[House Hearing, 110 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
EXAMINING COMPETITIVENESS
THROUGH SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
ENGINEERING AND MATH
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION,
LIFELONG LEARNING, AND COMPETITIVENESS
COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION AND LABOR
U.S. House of Representatives
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN POMONA, CA, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
__________
Serial No. 110-65
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor
Available on the Internet:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/education/index.html
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COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
GEORGE MILLER, California, Chairman
Dale E. Kildee, Michigan, Vice Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon,
Chairman California,
Donald M. Payne, New Jersey Ranking Minority Member
Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin
Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott, Virginia Peter Hoekstra, Michigan
Lynn C. Woolsey, California Michael N. Castle, Delaware
Ruben Hinojosa, Texas Mark E. Souder, Indiana
Carolyn McCarthy, New York Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan
John F. Tierney, Massachusetts Judy Biggert, Illinois
Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania
David Wu, Oregon Ric Keller, Florida
Rush D. Holt, New Jersey Joe Wilson, South Carolina
Susan A. Davis, California John Kline, Minnesota
Danny K. Davis, Illinois Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington
Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona Kenny Marchant, Texas
Timothy H. Bishop, New York Tom Price, Georgia
Linda T. Sanchez, California Luis G. Fortuno, Puerto Rico
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Charles W. Boustany, Jr.,
Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania Louisiana
David Loebsack, Iowa Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii John R. ``Randy'' Kuhl, Jr., New
Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania York
John A. Yarmuth, Kentucky Rob Bishop, Utah
Phil Hare, Illinois David Davis, Tennessee
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Timothy Walberg, Michigan
Joe Courtney, Connecticut Dean Heller, Nevada
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Mark Zuckerman, Staff Director
Vic Klatt, Minority Staff Director
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION,
LIFELONG LEARNING, AND COMPETITIVENESS
RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas, Chairman
George Miller, California Ric Keller, Florida,
John F. Tierney, Massachusetts Ranking Minority Member
David Wu, Oregon Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin
Timothy H. Bishop, New York Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington
Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
John A. Yarmuth, Kentucky John R. ``Randy'' Kuhl, Jr., New
Joe Courtney, Connecticut York
Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey Timothy Walberg, Michigan
Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott, Virginia Michael N. Castle, Delaware
Susan A. Davis, California Mark E. Souder, Indiana
Danny K. Davis, Illinois Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Judy Biggert, Illinois
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on September 21, 2007............................... 1
Statement of Members:
Hinojosa, Hon. Ruben, Chairman, Subcommittee on Higher
Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.......... 1
Prepared statement of Frank Reyes, government relations
officer, San Bernardino Community College District..... 2
Statement of Witnesses:
Baker, Warren J., president, California Polytechnic State
University................................................. 12
Prepared statement of.................................... 14
Drummond, Marshall E., chancellor, Los Angeles Community
College District........................................... 27
Prepared statement of.................................... 29
Hackwood, Susan, executive director, California Council on
Science and Technology..................................... 34
Prepared statement of.................................... 36
Reed, Charles B., chancellor, California State University
System..................................................... 5
Prepared statement of.................................... 7
Tarantino, Dr. Frederick A., president and CEO, Universities
Space Research Association................................. 19
Prepared statement of.................................... 21
Ullah, Todd, Ed.D., director of science, Los Angeles Unified
School District............................................ 30
Prepared statement of.................................... 32
EXAMINING COMPETITIVENESS
THROUGH SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
ENGINEERING AND MATH
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Friday, September 21, 2007
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Higher Education,
Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
Committee on Education and Labor
Washington, DC
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The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:30 a.m., at
the Kellogg West Conference Center on the campus of California
State Polytechnic University, 3801 West Temple Avenue, Pomona,
California 91768, Hon. Ruben Hinojosa, [chairman of the
subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Hinojosa and Hirono.
Also Present: Representatives Baca and Napolitano.
Staff Present: Ricardo Martinez, Policy Advisor for the
Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and
Competitiveness.
Chairman Hinojosa. We are going to get started, and I am
going to call this meeting to order.
A quorum is present. The hearing of the subcommittee will
come to order.
Before we begin, I would like to thank Ms. Mazie Hirono for
traveling across the country to participate in this hearing. I
appreciate all your contributions that you have made to the
subcommittee's work and look forward to this hearing that we're
having here in California.
