STEM EDUCATION REFORM à la carte The instructional practices and assessments discussed or shown are not intended as an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

In which we visit the Shanghai Wizards... the Standards Marmalade and... the Teacher ABCs

SCIENCE & MATH EDUCATION REFORM and The Shanghai Wizards

PISA said Shanghai students are vastly better than U.S. students in science and math!

To which, Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, said “Wow, I’m kind of stunned, I’m thinking Sputnik!”

And the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, said “We have to see this as a wake-up call.”

Crisis ahoy! So wake up and welcome the The Return of Sputnik! Again!

Since the end of WWII the reform of science and math education has flourished and faded in sync with perceived national crises blamed on school science and math

1957 Sputnik 2 student generations later 1983 Nation at Risk 1 more student generation 1998 TIMSS 1 more student generation 2010 PISA

This crisis addiction leads to reform impatience... panacea proclivity... Absent mindedness and undermines significant and lasting reform

So here is my first suggestion Ignore “crises” by taking a LONG VIEW of your role in K-12 education reform

Which is to say THINK 2061

MATH & SCIENCE EDUCATION REFORM and The Standards Marmalade

Standards standards everywhere! There is no shortage of content standards in math & science education Consider...

The Initiators 1989—Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM) 1989—Science for All Americans (AAAS)

The Translators 1993—Benchmarks for Science Literacy (AAAS) 1996—National Science Education Standards (NRC) 1998—Standards for Excellence in Education (CBE)

The Extenders 2000—Standards for Technological Literacy (ITEA) 2000—Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM) 2001—Atlas of Science Literacy, Vol. 1 (AAAS) 2007—Atlas of Science Literacy, Vol. 2 (AAAS)

Yet States teacher education institutions materials developers researchers have yet to respond satisfactorily to those standards documents...

SUBSTANTIVELY or CULTURALLY or INNOVATIVELY

And now 2010—Common Core State Standards for Mathematics 2012(?)—Common Core State Standards for Science

Which brings us to my second suggestion Draw on existing standards documents to emphasize science and mathematics LITERACY in basic education

MATH & SCIENCE EDUCATION REFORM and Teacher ABCs

Here is what you can count on hearing in every education- implicated national crisis: Math & science teachers don’t know their subjects well have poor teaching skills need the help of scientists

Which, I take it, is what MSP is responding to as have the President’s science policy advisors

PCAST

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education for America’s Future

The U. S. now lags behind other nations in STEM education at the K- 12 level leaving [graduates] ill-prepared to meet the challenges that will face their generation, their country, and the world.

The problem is not just a lack of proficiency among American students... but also a lack of interest in STEM fields. Hence the need for math & science teachers who can prepare and inspire students

Prepare & Inspire on teacher education: Recruit and train 100,000 great STEM teachers over the next decade Create a STEM Master Teachers Corps of the top 5% of STEM teachers

The “System” 56 million STUDENTS 3.2 million TEACHERS 425,000 STEM TEACHERS 98,000 SCHOOLS 14,000 LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS 3143 COUNTIES 50 STATES 600 billion $$$$$$$

Prepare & Inspire is unlikely to change teacher education as radically or quickly as the 1910 Flexner Report changed medical education.

Hence the continuing education of current science and math teachers is of enormous importance. As is MSP

And finally my third suggestion Use your MSP experience to become a force for the TRANSFORMATION OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Take a LONG VIEW of education reform Foster the LITERACY OBJECTIVE of content Influence the TRANSFORMATION of teacher education