Math Teachers

What does it take to get more Math and Science teachers? Getting creative and getting serious

Caroline — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:04:33 -0600

Washington is not the only state struggling to find more math and science teachers. Over the next decade, schools nationwide will need 200,000 or more new teachers in science and math, according to estimates by such groups as the Business-Higher Education Forum in Washington D.C.. Here at home, we’ll need at least 460 new math teachers by 2013, so every student can take three years of high school math—part of the State Board of Education’s recent CORE 24 proposal.

What’s a State to do, especially a cash-strapped one? Getting creative about recruiting and then getting serious about providing high-quality teacher preparation, mentoring and financial incentives seem to be part of the solution.

Take the case of two new Massachusetts teachers:

A former mortgage loan officer, Jeremy Kennefick saw science teaching as a more fulfilling option, and happened across Teach! SouthCoast, a partnership between the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth College, and several school districts, including that of New Bedford, where he now teaches eighth-grade science at Normandin Middle School. He's receiving a $5,000 scholarship – funded by a federal grant – in exchange for teaching in the district for at least three years. Twice a week, he takes classes with a group of 20 who will earn their teaching licenses within a year. He’ll receive three years of mentoring.

Geoffrey Gailey, a biology major in undergrad, won a Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) fellowship, while pursuing his master’s in teaching at Cornell University. He’s now teaching at The Engineering High School in Boston. The KSTF fellowship provides tuition assistance, summer stipends, and ongoing professional development for up to five years. Out of 128 KSTF fellowships awarded since 2002, fewer than 20 individuals have left teaching. By comparison, about a third of new science and math teachers typically leave the profession within three years.

We’re encouraged that Washington’s very own Basic Education Finance Task Force recently recommended state incentives, such as loan forgiveness and more pay, for teachers in shortage areas; mentoring new teachers up to five years; and revamping teachers’ career and salary advancement to reward effectiveness.

And, luckily for Washington, federal leadership may soon be on the horizon. On the campaign trail, President-elect Barack Obama called for 40,000 new scholarships to draw undergraduates and career-changers into high-needs schools and making science and math education a national priority. Obama also voiced support for the creation of high-quality teacher preparation residencies with strong mentoring components-an approach proven successful by Secretary of Education-nominee Arne Duncan in Chicago.

To find out more, check out Obama’s education agenda.

PESB moves to ensure a quality supply of math and science teachers

maureen — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:18:47 -0600

Just when you thought I was snowed in, I dug myself out for some late-breaking education news! The Professional Educators Standards Board (PESB) has released their report to the legislature with recommendations for how Washington should recruit a quality supply of math and science teachers.

So just what is PESB recommending to increase math and science teacher capacity? Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I was on the task force behind the report, so I’ve got a pretty good idea. Here are the highlights:

Create an Adjunct Teaching Corps of part-time math and science faculty at community colleges and baccalaureate institutions with interest in teaching secondary math and/or science part-time in Washington public middle- or high schools. I love this recommendation. It’s relatively low-cost and brings a significant amount of new and diverse experience into the classroom.

Ensure Math and Science Teacher Preparation Adequately Prioritized by Public Institutions. We recommend that Governor Gregoire convene, per PESB budget request to OFM, a Task Force of Public Higher Education Institution Leadership, along with other key K-12 stakeholders, to examine the place of educator preparation in public institutional mission and how institutional leaders may better prioritize and support it. This is a no-nonsense solution that should have been done yesterday. Currently, most Washington Colleges of Education over-produce elementary school teachers, while significantly under-producing math and science teachers—an area where there is dire need. This task force would look for ways to encourage Colleges of Education to counsel students and produce teachers that meet the demands of the state.

Fund Teacher Residency and Fellowship programs, with oversight by the PESB, operated by Teach for America (TFA) or The New Teacher Project, in which teaching interns earn significant stipends or salary. Washington is one of the most sought after locations in the TFA Corps, yet, to date, our state has never sought assistance from the program. While this strategy is more long term, it has proved to draw some of the best and brightest young minds in to the classroom.

