The respective 200 and 300-line posting limitations of Chemed-L and
Phys-L have mercifully spared subscribers from my encyclopedic 53 kB
(880 line) post "Forward from Joseph Merlino: NSF EHR '06 Funding."
If your interest in this topic is:
(a) zero or less, please hit DELETE;
(b) slightly greater than zero, please scan the introduction in the APPENDIX.
REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2005."Forward from Joseph Merlino: NSF EHR '06 Funding,"
online at
<http://lists.asu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0505&L=aera-l&T=0&F=&S=&P=382>.
Post of 8 May 2005 22:19:16 -0700 to AERA-L, AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-G,
AERA-H, AERA-J, AERA-K, ASSESS, EvalTalk, Math-Learn, PhysLrnR,
Physhare, POD, and TIPS.
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APPENDIX [Introduction to Hake (2005)]
Joseph Merlino, Principal Investigator and Project Director of the
Math Science Partnership (MSP) of Greater Philadelphia
<http://www.mspgp.org/>, a component of the NSF's Math Science
Partnership MSPnet <http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/home>, recently
circulated a cogent message "NSF EHR '06 Funding" [see FORWARD below
under the line "XXXXXXXXX. . . ."] that:
(a) indicated recent federal concerns for the nation's Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) infrastructure, and
(b) expressed his negative views (with which I agree) on the Bush
administration's 2006 budget request that would move education
research funding from the National Science Foundation's Education and
Human Resources (EHR) division
<http://www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=EHR> to the U.S. Department of
Education (USDE) <http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml>.
Regarding the latter:
(1) According to a report in "Science" by Mervis (2005) "Science
Education Takes a Hit at NSF," bracketed by lines "MMMMMMM. . . .":
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The National Science Foundation's (NSF's) role in improving science
and math education in the United States would shrink significantly
under the president's 2006 budget request. Particularly hard hit are
programs to improve the skills of elementary and secondary school
science and mathematics teachers, develop new teaching materials, and
evaluate whether those activities are working.
"This is outrageous," says Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the
National Science Teachers Association . . . [<http://www.nsta.org/>]
. . . "Despite all the concern about how U.S. students perform on
international math and science tests, the Administration has made it
clear that K-12 science education is not a priority."
The request would trim the budget for NSF's Education and Human
Resources (EHR) directorate by $104 million, to $737 million, a 12.4%
drop that follows a similar reduction this year. By NSF's own
estimate, its programs would reach 64,000 elementary and secondary
school students and teachers in 2006, compared with 100,000 in 2004.
The biggest blow would fall on the directorate's division of
elementary, secondary, and informal education. A $60 million program
begun last year to help teachers, from training them to providing
professional development, would be slashed by nearly half, to $33
million. A $28 million program to develop new classroom materials and
focus on an increasingly diverse student population would be pared by
one-third, and a university-based network of Centers for Learning and
Teaching, with 16 sites, would make no new awards in 2006. In
addition, the math and science partnerships program, begun in 2002 as
a $200-million-a-year effort to link university science and
engineering departments with their local school districts, would
continue to wind down, with only enough money to fulfill existing
commitments.
The biggest percentage loser in the 2006 budget is the directorate's
$59 million division of research evaluation. . . .
.[<http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=REC>]. . ., targeted for a
43% drop. NSF officials project that the president's request will
mean no new awards next year for programs aimed at developing new
ways to monitor the performance of students and teachers as well as
evaluating the effectiveness of new methods and materials. NSF
Director Arden Bement. . . [see
<http://www.aip.org/fyi/2004/124.html>]. . . says that the EHR
reductions give NSF the chance "to sharpen our focus on programs with
a proven track record. . . . We have a lot of knowledge of what needs
to be done. Now we have to do it."
