Excellence and Equity: Mobilizing for Math and Science Learning

Posted by on June 22, 2009

An ‘opportunity equation’ for transforming American math and science education

According to a new report by the Carnegie Institute for Advanced Study’s Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, “The ‘opportunity equation’ means transforming education in the United States so that every student reaches higher levels of mathematics and science learning.” The study calls for coordinated national action to establish common standards for mathematics and science — standards that are fewer, clearer, and higher — along with high-quality assessments for American students. Math and science teaching must be overhauled, it says, along with the “methods for recruiting and preparing teachers and for managing the nation’s teaching talent.” Public schools and systems must be redesigned to deliver excellent, equitable math and science learning. “Educators, students, parents, leaders of universities, museums, and the business and professional communities, scientists and mathematicians, and public officials at all levels will need to embrace a new understanding that the world has shifted dramatically… As a society, we must commit ourselves to the proposition that all students can achieve at high levels in math and science, that we need them to do so for their own futures and for the future of our country, and that we owe it to them to structure and staff our educational system accordingly.”

Read more: http://www.opportunityequation.org/report/urgency-opportunity/