Create tighter, more formal collaboration between colleges of education and liberal arts and sciences. Modeled after the nationally-renowned U-Teach program at University of Texas and a similar program at University of Colorado, Washington institutions should implement Compact degrees that allow most students to graduate with a degree and certification in math or science in four years. Imagine if you could earn an engineering degree and a math teaching certificate at the same time. I bet there’d be a lot more math and science graduates willing to teach out there.

Promisingly, Governor Gregoire has already included pieces of this report (namely, creating tighter links between Colleges of Education and K-12 teaching demands) in her budget proposal for this session. Stay tuned (and stay warm) for more news of the implementation of PESB’s recommendations over the coming session!

Math and science hold the future for our students

maureen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:09:31 -0500

Think all big companies like Microsoft care about is the bottom line? Think again.

Last week, Microsoft published editorials in four different Washington papers on the importance of math and science education for students. And, wouldn’t you know, they hold that math and science skills are critical to the future of our kids and our state’s economy, and urged our state’s lawmakers to take bold steps to improve Washington schools.

What’s a great about Microsoft’s push for education issues is that, as a company, they’ve put their money where their mouth is and have donated $8 million—through programs liked the Microsoft Math Partnership—to improve K-12 math and science education in Washington.

Sort of makes you wish all companies were so committed to not just the success of their employee’s children, but everyone’s children and the future of our workforce at large.

Check out the editorial at the company’s website and the public service announcement we partnered with Microsoft to create above.

“For every action…

maureen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:10:42 -0500

…there is a reaction.” Newton said that about motion, but he could have just as easily said it about the inertia of education reform—particularly when it comes to getting more teachers into the classroom. Circling around the news today, a Tacoma News Tribune column demonstrates this very point.

Responding to Liv Finne’s editorial on the barrier of teacher credentials in Washington state, Jill Van Glubt flies to the Professional Educator Standards Board’s (PESB) defense. Van Glubt, chair of PESB (which governs teacher certification in WA), seeks to make it clear that changing teacher certification laws to allow more professionals access to the classroom isn’t the silver bullet to increasing math and science teacher capacity or student performance.

“A high degree of knowledge in math and science is necessary for effective teaching, but not sufficient. Just knowing a tremendous amount about a subject does not mean you can teach it to a classroom of 14-year-olds,” writes Van Glubt.

“Teaching credentials that reflect attainment of both subject knowledge and teaching skills do, and must, matter. The purpose of a license is to assure the public that the holder has achieved an expected level of competency. After all, we are entrusting our children to that person’s care. Not only do we know that parents want licensed and qualified teachers, we know from research that it does make a difference.”

But what about Teacher for America? you might ask. Don’t those young teachers lack full licenses and have been shown to increase capacity and test scores?

Van Glubt responds: “Studies on TFA graduate effectiveness haven’t addressed the impact of credentialing and, in one, more TFA graduates held certification in the subject they were teaching than non-TFA. TFA has an impressive track record of high-caliber recruits that achieve positive student learning results. However, very few teachers in TFA stay beyond their two-year commitment.”

The debate on whether or not to reduce teacher certification laws in order to allow more mathematicians and scientists to teach is certainly far from over. Van Glubt recommends “a more aggressive recruitment strategy and greater access to a wider variety of training options,” but one wonders if this is merely more of the same strategy we’ve been using along. On the other hand, as the shortage of math and science teachers captures more attention, we may see more of a public push for dramatically improving current teacher recruitment and retention practices.

Perhaps only time will tell. I wonder what Newton would say…

To learn more about this issue and Alternative Routes to teacher certification, visit PESB’s website.

Ladies and Gentleman, the Washington Class of 2008

maureen — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:32:33 -0500

Just like the tagline of a cinema epic, the road forged by the class of 2008 has been a groundbreaking one, more than a decade in the making. In the next few weeks, students will graduate as the first class to be better prepared for life after high school, demonstrating their ability to succeed on the reading and writing WASL, complete a culminating project and implement a "high school and beyond" plan.