Also, I would like to ask unanimous consent to invite two
of our colleagues who are not committee members to join us on
the dias. Congresswoman Grace Napolitano and Congressman Joe
Baca, the former chair, and the current chair of the CHC, who
have long-lasting interests in advancing America's
competitiveness in the STEM fields.
Without objection, so ordered.
Pursuant to the committee rule 12A, any Member may submit
an opening statement, in writing, which will be made part of
the permanent record of today's hearing.
Without objection, all members will have 14 days to submit
additional materials or questions for the hearing record.
[The information follows:]
[Additional statement submitted by Mr. Hinojosa follows:]
Prepared Statement of Frank Reyes, Government Relations Officer, San
Bernardino Community College District
Good Morning, Chairman Hinojosa and Ranking Member Keller.
My name is Frank Reyes, Government Relations Officer for the San
Bernardino Community College District of California.
I am honored to be here today representing my college as well as
the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), where I
serve as a member of the HACU Government Relations Committee and a
member of the Department of Defense/HACU Leadership Group. My
institution has been a member of HACU for many years and has a strong
record of advocating for increased educational opportunity, achievement
and success for Hispanics and other students that attend the more than
270 Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the more
than 400 U.S. colleges and universities it represents (including the
nation's Hispanic-Serving Institutions or HSIs) deeply appreciate all
the work which you have dedicated to the improvement of Hispanic
education and success. We even more appreciate your decision to explore
through this public hearing the participation of Hispanics and other
students in our higher education system in the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas of study, research and career
preparation.
I want to let you know that HACU is deeply concerned that more
Hispanics are not selecting STEM fields to prepare for careers in these
areas vital to the nation's future.
While Hispanics represent the fastest growing population group
today and demographers project that this population will account for
more than 60 percent of the school-age population growth in the next
decade, today, Hispanics continue to be grossly underrepresented in
STEM areas. The Division of Science Resources Studies of the National
Science Foundation (NSF), for example, reports that Hispanics earn only
2.8 percent of doctorates in science and engineering, compared to 51.4
percent earned by non-Hispanic whites.
The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) reports that
for the 2003-2004 academic year, only 104 Hispanic students earned
doctorate degrees in engineering (out of 5,923 degrees awarded) and
only 25 earned a doctorate in mathematics and statistics (out of
1,060). At the master's level, NCES reports that only 114 Hispanics
students out of 4,191 earned a master's degree in mathematics and
statistics and only 139 Hispanic students out of 5,570 earned a
master's degree in physical sciences and technology for the same
academic year.
It is this stark reality that motivates HACU to look to the
National Science Foundation as the premier federal agency to address
the shortage of Hispanics in STEM areas by investing greater resources
and forming new collaborations with Hispanic-Serving Institutions to
increase the quantity and quality of undergraduate and graduate STEM
programs and research. By increasing the number of STEM programs at
HSIs, NSF will assist the nation in preparing the STEM professionals so
necessary for the economic future of the nation. To not do so, will
place the United States in a precarious position where the nation will
become more dependent on STEM experts from other countries such as
China and India.
Cognizant of this fact and the knowledge that HSIs can play a vital
role in assisting the nation in maintaining its preeminence of
innovation in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and advanced
technologies, HACU developed a blueprint for higher education success
in the STEM areas and submitted this document to Congress for inclusion
in the National Science Foundation Reauthorization. ``HACU's Public
Policy Priorities for the 2007 Reauthorization of the National Science
Foundation'' calls for greater attention to the education and training
of a new contingent of experts in STEM areas to meet the workforce
development needs of the nation.
It is HACU's conviction that the STEM workforce needs can be met by
engaging Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the process. HSIs are poised
to contribute to the rebirth of STEM study in our schools, colleges and
universities. Information from the College Board and the National
Center for Education Statistics shows that 111 HSI community colleges
and 92 four year postsecondary institutions offer associate,
baccalaureate and graduate programs and degrees in the STEM areas. HSIs
are prepared for the challenge of meeting the nation's STEM needs, but
are hampered by under funding from those federal agencies that most
provide STEM resources.
HACU has also included this concern in the ``HACU Public Policy
Priorities for the 2007 Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). HACU has identified 1600 Hispanic Serving
School Districts HSSDs schools that have an enrollment of 25% or more
Hispanic students) tend to be located in district with limited
resources. Many of math and science teachers lack current advanced
education in the STEM areas thereby making it difficult to provide
Advanced Placement Courses for students capable of higher level STEM
study.
