Indicators of Precollege Education in Science and Mathematics A Preliminary Review (1985) / Chapter Skim
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3. Schooling Input to Science and Mathematics Education: Teachers and Curriculum Content
3. Schooling Input to Science and Mathematics Education: Teachers and Curriculum Content
Pages 44-82
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From page 44... ...
For example, differences in specialization of teachers at different grade levels argues for at least two measures regarding teachers, on for elementary schools and one for secondary schools. Because of the reality of the U.S.
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From page 45... ...
They used a 5-point rating scale: 1, surplus; 2, slight surplus; 3, adequacy; 4, shortage; 5, critical shortage. In 1982, 44 of the 47 state authorities responding reported that they saw shortages or critical shortages of mathematics teachers, 45 of 50 saw shortages in physics, and 44 of 50 saw shortages in chemistry.
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From page 46... ...
At the elementary school level, the question of numbers is not pertinent, since nationwide there appears to be an ample supply of elementary school teachers, at least until the mid-1980s when enrollments are expected to rise again (National Center for Education Statistics, 1982f, 1984a)
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From page 47... ...
and 8 when these grades In a survey of teacher demand and supply conducted in 1979-1980, the National Center for Education Statistics (1982e) estimated that 1.4 percent of all elementary school teachers (16,400-15,400 full time)
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From page 48... ...
The second data base regarding the number of science and mathematics teachers is derived from a survey by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conducted in the fall of 1982.
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From page 49... ...
A third data base currently being analyzed is the NSTA list of science, mathematics, and social science teachers for grades 7 to 12, maintained by grade level, by state, and by subject taught. The list was updated in November 1983, with principals of more than 23,000 schools responding (a response rate of better than 80 percent)
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From page 50... ...
, in an analysis of the availability of teachers, use a 6 percent turnover rate and an estimate of 110,000 mathematics teachers and 103,500 science teachers for 1982-1983, reconciling the NCES and NSTA estimates. Thus, they project a loss of 6,600 mathematics teachers and 6,200 science teachers (son in chemistry .
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From page 52... ...
Table 4 indicates the modest proportion of new teachers in science and mathematics who are reported to be certified or eligible to be certified in the field in which they are teaching, 45 percent and 42 percent, respectively. These data suggest that many newly graduated high school teachers who are not prepared in science or mathematics nevertheless may be assigned to teach these subjects.
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From page 54... ...
However, Pelavin and Reisner (1984) estimate the increased demand to be 8,600 mathematics teachers and 6,500 science teachers.
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From page 55... ...
The alternative estimates of annual demand, supply, and shortage of high school mathematics and science teachers for the next few years under these conditions are shown in Table 6. As can be seen, annual shortages are at least 3,700 for mathematics teachers and 2,800 for science teachers; that is, the annual demand for new or returning high school teachers of mathematics and science is projected to be at least twice the expected supply.
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From page 56... ...
56 In A: o to .,, In U]
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From page 57... ...
57 TIC ~ X X X ~ TIC X ~ ~ ~ ~ X X TIC + ~ X X ~ + ~ + + TIC ~ ~ + X ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ + + o o ~ ~ o o ~ ~ o o o Cal ~ Us · ~ o Cal o o o o .,, .,, .
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From page 61... ...
Certification requirements range from a degree from any of the accredited teacher education programs in the state (which may themselves vary quite widely) to a number of college credit hours in education courses and in areas of specialization.
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From page 62... ...
62 TABLE 7 Teacher Certification Requirements Elementarya Secondaryb S ta te rda th Sc fence Ma th Sc i ence Te s t Alabama 12 combined 12 combined S ALaska U U U U Ar izona 12-30 12-30 30 30 S Arkansas 6 9 21 24 NTE California U U U U S/NTE Color ado U U U U S Connecticut 6 R 30 30 S Delaware U U 30 39-45 S D C. 9 6 30 30 Florida 6-12 comt~ined 21 20 S Georg ia U U 45 qh 40-75 qh S Hawai i U U ma jor ma jor Idaho 6 8 20-4 5 20-4 5 Illinois 5 7 24-32 24-32 Indiana R R 24-52 24-52 Iowa U R 30 30 Kansas 12 combined 18 24 Kentucky 12 combined 48 48 Louisiana 6 6 20 20-32 S/NTE Ma ine U U 18-50 18-50 Maryland 6 12 24 36 Massachusetts U U 36 3 6 Mich igan U U 3 0 3 0 Minnesota U U ma jor ma jor Mississippi 15 combined 12 combined NTE Missour i 5 5 30 30 Montana U U 20-40 20-40 Nebraska U U U U Nevada U U 16-36 16-36 New Hampshire U U .
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From page 63... ...
credits in mathematics and/or science are required for certification; number of credits required is not ind icated s tate-constructed test NTE = National Teacher Examination qh = quar ter hour NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, requirements are given in college semester hours required in mathematics and science for state certification for elementary school teachers and to teach mathematics or science in secondary school. Certification to teach; requirements given are for the lowest-level certificate.
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From page 64... ...
Certification may be an even less appropriate indicator of qualification for teaching mathematics and science in elementary school than it is for secondary school teachers. In any case, little information is available regarding the subject-matter expertise of elementary school teachers presently in classrooms.
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From page 65... ...
found that the average requirements of teacher preparation programs for secondary school teaching consist of 25-60 percent of courses required in the academic field to be taught, 20 percent in professional education courses, and the rest distributed among general liberal arts courses. In the large state universities, the credits needed for teaching degrees often represent preparation equivalent to that of a major in the academic discipline, but little is known about the types of courses taken by teachers in smaller, less prestigious institutions.
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From page 66... ...
Defining Teacher Quality It bears repeating that certification is only a poor approximation of competence at the secondary school level and even less meaningful at the elementary school level with respect to teaching science and mathematics. At present, however, there is no other standard that might be used to establish how many of the teachers with instructional responsibilities in science and mathematics are qualified to carry out their assignments.
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From page 67... ...
For elementary school teachers in particular, but also for secondary school teachers to some extent, the importance of pedagogy is stressed by those who hold the model of the college lecture to be inadequate for precollege education. Teaching prospective teachers how to teach science or mathematics is deemed as necessary as what science or mathematics to teach.
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From page 68... ...
A low estimate, based on little change in current trends of overall supply and demand, indicates an annual shortage of 2,800 science teachers, mostly in the physical sciences, and 3,700 mathematics teachers. If teachers currently assigned to mathematics and science classes but not qualified to teach these subjects were to be replaced at a rate of 5 percent per year of all teachers in these fields, the annual shortage would be 9,200 in mathematics and 8,000 in science.
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From page 69... ...
Such choices will in part be influenced by state and federal support policies for teacher education and in part by local board policies and teacher contracts. To the degree that increased high school graduation requirements will entail having to offer more courses in mathematics and science, teacher shortages will be aggravated, but how much is unknown.
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From page 70... ...
They do not take into account possible structural changes in the education system. Quality Lack of Information · Adequate information is lacking on the qualifications of the teachers who are responsible for teaching mathematics and science in high school, middle/junior high school, or elementary school.
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From page 71... ...
Guidelines that have been prepared by professional societies need to be considered by the wider educational community, including bodies responsible for the certification of teachers and accreditation of teacher education programs. Requirements should be detailed separately for teachers in elementary school (grades 1 to 5 or 6)
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From page 72... ...
in 1970. In conjunction with science achievement tests administered in some 16 countries, TEA asked teachers to rate each item in the test according to the following scale: 1 -- None of the students has studied the relevant topic; 2 -- Fewer than 25 percent of the students have studied the relevant topic; 3 -- Between 25 percent and 75 percent of the students have studied the relevant topic; 4 -- More than 75 percent of the students have studied the relevant topic; 5 -- All of the students have studied the relevant topic.
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From page 73... ...
. For most subjects, however, local authorities have considerable discretion as to the content to be covered within the required credit hours and state guidelines.
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From page 74... ...
The lack of agreement on course content is especially true for the science curriculum and for nontraditional mathematics topics in elementary school, for the life sciences, and for science and technology education for students not taking the traditional precollege sequence. It will be important to monitor the extent to which the recommendations being made by professional groups are translated into texts or teaching methods that are likely to affect student learning.
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From page 75... ...
. Over one-half of the elementary school teachers surveyed used one or another of the most popular five mathematics textbook series; somewhat more diverse choices were reported in science.
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From page 76... ...
These included two science series for grades 1-6, six texts at the middle/junior high school level, and alternative texts for high school biology, chemistry, and physics. At all levels, Yager found terminology to be a central feature of science texts, with 2,700 to 3,500 special or technical words included in books intended for grades 4-6 and as many as 9,300 in one of the physics texts.
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From page 77... ...
Berliner (1978) , using logs of how 21 5th-grade teachers in California allocated their instructional time, found great differences in time spent on common mathematics topics from class to class, as shown in Table 11.
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From page 79... ...
There may be even greater variation at the secondary level than at the elementary level in the content of instruction as embodied within such common course titles as general mathematics, introductory (first-year) algebra, earth sciences, or introductory biology.
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From page 80... ...
Hence, for the nationally normed achievement tests often used at the elementary and middle school levels, there may be a discrepancy between a student's opportunity to learn and the subject matter covered on the test, while at the same time the student may have learned considerably more than the test indicates. Textbooks and Courses · To a large extent, the content of instruction is based on the textbook used in a class, yet there is no continuing mechanism to encourage periodic and systematic analysis of the use and content of science and mathematics texts.
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From page 81... ...
Textbooks and Courses · At a minimum, periodic surveys should be conducted to determine the relative frequency of use of various mathematics and science textbooks at each grade level in elementary school and for science and mathematics courses in secondary school. Timing of surveys should take into account the common cycles of textbook revision.
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From page 82... ...
AS a first step, use of a standardized course title list, such as the Classification of Secondary School Courses (Evaluation Technologies, Inc., 1982) , should be considered.
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