No one doubts the that process of implementing these new graduation requirements has been difficult, but to the credit of principals, teachers, students and parents, out of 67,000 12^th graders currently enrolled in Washington schools an impressive 91.4 percent of students have met state standards in both the reading and writing and are on track to graduate later this month.

“This is a celebration of over a decade of work. These are our first graduates to have more scrutiny placed on them than almost anyone in the state and they’ve risen to the challenge,” said Terry Bergeson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “But the big picture is that our schools are now delivering more personalized attention than ever to keep students engaged in school and help them achieve high standards.”

It’s important to note that, to date, there are 3,000 students who have yet to take the test. When these students are subtracted from the total population, the number of students who have met standard goes up to a remarkable 95 percent.

A More Meaningful Diploma

The delivery of these results has proven both inspiring and cathartic for students and teachers. Many students took the reading and writing Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) several times to reach state standards, others demonstrated their capabilities through the submission of portfolios, still others used SAT and AP scores to prove their skills. But later this month, they will all receive a diploma that’s more meaningful than any in our state’s history.

Rose Worgum, an academic counselor at Curtis High School, has seen firsthand how the state’s new diploma requirements have helped to better prepare students for the world of college and work.

“One thing that stands out as significant to me is a student that I worked with who transferred here from the Ukraine in her sophomore year, just a few months before the WASL was administered,” said Worgum. “She spoke no English and ended up taking the WASL that year and did not pass. She worked very hard in her classes and with her English language and in her junior year when she took the WASL, she passed with Level 4's (advanced) in reading and writing and also passed math with a Level 3 (proficient).”

The state’s other new graduation requirements including the completion of the culminating project have also posed challenges for students, but significant benefits, as well, as they plan their next step in life.

“When students are invited to stretch their learning in a meaningful and manageable way, they rise to the occasion,” said Molly Berger, an English teacher in the Yakima School District who supported many of her students through the new culminating project requirement.

The Credit Deficiency Culprit

The students who have not yet passed the reading and/or writing WASL still have a chance to meet state standards through either registering to submit a “collection of evidence” portfolio by June 16 or retaking the WASL in mid-August. The decision to allow these students to participate in graduation ceremonies has been left up to individual districts.

In most cases, however, failure to pass the required reading and writing WASL will not be the decisive factor that holds some students back from graduation. According to a 2007 Washington State University study of more than 10,000 students in 13 districts, lack of sufficient course credits will hold far more students back than failure to meet state graduation standards (see chart below).

“The problem of credit deficiency is ultimately a larger challenge for our students than assessment,” said Brian Jeffries, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) graduation policy director. “Thankfully, programs like ‘Navigation 101’ that help students plan for college and careers and tie their courses to their future goals will reduce credit deficiency as a barrier to graduation.”

Strengthening the Graduation Rate

OSPI will not know the total graduation rate for the class of 2008 until early September, after the August WASL retake. But contrary to the fears of some, there is no indication that the dropout rate will increase this year as a result of the new requirements.

“It is unacceptable to assume the WASL will either increase or decrease our state’s dropout rates,” said Larry Ehl, executive director of Partnership for Learning. “While the WASL itself is not a means to fix our dropout rate, it measures whether a student is ready to take that next step in life. We must continue to explore ways to keep students engaged, motivated and supported while also holding them to the high standards needed for college and work success.”

Supt. Bergeson has often noted that, in other states, the implementation of testing requirements have little impact on graduation rates over time. They have, however, been shown to decrease the number of remedial classes students must take when the exit high school and enter post-secondary institutions, which often strengthens the student incentive to finish well.

Looking Ahead

In many ways, the success of the class of 2008 is just the beginning. The classes of 2009-12 will be subject to the same requirements, but will also be expected to build on this year’s achievement as the process for helping students meet standards and finish requirements becomes more clarified and streamlined. Starting in 2013 and 2014, students will be required to pass the high school math WASL or an end-of-course exam to graduate (currently, students who don’t pass math WASL can earn two math credits after 10^th grade to meet standard).