Without access to AP courses Hispanic students will be limited in
academic competency in STEM related courses thereby making it more
difficult to be accepted in colleges and universities as well as to
begin more advanced STEM courses for those who wish to major in STEM
related disciplines. In fact, the Digest of Educational Statistics for
2006 reports that in 2005, 10% of all White students were enrolled in
A.P. calculus compared to 5.0 % for Hispanic students, a 50% difference
with a similar statistical gap existing in the AP honor biology
programs with 17.0% of White students enrolled but only 11.8%
Hispanics. In Advanced Placement Honors Physics, 5.6% of White students
were enrolled in comparison to only 3.4% for Hispanics. As a
consequence, HACU has identified this challenge by incorporating STEM
competency in HSSDs as a partnership goal for HSIs and HSSDs which
could be accomplished by replicating a successful HACU-NASA pre-
collegiate STEM program for middle and high school students
Overall, HACU strongly recommends greater federal attention to STEM
workforce development at all levels of the educational process
beginning at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, to prepare
students for STEM success at the postsecondary education. Only by
developing a STEM pipeline through all levels of education will we
experience an increase in interest and enrollment of students in STEM
areas of study and an increase in number and quality of STEM teachers,
professors and professionals for the national security and economic
needs of the nation.
Chairman Hinojosa, I want to thank you for the opportunity to
present these written remarks to you and your committee. HACU remains
fully committed to assist you and your committee to assure that the
nation remains the world leader in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics.
______
Chairman Hinojosa. I would like to at this time introduce
our very distinguished panel of witnesses here with us today,
this morning. The first one will be Dr. Charles Reed. He is our
first witness today. He serves as chancellor of the California
State University and is chief executive officer of the
country's largest senior system of public higher ed. He
provides leadership to 46,000 faculty and staff, and 417,000
students on 23 campuses, and seven off-campus centers.
The CSU, which spans the entire State of California, has an
annual budget of more than $5 billion. He has served in a
similar position in Florida, has a long and honorable history
of professional contributions in higher education and public
service.
He has appeared before our full committee, and a
subcommittee in Washington before, and it is a pleasure to
welcome you again.
The second panelist will be Dr. Warren Baker. He is our
second witness, and has served as president of California
Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California,
since 1979. He is a former member of the presidential appointee
of the National Science Board, where he chaired the board's
Polar Research Committee.
In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the
National Association of Universities and Land Grant Colleges,
and serves as presidential appointee on the board of
International Food and Agricultural Development for the United
States Agency for International Development.
Dr. Baker has earned civil engineering degrees from Notre
Dame, and his PhD in geothermal engineering from the University
of New Mexico. Welcome.
Dr. Frederick Tarantino is the third presenter and is one
of our neighbors in the Washington Metropolitan area. He holds
a BS in physics from--I can't even pronounce the name of your
institute here--Rennsalear Polytechnic Institute.
He received his master's of science in nuclear sciences
from the Air Force Institute of Technology and his PhD in
nuclear reactor physics from MIT.
In addition, he is also a graduate of the Wharton Business
School's Advanced Management Program. During his 19 year career
in the U.S. Army, he held many important posts and later worked
in the White House on science and technology issues.
He has also worked for the Bechtel Corporation in the
private sector. We welcome you.
Dr. Marshall Drummond is next, and he began working as
chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District since
July 2007. LACCD is the largest community college district in
the Nation, and it includes nine colleges with an annual budget
of nearly $1 billion, serving approximately 180,000 students.
Prior to his current position, he was the chancellor of the
California Community Colleges, and in that position, he was
responsible for providing leadership to 72 community colleges,
districts, statewide. He served as LACCD president for five
years prior to his statewide appointment and has been a
professor at various higher education institutions, and has
also served in the private sector with the Systems and Computer
Technology Corporation.
He holds two degrees in science, science management,
economics, and business from San Jose State University, and his
doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco.
Welcome.
The fifth presenter will be Dr. Todd Ullah, who is
currently the director of Secondary Science, overseeing all
curriculum guide development, professional development,
technology, science facilities development, and science grants
for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
He is a five year member of the 11 Region Coordinating
Council for the California Technology Assistance Project and
the Statewide Educational Technology Services Program. He has
over ten years of teaching biological and physical sciences in
high schools, including special work with charter schools.
Todd holds a bachelor's of science as well as master's of
science in biological sciences. Thank you, Todd, for joining us
and for providing your leadership and professional experience
on behalf of our younger students.