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
(2) M.R.C. Greenwood (2005), Provost and Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs of the University of California, in an essay
prepared for U.S. House STEM Caucus <http://www.stemedcaucus.org/>,
wrote:
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
I know that as Members of Congress, and staff, you hear a great deal
of discussion about various crises facing America. I am here to
suggest that the real crisis facing us is that we are watching our
science and technology leadership walk away from us . . . . I am not
alone in reaching that conclusion. The report of the 2001
Hart-Rudman Commission. . . [USCNS 2001)]. . ., which recommended the
creation of the homeland security agency, stated that, "the
inadequacies of our systems of research and education pose a greater
threat to U.S. national security over the next quarter century than
any potential conventional war that we might imagine". . . . We must
ensure that the National Science Foundation remains at the forefront
of STEM educational reform in the U.S. The NSF Education Directorate
has been highly successful in developing programs that have attracted
some of our most renowned university scientists and engineers to
engage their energy and expertise in helping to improve K-12 science
and math education in the U.S. BY TRANSFERRING FUNDING FOR SCIENCE
AND MATH EDUCATION PROGRAMS FROM NSF TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
WE RUN THE REAL RISK OF VASTLY REDUCING OR ELIMINATING PARTICIPATION
OF OUR SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, AND ENGINEERS IN STEM EDUCATIONAL
REFORM. [My EMPHASIS.]
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Greenwood might have added that *reduction* of the participation of
scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in STEM educational reform
by the transfer of funds from NSF to the Department of Education is
not the only downside of the transfer: it will also result in an
*increased* participation in STEM educational reform by
psychologists, psychometricians, statisticians, economists,
sociologists, administrators, medical specialists, policy analysts,
and education specialists, most of whom have a misplaced [Hake
(2005)] attachment to "Random Control Trials" (RCT's), coupled with
little understanding of STEM.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I thank Larry Woolf for alerting me to Merlino's valuable communication.
Greenwood, M.R.C. "Remarks to the STEM Education Caucus of the U.S.
Congress." online at <http://www.stemedcaucus.org/> / "Forums and
Events," where "/" means "click on" under "Exploring Solutions to a
Growing Problem."
Hake, R.R. 2005. "Should Randomized Control Trials Be the Gold
Standard of Educational Research ?" online at
<http://lists.asu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0504&L=aera-l&T=0&O=D&P=1945>. Post of
15 Apr 2005 to AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-G, AERA-H, AERA-J, AERA-K, AERA-L,
AP-Physics, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EvalTalk, Math-Learn, Phys-L,
Physhare, POD, STLHE-L, & TIPS.
USCNS. 2001. U.S. Commission on National Security - Hart Rudman
Commission (USCNS), "Road Map for National Security: Imperative for
Change"; Phase III Report of the U.S. Commission on National
Security/21st Century
<http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/nssg/phaseIIIfr.pdf> (763 kB):
"The harsh fact is that THE U.S. NEED FOR THE HIGHEST QUALITY HUMAN
CAPITAL IN SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND ENGINEERING IS NOT BEING MET.
(Their EMPHASIS.) One reason for this is clear: American students
know that professional careers in basic science and mathematics
require considerable preparation and effort, while salaries are often
more lucrative in areas requiring less demanding training. Non-U.S.
nationals, however, do find these professions attractive and, thanks
to science, math, and technical preparation superior to that of many
Americans, they increasingly fill American university graduate
studies seats and job slots in these areas. Another reason for the
growing deficit in high-quality human capital is that the American
kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) education system is not
performing as well as it should. As a result too few American
students are qualified to take these slots, even were they so
inclined. . . . . . We also recommend a new National Security Science
and Technology Education Act to fund a comprehensive program to
produce the needed numbers of science and engineering professionals
as well as qualified teachers in science and math. This Act should
provide loan forgiveness incentives to attract those who have
graduated and scholarships for those still in school and should
provide these incentives in exchange for a period of K-12 teaching in
science and math, or of military or government service. Additional
measures should provide resources to modernize laboratories in
science education, and expand existing programs aimed at helping
economically-depressed school districts."