-London (a world-wide leader
in training doctoral students in informal education).
Researchers will look at ways in which informal learning
can improve science education through the center,
which is based at the Exploratorium.
The Center for Learning and Teaching in the West
brings together Montana State University, Portland
State University, Colorado State University, the University
of Montana, and the University of Northern Colorado,
as well as Fort Belknap College and other tribal and
community colleges, Portland Public Schools, and rural
and reservation schools in Montana and Colorado. The
consortium, based at Montana State University, will
look at ways to serve sparsely populated areas through
distance learning and other strategies.
The Center for Assessment and Evaluation of Student
Learning is a collaboration among WestEd (a major
nonprofit research, development, and service agency),
The Concord Consortium (a nonprofit education research
and development organization), Stanford University,
the University of California-Los Angeles, the University
of California-Berkeley, more than 10 school districts,
and Apple Computer, Inc. The center is based at WestEd,
and will develop infrastructure to better prepare
specialists in science assessment and evaluation.
Prototype centers
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Mathematics Teaching
and Learning is a consortium of the University
of Delaware, the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania
State University, the Delaware State Department of
Education, the Prince George’s County Maryland Public
Schools and the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Public Schools.
It is based at the University of Maryland and works
with graduate mathematics education linked to local
school reform efforts with diverse student populations.
The Center for the Applications of Information Technology
in the Teaching and Learning of Science, housed
at Texas A&M; University, is a collaboration among
that university, the Dana Center at the University
of Texas-Austin, a community college, five systemic
initiatives, and 20 Education Service Centers in Texas.
The center looks at new ways of teaching high school
science and examines ways to incorporate technology
in current science teaching.
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