Also with us is a very important panelist who I chose, Dr.
Susan Hackwood, Executive Director of the California Council on
Science and Technology. She is our final witness. She is
professor of electrical engineering at the University of
California-Riverside, and visiting associate in engineering at
the California Institute of Technology.
The CCST is a not-for-profit corporation comprised of 150
science and technology leaders sponsored by the key academic
and federal research institutions in California. The
organization advises the state on all aspects of science and
technology, including stem cell research, intellectual
property, energy, information technology, and biotechnology,
and in education.
Dr. Hackwood received a PhD in solid state bionics in 1979
from the De Montfort University in the United Kingdom. She was
the founding dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at UC-
Riverside, and is responsible for all research and teaching
aspects of five PhD-level programs.
She has published over 140 technical publications and holds
seven U.S. patents. Susan is very active, professionally, at
the national and international levels, but she managed he
schedule to be with us today. Welcome. We're honored to have
you.
For those of you who have not testified before this
subcommittee, let me briefly explain our lighting system and
the five minute rule. Everyone, including members, will be
limited to five minutes of presentation of questioning of the
presenters. The green light is illuminated when you begin to
speak. When you see the yellow light, it means you have one
minute remaining. When you see the red light, it means your
time has expired and you need to begin conclusion of your
testimony.
Please be certain as you testified to turn on the switch
and speak into the microphone in front of you, so we can get
the taping and put it into the record.
We will now hear from our first witness.
Dr. Reed.
STATEMENT OF DR. CHARLES B. REED, CHANCELLOR, CALIFORNIA STATE
UNIVERSITY
Dr. Reed. Thank you, Chairman Hinojosa, and members of the
subcommittee, for inviting us to talk about the critical and
daunting issues facing California and this entire country.
Number one is having students prepared for this country's
future workforce. Number two is alleviating the shortage of
qualified teachers in the science, technology, engineering and
mathematic areas, so that students get that needed preparation,
especially our underserved students.
In an article that I authored for the November issue of
Change magazine, I was asked to talk about the greatest
challenge facing me as chancellor of the California State
University. I believe it is the urgent need to reach students
from traditionally underserved populations, to prepare them for
college, get them into college, and to make sure that they
graduate into meaningful jobs in this country's workforce.
They constitute the majority of students in the 23 campuses
of the California State University, and soon, other states in
this country will experience this rise in the number of
students of color.
That ties in with what we are talking about today. We must
educate our students better, and to do that, we need teachers
who are trained in the subjects that they teach.
I have said for many, many years, that the key to student
learning is having a good, qualified teacher. There is no
higher priority. If a student has a high-performing teacher,
they will learn.
The California State University prepares about 60 percent,
or over 13,000 of California's teachers each year. Producing
high quality math and science teachers is a board of trustees
policy.
We requested and received this year, a state budget
augmentation of over $2 million to support our commitment to
doubling the number of teachers that we prepare in these
fields. Our commitment to producing these teachers consists of
a several part action plan which is detailed in my written
testimony that we have provided you.
Through this plan, we've increased math and science
teachers by 37.6 percent in the last two years.
We've increased our preparation of math teachers 64
percent, responding to the crisis in California in which we
have over 70,000 middle school students, mostly from minority
and low-income homes, that have algebra teachers who are not
prepared to teach algebra.
Production of chemistry and physics teachers in the CSU
fields, with severe shortages, has expanded 42 percent. This
too is essential. Currently, nearly one-third of the physical
science teachers are underprepared in California.
Key elements of our plan that have led to the increases
include recruitment initiatives, new teacher credential
pathways, Web-supported instructional materials, better
collaboration with community colleges, financial support for
teacher candidates, and thank you for what you did for Pell and
for the new teachers for the inner cities, and especially our
focus on underserved populations. And lastly, partnering with
federal labs in business and industry.
President Baker from our Cal Poly campus will talk to you,
in a little more detail, about our initiatives with the
national labs.
Please also see the addendum on Cal State Fullerton's
initiative on STEM programs, which it has quadrupled the number
of math teachers is prepares, and one reason it was chosen as a
national case study.
Now, in addition to what we are doing in teacher
preparation, the CSU is absolutely committed to reaching out to
the state's diverse communities and providing access to college
that will translate into successful entry into the state's
workforce. I'll mention just a few programs, and they're all
referred in my written testimony.