But Supt. Bergeson doesn’t want to short-change this year’s accomplishment.

“To the students, I must say: Congratulations. You’ve met the challenge and you’ve prepared for your future. You will be going into the 21^st century with the skills to build our future and make our country and economy what we truly want it to be.”

Tracking the Class of 2008

This diagram, created by OSPI, shows the progress of the class of 2008 starting in 9th grade.

Resources for the Class of 2008

To learn more about the requirements for the Class of 2008 and the upcoming requirements for the Classes of 2009-2013, visit OSPI’s resource page.

To find out about the alternative methods for students to meet state standards and graduation requirements, visit OSPI’s Certificate of Achievement page.

Key Upcoming Dates

June 3 -- Public release of 12^th grade WASL results

June 6 -- School districts receive individual student WASL score reports from Pearson Educational Measurement, the state’s testing contractor. School districts receive combined score report for assessment for segmented mathematics

June 9-13 -- Individual student results for grades 10, 11 and 12 available for districts to share with students and their families.

June 16 -- Deadline to submit Collection of Evidence and Report to Families: OSPI’s announcement of state-level High School WASL results and progress with graduation requirement in reading, writing and math

June 9-27 -- Registration window for August High School WASL

June 16-20 -- Third batch of Certificate of Academic Achievement/Certificate of Individual Achievement certificates delivered

August 11-14 -- August High School WASL (Counts for 2007-08 school year)

By September 10 -- OSPI releases statewide Spring 2008 WASL performance in all subjects and all grades.

Washington Math Teachers Gear Up for New Standards

With Washington’s new K-8 math standards in place, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is undertaking a series of massive training sessions for more than 10,000 math teachers statewide.

The training sessions will take place in Spokane in late June and in Tacoma in late July and early August. Some Educational Service Districts (ESDs) and school districts are scheduling their own sessions, as well. The state will pay for related materials including copies of the 2008 Washington State K-8 Mathematics Standards for all participants.

“The mathematics standards training is not required,” said Lexie Domaradzki, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning at OSPI. “However, starting in the spring of 2010, math tests at all grade levels will assess whether students have learned the mathematics content contained in the new standards.”

Professional development for mathematics standards in grades 9-12 will be scheduled later this year, following the adoption of the revised standards for those grades.

For more information on — and to register for — OSPI and ESD-sponsored trainings visit https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us/EventsManager/Public/Calendar.aspx (Events Manager search terms: Revised Mathematics Standards, Math, K-8).

Retiring Math and Science Teachers: You’ll be dearly missed…

maureen — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:24:47 -0500

That’s because of the incredible shortage of qualified math and science teachers that exists in Washington state.

From today’s Tri-City Herald—

“As more and more baby boomers retire, employers nationwide are scrambling to fill jobs and entice skilled older workers to stay on a little longer.

Tri-City school officials aren’t forecasting an unusual surge of teacher retirements anytime soon, and figures obtained by the Herald seem to back up their confidence. But officials do say educators like Knepp — with her expertise in math and science — are especially hard to replace.

‘We do (think) about it, especially in certain subject matters,’ said Bev Johnson-Torelli, assistant superintendent of human resources for the Kennewick School District. ‘Right now, there isn’t a scarcity of elementary teachers. But there is in math, science, special education and (those who teach students learning English).’”

AND

“Finding enough qualified math and science teachers to make up for turnover, retirement and new demands in those subjects is a challenge, Tri-City school officials said.

One study by the Washington, D.C.-based Business and Higher Education Forum projected that 280,000 new math and science teachers will be needed by 2015.”

Thankfully, PESB was tasked in the state’s budget with developing a comprehensive math and science teacher recruitment strategy by the legislature earlier this year. Let’s hope their efforts can help to combat the impending baby boom retirement wave—or at least explore a program like California’s which recruits retirees back into the classroom.

