Recommended citation: National Research Council. 1999. Global Perspectives for Local Action: Using TIMSS to Improve U.S. Mathematics and Science Education—Professional Development Guide. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
The National Research Council (NRC) is the operating arm of the National Academies Complex, which includes the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized in 1916 by the National Academy of Sciences to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and providing impartial advice to the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences, and Dr. William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, are chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
The Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education was established in 1995 to provide coordination of all the National Research Council’s education activities and reform efforts for students at all levels, specifically those in kindergarten through twelfth grade, undergraduate institutions, school-to-work programs, and continuing education. The center reports directly to the Governing Board of the National Research Council.
This study was conducted by the Continuing to Learn from TIMSS Committee through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (grant number R215U970015) to the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council.
Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the members of the committee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education.
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COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE EDUCATION K–12
Jane Butler Kahle (Chair),
Miami University, Oxford, OH
J.Myron Atkin,
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Caryl Edward Buchwald,
Carleton College, Northfield, MN
George Bugliarello,
Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY
Beatriz Chu Clewell,
The Urban Institute, Washington, DC
William E.Dugger,
Technology for All Americans, Blacksburg, VA
Norman Hackerman,
The Robert A.Welch Foundation, Houston, TX
Leroy Hood,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
William Linder-Scholer,
SciMathMN, Roseville, MN
Maria Alicia Lopez Freeman,
Center for Teacher Leadership in Language and Status, California Science Project, Monterey Park, CA
John A.Moore,
University of California, Riverside, CA
Darlene Norfleet,
Flynn Park Elementary School, University City, MO
Carolyn Ray,
Urban Systemic Initiative, Cleveland, OH
Cary Sneider,
Boston Museum of Science, Boston, MA
Rachel Wood,
Delaware State Department of Public Instruction, Dover, DE
Robert Yinger,
School of Education, Baylor University, Waco, TX
MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES EDUCATION BOARD
Hyman Bass (Chair),
Columbia University, New York, NY
Jere Confrey (Vice-Chair),
University of Texas, Austin, TX
Richard A.Askey,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Sherry Baca,
Prescott Unified School District, Prescott, AZ
Deborah Loewenberg Ball,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Benjamin Blackhawk,
St. Paul Academy and Summit School, St. Paul, MN
Richelle Blair,
Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, OH
Patricia Campbell,
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Ingrid Daubechies,
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Karen Economopoulos,
TERC, Cambridge, MA
Susan Eyestone,
National Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Minneapolis, MN
Lee Jenkins,
Enterprise School District, Redding, CA
Glenda T.Lappan,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Miriam Masullo,
T.J.Watson Research Center, IBM Corporation, Yorktown Heights, NY
David Moore,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Mari Muri,
Connecticut Department of Education, Hartford, CT
Richard Normington,
TQM Services Group, Sacramento, CA
Mark Saul,
Bronxville Public Schools, Bronxville, NY
Richard Schoen,
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Edward A.Silver,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
William Tate,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Jerry Uhl,
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
Susan S.Wood,
J.Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Richmond, VA
CONTINUING TO LEARN FROM TIMSS COMMITTEE
Melvin D.George (Chair),
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
John R.Brackett,
Lake Shore Public Schools, St. Clair Shores, MI
James Hiebert,
University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Mark L.Kaufman,
Eisenhower Regional Alliance for Mathematics and Science Education Reform, TERC, Cambridge, MA
William Linder-Scholer,
SciMathMN, Roseville, MN
Mary M.Lindquist,
Columbus State University, Columbus, GA
Michael E.Martinez,
University of California, Irvine, CA
Lynn W.Paine,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Deborah Patonai Phillips,
St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, Akron, OH
Senta A.Raizen,
National Center for Improving Science Education, Washington, DC
Thomas H.Saterfiel,
American College Testing, Inc., Iowa City, IA
Thomasena Woods,
Newport News Public Schools, Newport News, VA
Staff
Harold Pratt, Project Director (1998–1999)
Karen Hollweg, Project Director (1999)
Susan Mundry, Consultant Writer
Nancy Love, Consultant Writer
Kathleen (Kit) Johnston, Consultant Editor
Alfred Young, Administrative Assistant
Diane S.Mann, Financial Officer
Reviewers
This report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Nancy Bunt, Regional (Southwest Pennsylvania) Math/Science Collaborative, Pittsburgh, PA
Jerry Cummins, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, Western Springs, IL
Deborah Gibbens, Sunapee Elementary School, Sunapee, NH
Henry Heikkinen, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO
Bill McDonald, Montgomery County Public Schools, Poolesville, MD
Brian Toth, Chartiers Valley Middle School, Washington, PA
Patsy Wang-Iverson, Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower Consortium, Philadelphia, PA
Linda Wilson, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
While the individuals listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring committee and the National Research Council.
Preface
This professional development guide is a companion piece to the National Research Council’s report, Global Perspectives for Local Action: Using TIMSS* to Improve U.S. Mathematics and Science Education (NRC, 1999a). The guide, derived in part from the report and most usefully accompanied by it, is designed primarily for workshops for groups of education decision-makers—workshops that will support long-range planning efforts to improve K–12 student performance in mathematics and science.
Both the report and the guide were produced at the request of the U.S. Department of Education by the National Research Council’s Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education (CSMEE). Within CSMEE, the Mathematical Sciences Education Board and the Committee on Science Education K–12 acted together to form the Continuing to Learn from TIMSS Committee. The charge to this committee was to help make the findings of TIMSS relevant and useful to leaders in K–12 mathematics and science education and to promote continued public discussion of the many components of TIMSS. The report and the guide are the results of the committee’s work, culminating in a convocation held in November of 1999 at the National Academy of Sciences to introduce the report and the guide and to begin the process of ensuring their use at local levels.
Facilitators of workshops will be able to use this guide with a broad range of stakeholders, including teachers, parents, administrators, school board members, policy makers, curriculum developers, textbook publishers, teacher educators, and faculty in institutions of higher education. Teaching is a complex activity. Many stakeholders have questions about what to teach and how to teach, such as when teachers ask, “Are we teaching too many topics?” Administrators ask, “Should there be additional assessments of student performance?” Policy makers ask, “Should we raise standards for teacher preparation and enhancement, particularly in mathematics and science?” Parents ask, “Are my children getting the education they will need to lead successful lives?” The TIMSS data can offer one avenue for
investigating these issues. However, no single data set and no set of professional development activities can hope to give definitive answers to every question of teaching and learning. The guide and the material in the report, which grow out of the rich array of TIMSS information, will help these stakeholders plan further investigation of these complex questions at the local level that can then lead to informed decision-making.
The report and the guide are not intended to prescribe but, rather, to expand the range of options considered in making decisions about making changes in our schools. Accordingly, the committee members and staff worked to ensure that the guide in particular is flexible enough to meet a variety of needs and, therefore, useful to facilitators in a variety of workshops of different lengths, foci, and intensity.
On behalf of the study committee, I want to acknowledge with deep appreciation the work of the principal writers of this professional development guide—consultants Susan Mundry and Nancy Love—and consulting editor Kathleen (Kit) Johnston. We also thank project directors Harold Pratt and Karen Hollweg and the other dedicated staff of CSMEE who helped us produce the report, and we express gratitude to the representatives of the U.S. Department of Education who worked closely with us on a complex project with a short timeline. All of us hope that the report, the professional development guide, and the convocation will indeed help education leaders strengthen mathematics and science education for all students in the United States in the years to come.
Melvin D.George, Chair
Continuing to Learn from TIMSS Committee