Overview

Among the underlying causes for the poor performance of U.S. students in the areas of math and science, three problems must be addressed -- too many teachers teaching out-of-field; too few students taking advanced coursework; and too few schools offering a challenging curriculum and textbooks.

The Higher Education Community recognizes that it has a vested interest in working to improve elementary and secondary math and science achievement. More than twenty states have begun to form partnerships with colleges and universities for the purpose of raising math and science standards for students, providing math and science training for teachers, and creating innovative ways to reach underserved schools.

The Math and Science Partnership program provides funds for states to join with institutions of higher education in strengthening K-12 math and science education. States that access these funds will be required to establish partnership agreements with state colleges, universities and community colleges and school districts, with the goal of strengthening K-12 math and science education. These funds could be used by the states to defray the cost of the partnerships and to involve other colleges and community colleges in their math and science initiatives.

The success of partnerships between states and institutions of higher education will be linked to accountability goals that measure important indicators such as student performance on state assessments, increasing participation of students in advanced courses in math and science and passing advanced placement exams, and increasing the numbers of teachers that major in math or science.

Summary of Proposals

Establishes Math and Science Partnerships. States and local districts would be eligible to receive new federal funds to help fund partnerships with the math and science departments of institutions of higher education. Partnerships would focus on strengthening the quality of math and science instruction in elementary and secondary schools and could include such activities as making math and science curricula more rigorous, improving math and science professional development, attracting math and science majors to teaching, and aligning high school math and science standards to foster college placement.

Involves Major Research Institutions. Research universities will be encouraged to participate fully in these state partnerships in order to strengthen K-12 math and science education.