The CSU works closely with the Hispanic Association of
Colleges and Universities to recruit and retain Latino
students. Twenty-six percent of our 420,000 students are
Latino. We also work with the Parent Institute for Quality
Education, PIQE, to get Latino parents, especially mothers,
involved in their children's education, and help them navigate
the college admission and financial Agency for International
Development area. We graduated 7,700 Latinos this last year in
our PIQE program.
We have given out, this last year, 1.3 million of these
posters to students throughout California, and this poster
tells you how to go to college. How to apply, how to get
financial aid, how to get federal financial aid.
More recently, we've expanded our partnership with HENAC,
the Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Corporation.
Their office is across the street from Cal State University Los
Angeles, which is across the freeway from East Los Angeles.
HENAC has been approved by the Department of Defense for a five
year, $10 million program, called Value Chain Project.
The Value Chain Project is targeted at producing Latino
engineers and having Latino engineering mentors as role models
in the classroom. They've adopted 13 elementary schools that
feed into three middle schools, which feed into one high
school. The project starts with 4th graders. That's the right
place to start.
We also have to support your Gear Up, TRIO, and Upward
Bound programs. The California State University is the largest
beneficiary of Gear Up, TRIO, and Upward Bound.
This past year, the CSU instituted a systemwide
professional science master's program, that offers innovative
master's degrees, which prepares students to develop the
science, technology and management skills needed for today's
workforce.
Many of these students are underrepresented minority
students. We institute an early assessment program where the
California State University offers a test to every 11th grader
in California.
This year, we tested more than 340,000 students, some
450,000 in English and in mathematics, and we gave them an
early ``heads up'' as to whether they are prepared to go to
college or not.
One of the big things in this country that we need to do,
is to align our expectations in universities with high school
curriculum. And so we're trying to do that.
Once our students enter one of our 23 campuses, they get
involved in many programs to excel in the STEM fields. For
instance, our minority access to research careers, our minority
biomedical research support programs, help these students. One
measure of our success is that the National Science Foundation
has identified the California State University as top
baccalaureate-producing program for students who get doctor's
degrees in science.
Five of the CSU campuses are among the top 50 institution
in the United States in producing Hispanic doctoral recipients.
Chairman Hinojosa. I ask you to please bring it to
conclusion.
Dr. Reed. I have given you many numbers. I want to leave
you with what the California State University is more about
than just the numbers. It's about success. It's about paying
attention. When I say ``paying attention,'' we care about our
underserved students. We want to go out and get those students
to attend the CSU. We want to help them not only get access but
to graduate and to enter the workforce in this country. Thank
you very much.
[The statement of Dr. Reed follows:]
Prepared Statement of Charles B. Reed, Chancellor, California State
University System
Chairman Hinojosa and members of the Sub-Committee, thank you for
inviting me to discuss the commitment of the California State
University (CSU) to ensuring that all students in California are
equipped to enter the workforce well-prepared and that the needs for
skilled professionals are met in fields that are central to the state's
economic competitiveness. I will focus my comments on the critically
needed foundation for preparation in the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, with particular attention to
increasing the participation of underrepresented students in these
fields. The most basic foundation for any advances in STEM fields is
having sufficient numbers of well-qualified mathematics and science
teachers, and I will describe the CSU commitment to doubling teachers
in these fields--a major systemwide priority.
The California State University: Context
Few, if any, university systems match the scope of the CSU system.
It is the largest four-year university system in the country, with 23
campuses, approximately 450,000 students and 46,000 faculty and staff.
The CSU mission is to provide high-quality, affordable education to
meet the ever-changing needs of the people of California. Since the
system's creation in 1961, it has awarded approximately 2 million
degrees. The CSU currently awards approximately 92,000 degrees and
13,000 teacher credentials each year.
The CSU plays a critical role in preparing California's youth for
the job market. Our graduates help drive California's aerospace,
healthcare, entertainment, information technology, biomedical,
international trade, education, and multimedia industries. The CSU
confers 65 percent of California's bachelor's degrees in business, 52
percent of its bachelor's degrees in agricultural business and
agricultural engineering, and 45 percent of its bachelor's degrees in
computer and electronic engineering. The CSU also educates the
professionals needed to lead and serve in the state's major
institutions. It provides bachelor's degrees to teachers and education
staff (87 percent), criminal justice workers (89 percent), social
workers (87 percent) and public administrators (82 percent).