Ain’t that a shame…

maureen — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:06:18 -0500

No, we’re not talking about the Fats Domino song—just the fact that our state missed out on $13.2 million to strengthen math and science courses. The grant from the National Math & Science Initiative would have provided teacher training and coaching, tutoring for students, materials and equipment, and incentives for teachers and students. But it’s gone now, because NMSI was unable to reach agreement with Washington schools on the terms of the grant contract and we’re sad.

In case you missed it yesterday, check out this Seattle Times article for the depressing details.

The TNT Hits the Math Debate Home

maureen — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:50:46 -0600

In the wake of last week’s letter from the 60 UW professors who warned that a growing number of freshmen can’t do even middle school math, the Tacoma New Tribune published a great editorial this morning that pointed out that remediation isn’t the fault of students (especially the ones smart enough to get into the UW), it’s the “quantity and quality of math education kids get in public schools.” And, more importantly, the shortage of qualified math teachers is at the heart of the problem.

They also supported the Senate bill that plans to study and attach real numbers to the state’s math teacher and education problems.

But the TNT really hit it home with this: “Face it: Differential pay is the future. Washington needs skilled teachers if its students are to get the math and science education they need to compete in the real world. Simply ramping up teacher recruiting won’t be enough... The proposed study is a first step. Lawmakers should make sure it gets done.” Here, here.

When Math Professors Attack!

maureen — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:05:33 -0600

Saw an interesting article in the P-I today that pits 60 math and science professors from the UW—who signed an open letter—against the state’s new math standards. Apparently, many profs complain that college freshmen can’t do basic math, some instructors are dumbing down their classes and Washington math education is to blame.

But not everyone at the UW agrees. Ginger Warfield, a senior lecturer in UW Math Dept. gave a nice rebuttal to the ivory tower crankies.

Mathematicians may mean well, "but they have no clue how to teach math to children," she said. "They know how to teach it at the collegiate level, but it's quite different teaching a first-grader than teaching a freshman."

Touche.

Math Night Lights

maureen — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:40:32 -0600

One of the best sessions I attended at the OSPI January Conference last week focused on math. But it wasn’t about student WASL scores or the new math standards or even math curriculum suggestions. No one argued and no one bantered about whose district was doing what. Instead we were posed with a simple question: Double 38.

The focus of the session was how to connect with parents at community math nights—a topic which is becoming a crucial element to math education as Washington parents struggle to help their children in times of transitioning standards, teaching strategies and expectations.

A recent Skagit Valley Herald article did a nice job summing up the issue: “Times have changed and so have the approaches to teaching math. No longer do most educators expect students to find the solutions the same way as we did in that pre-algebra class. Creative problem solving that was once frowned upon by teachers is encouraged and some parents find themselves lost when it comes to helping their students complete the required homework assignments. That’s where community math nights enter the scene.”

Mentally, I broke the two 38s down into 30+30=60 and 8+8=16 and added the two sums to make 76. I figured, how many other ways can there be? The answer to my question, I found, while surrounded by more than 50 teachers was, “Tons.”

Steve DePaul, the session’s presenter and past-OSPI math education expert, did a wonderful job teaching teachers how to reassure and create consensus among parents around their child’s math learning. After asking about 15 participants how they came up with their answers, he received nearly 15 different methods—all based on valid mathematical reasoning.

"New math, old math or somewhere in between, we all learned our own tailored tricks to find the answer and no one used a single sheet of paper," noted DePaul at the end of the exercise. Maybe there is truth in the old adage, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat”—or multiply a fraction.

“[Math nights] are a win-win situation for the entire community,” wrote the Herald. “If students are getting both the preparation at school and the support with homework at home, they are more likely to be successful in other areas of their education. For many of us, math was an intimidating class that didn’t have to be.”

Later in the session, we counted beans with letters, instead of numbers, to simulate how confusing it can be for a kindergartener to initially count and learn written language at the same time. The empathy for confusion in the room was tangible—a feeling that is often missed at many math forums—and it gave me hope that, with enough patience and understanding, students really can get the instruction necessary from math teachers and the help they need from their parents.