Improving Indicators of the Quality of Science and Mathematics Education in Grades K-12 (1988) / Chapter Skim
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1 Summary and Recommendations
1 Summary and Recommendations
Pages 1-14
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All students need the knowledge and reasoning skills that good science and mathematics education provides. Not only should students leave school scientifically and mathematically literate, but they should also have acquired the mental tools with which they can renew that literacy throughout their lives.
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For the assessment of curriculum, exemplary frameworks containing substantive content and desirable learning goals need to be constructed, each spanning several grade levels, to provide referents against which textbooks and other curriculum components can be evaluated. Recommended Key Indicators Extent of student learning in mathematics and science Extent of scientific and mathematical literacy of adults Enrollment data for mathematics and science courses taken by students in high school and the amount of time spent on the study of science and mathematics in elementary and middIe/junior high school Nature of student activities during science and mathematics instruction
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. The reason for aggregating by student demographic variables is to establish to what extent there are systematic inequities in the distribution of resources devoted to science and mathematics education and systematic differences in student learning.
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, and financial and leadership support (Chapter 83. A consequence of this organization is that recommendations for key indicators are intermingled with recommendations for supplementary indicators and with recommendations for research.
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Techniques to be developed include problem-solving tasks, as exemplified by the College Board Advanced Placement Tests; penciland-paper tests of hypothesis formulation, experimental design, and other tasks requiring productive-thinking skills, as exemplified by questions in the British Assessment of Performance Unit Series; hands-on experimental exercises, as exemplified by some test materials administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (TEA)
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Tests should be given to students in upper-elementary, middle, and senior high school (for example, in grades 4, 8, and 12~. Because of the rapid changes taking place in science instruction in grades K-S, assessment at this level should be carried out every two years, using exercises developed according to the preceding recommendation.
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The data collected should be aggregated and reported by age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region so as to establish to what extent there are systematic inequities in the distribution of scientific and mathematical literacy. Indicators of Student Behavior Key Indicator: The committee recommends that data on secondary school course enrollment be gathered on a fouryear cycle for both mathematics and science.
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A similar study is recommended for mathematics classes; a panel of mathematics educators should deterrn~ne the nature of the student behaviors sought. Supplementary Indicator: The committee recommends the collection of information on minutes per week spent on science and mathematics homework.
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Research and Development: The committee recommends continued research on linkages between student learning and various student activities, on more effective ways of assessing activities that affect learning, and on the factors that influence individuals to engage in these activities. Research and Development: Given the importance attached by science and mathematics educators to the development of attitudes that will foster continuing engagement with science and mathematics, the committee recommends that research be conducted to establish which attitudes affect future student and adult behavior in this regard and to develop unambiguous measures for those that matter most.
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Both current distribution and change over time are of interest; therefore, tests should be given every four years to a sample of all teachers and every two years to a sample of newly hired secondary school mathematics and science teachers. Supplementary Indicator: The committee recommends reorganization of the information currently being collected on teacher preparation (college courses in mathematics and science, majors and minors, advanced degrees)
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the factors affecting teacher responses to changes in the intended curriculum; the use of hands-on experiences involving concrete materials, laboratory experiments, and computers; and allowing an adequate period of time for students to formulate responses to questions. Supplementary Indicator: The committee recommends that data be collected on a four-year cycle through openended surveys on the materials, facilities, and supplies available and used by teachers in mathematics and science instruction.
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The frameworks must represent the structures of the subject matter and desirable learning goals, or alternatives among desirable goals. Key Indicator: Once the frameworks are constructed, the committee recommends that three elements of the intended curriculum should be matched and rated against them for content coverage: state guidelines, textbooks and such associated materials as computer software and laboratory exercises, and tests.
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Research and Development: Standards of excellence should be developed based on the best of curricula in current use. High-quality programs encompassing the curriculum blocks suggested above should be selected, profiled, and analyzed to provide models of excellence in depth of content coverage, scientific accuracy, and pedagogic soundness of science and mathematics curricula.
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for developing the recommended cross-agency indicator of federal support. Supplementary Indicator: The committee recommends that indicators be designed using budgetary data of scientific bodies and information on stab time and volunteer time devoted to education and that these indicators be routinely available to reflect the commitment of resources by scientific bodies for the improvement of mathematics and science education in the schools.
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