Altogether, about half the bachelor's degrees and a third of the
master's degrees awarded each year in California are from the CSU.
One key feature of the CSU is its affordability. For 2007-08, the
CSU systemwide fee for full-time undergraduate students is $2,772. With
individual campus fees added, the CSU total fees average $3,450, which
is the lowest among any of the comparison public institutions
nationwide.
Close to sixty percent of the teachers credentialed in California
(and ten percent of the nation's teachers) each year are prepared by
the CSU. High quality teacher preparation is one of the top priorities
of the system and the CSU Board of Trustees. In 2005, the system made
the preparation of additional science and mathematics teachers one of
its foremost goals. Reflecting this commitment, the CSU system
requested and received in the 2007-08 state budget a permanent
augmentation of $2 million to support this major commitment on an
ongoing basis.
Maintaining California's Competitiveness: Mathematics and Science
Teacher Preparation
Rising Above the Gathering Storm,\1\ the widely respected report
issued by the National Academies of Science and Engineering in 2006,
underscored the centrality of the mathematics and science teaching
force in securing the nation's economic future. In its recommendations,
the report placed the highest priority on recruitment and preparation
of outstanding candidates for teaching in these fields. It emphasized
that the US system of public education is the foundation for a
workforce that is proficient in mathematics and science, fields
critical to the nation's economic survival, and that the most critical
resource, and the one in increasingly short supply, is excellent
teachers in these fields.
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\1\ National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. (2006). Rising
Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing American for a
Brighter Economic Future. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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Two and a half years ago, I made the commitment to double the
number of mathematics and science teachers prepared by the CSU by 2009-
10. This meant increasing from a baseline figure of approximately 750
new mathematics and science teachers produced each year to preparation
of 1,500 new teachers in these fields annually. Since that time, our
Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI) \2\ has increased
production of teachers in these disciplines by 37.6%.
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\2\ See http:///www.calstate.edu/teachered/MSTI.
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We have increased production of mathematics teachers by more than
60%, responding to significant needs in California: 35% of current
middle school teachers assigned to teach Algebra 1 do not have a
mathematics credential. Approximately 69,000 middle school students are
enrolled in Algebra 1 classes where the teacher is under-prepared or
teaching out-of-field. Students in schools that are predominantly
minority are four times as likely to have under-prepared mathematics
and science teachers as students in schools with few minority students.
Production of chemistry and physics teachers--fields with severe
shortages--has expanded by 42%. This, too, is essential. Currently,
nearly one-third of physical science teachers are either under-prepared
or assigned out-of-field, and under-represented students are taught by
the least qualified teachers in these fields.
The CSU has brought together the leadership of its undergraduate
programs in mathematics and science and its teacher education programs
to address severe teacher shortages in these fields. In 2005, CSU
awarded 651 math, 1,930 biological sciences, and 516 physical sciences
(chemistry, geosciences, and physics) undergraduate degrees. Although
these are only some of the fields that lead to teaching credentials in
mathematics and science, the figures provide an indication of the CSU
institutional capacity that is and will continue to be built upon to
prepare the mathematics and science teachers the state needs.
Components of the CSU Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative
The CSU Math and Science Teacher Initiative began in 2004-05
through a planning process involving all of its 22 campuses that
prepare teachers. A seven-part action plan was developed that is
focused on doubling mathematics and science credential production
through multiple strategies.
Component #1. Comprehensive Recruitment Aimed at Expanding
and Diversifying the Pool of Candidates
Objective: To significantly expand recruitment of new mathematics
and science teacher candidates
Programs: Comprehensive, sustained, and innovative recruitment and
marketing initiatives
The first component of the CSU action plan is directed toward
substantially expanding and diversifying the pool of qualified
candidates entering mathematics and science teaching. It is a broadly-
based recruitment effort targeted to college students and recent
graduates, community college and high school students, mid-career and
pre-retirement professionals, recent retirees, and teachers with the
potential to change fields.
Component #2. Creation of New Credential Pathways
Objective: To establish multiple new pathways to mathematics and
science teaching credentials
Programs: A broad range of new programs beginning at the freshman
level and continuing through fast-track post-baccalaureate options
A central part of the CSU strategy to expand mathematics and
science teacher production is the creation of new credential pathways.
