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Glenn Commission Report: Before It's Too Late (Goal 3)



Glenn Commission Report

Before It's Too Late : The Report to the Nation by the National Commission
on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century


Background and review:
Released on September 27 by the National Commission on Mathematics
and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, this 48-page report
presents "a comprehensive plan to ensure that every American student
receives excellent instruction in math and science." The report sets
three goals and action strategies for meeting those goals. These are:
establish an ongoing system to improve the quality of mathematics and
science teaching in grades K-12, increase significantly the number of
mathematics and science teachers and improve the quality of their
preparation, and improve the working environment while making the
teaching profession more attractive for K-12 mathematics and science
teachers. At the site, users can read an executive summary and the
official press release, view an archived Webcast, and download the
full text in .pdf and Word formats. http://www.ed.gov/inits/Math/glenn/
[from the SCOUT report, 10/20/00]


(The NSTA summary is concluded here. My 3 previous posts on this are in the
phys-L archives. - Jane Jackson)


GOAL 3: Improve the working environment and make the teaching profession
more attractive for K-12 mathematics and science teachers.

Society refuses to recognize the professional status of teachers. Turnover
in the nation's teaching force is high. Many science and math teachers leave
teaching because of "dissatisfaction with working conditions, such as lack
of leadership, lack of classroom autonomy, lack of respect from students,
poor support from administrators, overly large classes, and poorly equipped
labs and classrooms." The number one reason cited by leaving teachers is
"poor salary."

The Commission calls for "energetic and sustained steps to break out of this
downward spiral . . . state education agencies, school districts, and
schools must move immediately and aggressively to make math and science
teaching more attractive." It suggests three action strategies: (1) having
more and better induction programs for new teachers; (2) developing
business/school partnerships that foster high-quality teaching and make the
profession more attractive; (3) encouraging veteran teachers who demonstrate
improvement and seek new challenges to stay in the classroom and be rewarded
for their efforts.

Induction Programs: In addition to creation of induction programs for new
teachers, the Commission proposes that new teachers have frequent formal
interaction with master teachers. New policies should ensure that new
teachers do not inherit the most demanding teaching schedules and the most
challenging students and would exclude or limit extracurricular duties for
new teachers.

Business/District Partnerships: "Acting with states, districts, and other
stakeholders, business/district partnerships can take several steps to
encourage teachers to stay in the classroom, continually sharpen their
skills, optimize working conditions, and encourage widespread public support
for mathematics and science education."

Specifically, business/school partnerships can collaborate to provide
facilities, materials, equipment, scholarship support, and other resources;
help secure general community grants and incentives to schools; sustain
induction programs for all K-12 math and science teachers; establish and run
paid summer internship programs for interested teachers; develop release
time programs that make a company's employees available to assist teachers;
and serve as advocates for teachers seeking advanced certification.

Career-Long Incentives: "Mathematics and science teachers, like other
professionals, ought to be fully able to advance through a series of career
stages that reflect both their intellectual and professional growth;
teachers who demonstrate improvement in their teaching must be appropriately
acknowledged."

For most teachers, the only opportunity for growth is to leave the classroom
for a position in school administration. The Commission calls for more
progressive salary structures, tied to increased levels of teacher
responsibility and job performance criteria. All members of the local
education community must provide recognition to teachers whose students show
higher achievement on high-quality measures.

Teacher Pay--The Litmus Test: While stopping short of specifically asking
for a salary increase for science and math teachers, the Commission does
conclude the salaries of teachers must be made more competitive. "Teachers
in this country are scandalously underpaid, a fact that invariably affects
the quality of teaching in our nation's classrooms. The fact is, many
teachers experience their jobs as exercises in irony: They are expected to
have high-quality qualifications and skills, but they are neither accorded
professional status nor rewarded with a professional's salary. Creating
high-quality teaching in mathematics and science education demands both."
--------------------------------

As mentioned earlier, this report can be found online at
www.ed.gov/americacounts/glenn. This document is in the public domain, which
means that users can photocopy or reprint any or all parts of this document
without copyright concerns.

To order copies of the report, write to Education Publications Center, U.S.
Dept. of Education, PO Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398; fax 301-470-1244;
e-mail: edpubs@inet.ed.gov.

You may also order copies toll free by calling 1-877-433-7827. To order the
publication online, go to www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.

Let us know what you think about the Glenn Commission report. Send your
comments to Jodi Peterson at jpeterson@nsta.org.
--------------------------

Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu