A Plan to Improve the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in Pre-School to Grade Three

A message by Jake Murray, Director of the Aspire Institute at Wheelock College

Dear Friends:

In a front-page story last week, the Boston Globe reported that
"nearly three-quarters of the aspiring elementary school teachers who
took the state's licensing exam this year failed the new math
section.Education leaders said the high failure rate reflects what
they feared, that too many elementary classroom and special education
teachers do not have a strong background in math and are in many ways
responsible for poor student achievement in the subject."

In a subsequent op-ed on May 21, Solomon Friedberg cautioned, "The
nation is not producing enough well-qualified teachers of math and
science. And too many of the ones it does produce are leaving the
classroom after a few years. We cannot continue to lead in math and
science without substantial and immediate changes nationwide."

Anticipating this need, the Aspire Institute and Wheelock faculty
convened several local teacher preparation programs in April to
explore how to improve Massachusetts teachers' knowledge and skills in
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Sponsored by the
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, this working group, known as
the Higher Education STEM Partnership is developing a plan to
strengthen STEM recruitment and preparation for pre-K through
third-grade teachers.

To learn more about the Higher Education STEM Partnership and to view
the preliminary position statement, please visit Wheelock's news site:
http://www2.wheelock.edu/wheelock/x1867.xml

The Higher Education STEM Partnership will meet this fall to develop
working guidelines and chart of course of action for implementing
their recommendations. We will keep you informed of our progress and
provide you with details and updates as we continue our work.

Sincerely,

Jake Murray
Director
Aspire Institute
Wheelock College
617.879.2445
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