Change the Equation Blog

More students than ever are enrolling in rigorous math and science courses -- but that label probably doesn't imply what parents and students think it does. A new report, released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress and part of an ongoing high-school transcript study, showed that while almost every member of the high school class of 2005 took Algebra I, as few as one in four students were actually presented with the type of material that would prepare them for college. 

The report's release brought together a panel of experts, including CTEq's own Linda Rosen, to speak about the implications of the study. Panelists acknowledged the results are sobering -- parents, students, and policymakers have long assumed that these courses comprise the first step on a college-ready track, and more and more careers will rely on a greater knowledge of algebra in the years to come. The analysis found that students are taking more math in high school, but if the class doesn't cover the subject meaningfully, there will be trouble down the pike. Labelling every ninth-grade math course "Algebra I" won't increase proficiency or knowledge. 

The report, which looked at textbooks and transcripts, determined that of the material in a standard Algebra I textbook, only two-thirds of it was related to algebraic topics. The last third was devoted to elementary and middle school concepts. Roughly the same breakdown was seen in geometry textbooks. Of the students enrolled in an "honors" course, 73 percent of them were using materials more suited to an intermediate math course. 

Part of the problem, of course, is preparedness: If students enter high school unready, presenting them with too-rigorous material would set them up for failure. Hopefully the Common Core standards, which are more rigorous than several states' standards and, more importantly, create a standard understanding of algebra and geometry, will help rectify the "title inflation," as Linda dubbed the trend. But it's clear that we need to start thinking about how to ensure quality in order to ensure that students are receiving the best education possibe. 

As the D.C. area braces for what may or may not be an incredible late-in-season storm, we bring you all the STEM news that's fit to clip. 

State Councils Propel STEM Education, EdWeek

Education, like politics, is local, and many STEM initiatives have recently emerged from states. EdWeek takes a look at how state initiatives are changing the on-the-ground STEM game. See if your state is included. 

'An Angry Black Woman's Rant on the Future of STEM Education,' TedxBaltimore

Professor Roni Ellington of Morgan State University spoke last week at the TedxBaltimore conference on diversity in STEM education. A mathematician with a PhD in math education, her work focuses on how marginalized students persist and succeed in STEM fields. Take 10 minutes to listen to her ideas on how to persuade students to pursue 'hard' subjects and how to empower teachers and provide students with agency in STEM education. 

From C++ to She++, Huffington Post

The shortage of women in technology is well-documented, and often a concern for those looking forward in the field. But as columnist Sejal Hathi, the problem of women in male-dominated fields "isn't just a women's issue: it is a national security issue, a human right's issue, [a] generation's shared issue." She highlights an important concern: We must view women's success in STEM communally in order to move forward. 

The PhD Bust: America's Awful Market for Young Scientists -- in 7 Charts, The Atlantic

The title of this post is devastatingly clear: It's tough to get a job as a young, newly minted PhD. While within STEM the outlook has been grim in life sciences for a while, even formerly safe fields like engineering are beginning to take a hit as well. 

Should We Give Visas to Immigrants Who Create Startups? 

The question of immigration and business innovation has been in front of Congress for a while. Last year, for instance, the House voted on a STEM visa bill, and President Obama has included it in his immigration-reform bill. Kansas Senator Jerry Moran recently proposed extending a path to citizenship to job creators, or any immigrant who created a startup with capitol investments over $100,000 and employed at least two people. While not directly STEM-related, it's not a stretch to imagine that many of these startups and jobs would focus on technological innovation. 

The new MetLife Survey of the American Teacher should give us pause. It reminds us yet again that common academic standards could hit real speedbumps if teachers and principals don't get the support they need to put them in place.

One big challenge may be overconfidence. More than nine in ten teachers were "confident" or "very confident" that teachers in their school have the "academic skills and abilities to teach to the Common Core State Standards." Some studies, by contrast, paint a different picture. As Catherine Gewertz notes, they find that teachers often don't excel at teaching the kinds of higher-order skills Common Standards emphasize.

Part of the problem might be the way MetLife worded the question. Teachers may feel they have the academic muscle to teach to Common Core, but their pedagogical muscle may have atrophied from years spent on lower-order skills. For many teachers, the reality of Common Core may come as a shock.

That poses big problems for principals and teachers alike. Principals in the MetLife survey seem to be suffering something akin to shell shock. Three quarters of principals say their jobs asre too complex, seven out of ten say their job responsibilities are not very similar to what they were just five years ago, and half say they great stress at least several several times a week.

Teachers are in a similar boat. They are about as likely as principals to report suffering great stress, and their job satisfaction numbers have plummeted since 2008. These numbers needn't surprise us. Teachers and principals alike have experienced a perfect storm of new reforms and budget distress in the past five years.

But the answer is not to dial back on reforms like Common Core. Despite media reports that teachers don't like common standards, the MetLife survey joins previous surveys in finding solid teacher support for Common Core. The bigger issue is support. School veterans have gotten used to seeing wave after wave of reform surge and then recede. THey're weary of reforms that come with little coherent support to ensure their success. Our state Vital Signs reports found that many math and science teachers, particularly those who teach low income students, lack the resources they need.

Teachers in the MetLife Survey made it very clear that they would welcome such resources, which include coaching, teaching materials, and tools to track their students' process. Yet it's still devilishly difficult to figure out whether states are actually on track to providing such resources. If Common Core supporters don't want this reform to recede like so many others before it, they had better be vigilant.

Happy birthday, dear Galileo!

Today, one of history's most prolific scientists and mathematicians, Galileo Galilei, would be 449 years old. Galileo was an equal-opportunity STEM achiever, working in pure and applied science and mathematics. He discovered Jovian moons and improved a new invention called the telescope. He championed heliocentrism, and invented the compass. 

The son of a well-known lutenist and music theoretician, Galileo grew up in Florence and Pisa, and was educated at a monastery and the University of Pisa. Although his father originally wanted him to study medicine, he discovered geometry, and the rest was history. He studied physics and mathematics, and In one famous thought experiment, he imagined dropping objects of different masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to prove that objects fall and accelerate at the same rate. After hearing about the invention of a telescope, he immediately invented a new, improved version. Eventually, using evidence gathered with the telescope, he supported the Copernican theory that the sun sat in the center of the universe.  

This belief -- as well as the brashness with which he presented it -- eventually landed him in hot water. In 1616, he was prohibited by Church authority from speaking out about Copernican theory. As a strict Catholic, he abided by that rule. In 1623, though, when Pope Urban -- whom he considered a friend -- was appointed, Urban allowed him to write about astronomy, provided it was objective and didn't advocate. However, the piece that came about, Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was anything but objective, and Galileo was put on trial for heresy and sentenced to house arrest. He spent nine years under house arrest, defying the church's orders that he not have visitors nor publish any original scientific work, and died in 1642.

Galileo's inventions and discoveries have withstood the test of time. His work in motion and mechanics set the stage for later thinkers like Isaac Newton. He was one of the first to find order in the natural world, and many consider him the father of modern science.