Putting Qualified Teachers in Our Classrooms is Job One

June 8, 2006, The latest news about our kids’ science knowledge is not encouraging. As U.S. students progress through middle and high school, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found recently that their science scores worsen.

NAEP assesses K-12 science education every five years. Tennessee ranked as one of only nine states with a significant score increase among fourth graders from 2000 to 2005, but the state’s eighth graders score below the national average on the NAEP report. Nationally, high school seniors are faring worse than younger students.

Disappointing test scores are unfortunately nothing new. For years we have seemed to move backward in our attempts to improve math and science education.

To improve science and math education in grades K-12 we must put teachers in our kids’ classrooms who have the subject knowledge, support system and teaching skills necessary to impart knowledge and inspire learning.

Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, far too many young students are being taught today by teachers with little or no educational preparation in science or math. Putting a teacher into a classroom who lacks proper preparation on the subject matter is unfair to the teacher and to students.

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 40 percent of high school students taking physics or chemistry classes are taught by teachers with neither a college major nor certification to teach the subject. For middle school students taking math, 69 percent are taught by teachers with neither a math major in college nor certification to teach math.

Poor performance in high school leaves students unprepared to pursue science and engineering degrees in college. They are both unprepared and uninspired to pursue careers in the very fields that will be critical for the U.S. to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

There is a blueprint for solving this problem. Late last year, the National Academy of Sciences released a study that was met with much praise and promises of action. The report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, found that the U.S. is in poor position in the coming years to compete globally for high-paying jobs and maintain our leadership in knowledge-based industries.

That report gave us a clear path forward. The Academy’s first recommendation is to put teachers in the classroom with the content knowledge and teaching skills needed to be effective. Right now, there’s an opportunity – if we don’t blow it – to put in place programs that could make a substantial improvement in K-12 science and math education.

Bipartisan consensus is growing on the House Science Committee for a package of legislation that reflects the Academy’s recommendations, supports our teachers and puts in place the building blocks for a brighter future for our kids.

The package, which incorporates many features from legislation I introduced last December, will establish a grant program at the National Science Foundation with the right focus on key educational reforms for math and science teachers. The program will require math and science faculty to work with education faculty to create teacher training courses that are specialized for science and math instruction.

Math, science and engineering majors will be recruited for the teacher training program and offered internships and generous scholarships in exchange for a teaching commitment of up to four years. The bill also provides grants for teacher professional development programs, including summer teacher institutes and a master’s degree program targeted for science and math teachers already in the classroom.

The NAEP scores concern me, and I fear we will continue to see this downward trend without immediate action. Teachers are the key, and until we make substantial improvements in the cadre of science and math teachers in the nation’s classrooms, progress will be uncertain.

Math and science education is a means to an end. A workforce without a mastery of math and science simply can’t compete in the global economy’s knowledge-based industries.

A teacher is often a child’s greatest inspiration. Let’s work together to ensure that inspiration is grounded in pedagogy and content so that in five years we’re showing significant progress rather than rehashing the debate.