Private Tutor for Math & Science Success

Ventura County Star: Pulse: Speak Out
Children in American middle schools would rather clean their rooms, eat their vegetables or visit the dentist than do math homework, according to a survey of 1,000 students commissioned by the Raytheon Co.

This is disturbing because mathematics is essential to comprehension of the principles of engineering, which advances our standard of living as a nation. Engineering also supports the economy of Ventura County, chiefly through the so-called “Technology Corridor” along Highway 101, anchored by Amgen Inc. and packed with manufacturers of aerospace, electronics and defense systems, as well as research-and-development and computer businesses. A steady supply of engineers also is mandatory for national defense.

Inside Bay Area – Losing the Edge
CALIFORNIA is home to one-fourth of the nation’s billionaires, many of them software engineers who made it big in the tech boom. The state has the sixth-largest economy in the world — bigger than all other far West states combined. And Californians have higher incomes than people nationwide.

Yet California spends less on educating its students than two-thirds of the states — ranking 33 in spending per pupil. Its classrooms are more crowded than those in all but two states. And, not surprisingly given these other statistics, academic achievement among California kids ranks among the lowest in the 50 states based on standardized tests.

So why does the richest state and the technology capital of the world invest so much less in education?

More importantly, what will be the consequences?

UA Receives $3.5 Million to Improve Advanced Math Education
The National Science Foundation has awarded The University of Arizona in Tucson a $3.5 million grant over the next five years to satisfy these needs and improve the quality of advanced mathematics education.

“The NSF feels like there is a crisis, a looming shortage of people with advanced mathematical training,” said principal investigator Douglas Ulmer, a UA professor of mathematics and associate head for the graduate program in the UA’s department of mathematics.

uticaOD.com – The Observer-Dispatch – Math scores drop off from 3rd to 8th grade (with local scores)
Barely half of eighth-graders in Herkimer and Oneida counties are meeting state standards on mathematics exams, a steep decline from the level of achievement of third-graders, where 85 percent of students met standards, according to results released by the state Education Department Wednesday.

Local scores mirror statewide trends, including a significant dip in scores after fourth grade. In Herkimer and Oneida counties, the number of students meeting standards drops 12 percentage points between fourth and fifth grade, the largest decrease between any two grades.

Younger students testing better in math than English Educators ponder students’ test scores
Most people don’t have problems reading.

They can scan a menu to figure out what they want or follow road signs. They tend not to be afraid of books.

Many of these same people say they always hated math, don’t remember what the Pythagorean theorem is or how to use it and cringe when their children ask for help with algebra or geometry homework.

So it seems almost ironic that Rockland’s schoolchildren – and their peers statewide – are stronger in math than in English language arts, according to data released by the state Education Department in the past three weeks.

The results of the state’s ELA standardized tests were released Sept. 20; the math results were released Wednesday. These are new tests, rewritten to conform with federal education law that requires children to be tested in English and math each year from third grade through eighth.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program promoted – Thief River Falls Times
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has announced a series of forums designed to build regional partnerships to improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. The forums will be held around the state in October and November. The closest one to northwest Minnesota will be conducted from 9 a.m. to noon on Nov. 2 at Moorhead Senior High School in Moorhead.

Ventura County Star: Pulse: Speak Out
Children in American middle schools would rather clean their rooms, eat their vegetables or visit the dentist than do math homework, according to a survey of 1,000 students commissioned by the Raytheon Co.

This is disturbing because mathematics is essential to comprehension of the principles of engineering, which advances our standard of living as a nation. Engineering also supports the economy of Ventura County, chiefly through the so-called “Technology Corridor” along Highway 101, anchored by Amgen Inc. and packed with manufacturers of aerospace, electronics and defense systems, as well as research-and-development and computer businesses. A steady supply of engineers also is mandatory for national defense.

CITIZEN-TIMES.com: State Board of Education raises standards for student achievement
RALEIGH – North Carolina’s State Board of Education on Thursday raised proficiency standards for elementary and middle school students when it approved the achievement levels for the state’s new end-of-grade mathematics assessments. These assessments were given for the first time in May 2006 to measure student performance on the revised and more rigorous mathematics curriculum.

Making Math Education Count — Mervis 2006 (912): 1 — ScienceNOW
The leading organization for U.S. mathematics teachers today spelled out what’s important for students to know at each primary grade level. Officials at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) hope their 40-page document, titled Curriculum Focal Points: A Quest for Coherence, will help change the “mile-wide, inch-deep” approach that they say has left most U.S. students without a solid preparation for higher-level mathematics.

Current state frameworks for teaching mathematics to children in elementary and middle school (kindergarten through grade can include more than 100 objectives for a particular grade, says Francis “Skip” Fennell, NCTM president. “That’s too many topics, covered too superficially,” he says. Instead, the Focal Points contain only three topics per grade. In grade 1, the emphasis is on developing understanding of addition and subtraction, whole-number relationships, and assembling geometric shapes, for example, whereas grade 3 teachers are told to home in on whole-number division, fractions with unlike denominators and decimals, and three-dimensional shapes.

Education officials say implementing new math and science requirements won’t be easy
Local education officials may approve of the State Board of Education’s new high school graduation requirements, but they say implementing the new curriculum won’t be easy.

A teacher shortage, crunch for space and curriculum logistics will be hurdles for local school districts to overcome in the board of education’s most recent graduation requirement vote Friday.

“I think it will mean changes (for our district), and that brings some concerns,” McGregor Independent School District Superintendent Kevin Houchin said.