The purpose is to establish multiple points of entry into these fields
for individuals at different educational and career stages. New
pathways include, for example, (1) blended programs for undergraduates
in which an academic major and teacher preparation are integrated in an
articulated program of study, and (2) a new Foundational Level
mathematics credential for middle school teachers accessible to
candidates earning a multiple subject credential for grades K-8 as well
as a single subject credential for secondary grades.
Component #3. Internet-Supported Delivery of Instruction
Objective: To create systemwide Internet-supported mathematics and
science credential preparation resources
Program: New online-supported teacher preparation programs in
mathematics and science
To accommodate the needs of diverse pools of candidates, flexible
preparation options are needed that allow for online learning. The CSU
initiative includes development of Internet-supported instruction both
for preparation to pass required California Subject Examination for
Teachers (CSET) tests and to make academic course work available
online.
Component #4. Collaboration with Community Colleges
Objective: To implement integrated 2-year/4-year mathematics and
science credential preparation programs with California's community
colleges
Programs: Partnerships with community colleges that align lower
division and upper division mathematics and science teacher preparation
and institutionalize early recruitment and academic advising for
teaching careers in these fields
A central component of the CSU approach is collaboration with
community colleges in integrated 2-year to 4-year programs that provide
an articulated and continuous sequence of preparation for mathematics
and science teaching. The Chancellor's Offices of the CSU and of the
California Community College System have entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) that advances system-level strategies to
institutionalize articulated pathways.
Component #5. Financial Support and Incentives
Objective: To provide financial support for new mathematics and
science teachers through the full array of available fiscal resources
Programs: Scholarships, loan assumption programs, paid tutoring,
service learning, school district internships
An important component of CSU's strategy--one essential for its
success--is providing support for candidates through scholarships and
loan assumption/cancellation programs, paid tutoring, and internship
opportunities that make teacher preparation financially attainable and
attractive for college students of all backgrounds. This is
particularly important because significantly increasing participation
from underrepresented groups, those most often in need of financial
assistance, is a central component of CSU's strategy.
A major effort has been undertaken by CSU in collaboration with the
California Student Aid Commission to foster maximum utilization of
California's Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE). This
important state program for future teachers provides up to $19,000 of
loan forgiveness for new mathematics and science teachers. CSU campuses
have awarded loan cancellation awards to more than 6,000 teacher
education students in the past year, enabling them to enter the
teaching profession in shortage fields with little or no debt.
The federal Noyce Scholarship program is another important source
of financial aid. Twelve CSU campuses have received competitive grants
from the National Science Foundation, averaging over $400,000 each, to
implement Noyce scholarship programs. These funds have enabled them to
provide scholarships of $10,000 per year for up to two years for future
mathematics and science teachers--both upper division undergraduates
and teacher credential candidates in these fields.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Under the America COMPETES Act, total funding for Noyce
scholarships through NSF is authorized to increase significantly, and
the period during which candidates can receive $10,000 scholarships is
extended to three years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paid tutoring is another important vehicle providing financial
support and recruitment benefits. Research shows that the desire to
assist others is a primary factor in recruitment into mathematics and
science teaching and that the opportunity to do so enhances the quality
of new teacher preparation in these fields. At CSU campuses like San
Diego State University, community college students interested in
mathematics or science teaching serve as paid tutors for 20 hours a
week. They work with students from nearby school districts that serve
predominantly minority students with the goal of increasing their
preparation and participation in post-secondary education.
Component #6: Identifying and Scaling-Up Approaches Having
Significant Potential
Objective: To identify and scale-up cost-effective mathematics and
science teacher recruitment and preparation approaches
Programs: Expanding approaches that have been demonstrated to be
effective
The CSU strategy is a carefully planned one aimed at identifying,
analyzing, and scaling up especially promising and cost-effective
approaches for preparing highly qualified mathematics and science
teachers. Examples of strategies identified for scale-up to-date
include aligned programs of preparation with community colleges, online
preparation for the California Subject Examination for Teachers (CSET),
and programs in which undergraduates provide lab-based science
activities for local students from low-income and minority schools.
Component #7. Partnerships with Federal Laboratories,
Business and Industry
Objective: To establish and institutionalize partnerships that
enhance the attractiveness of teaching careers in mathematics and
science
Programs: Partnerships with federal laboratories, business and
industry enriching mathematics and science teachers' career
opportunities
Long-term success in increasing recruitment, preparation, and
retention of mathematics and science teachers requires career
opportunities that encourage the brightest STEM majors to enter and
remain in teaching careers. Engaging in science research at federal
laboratories and/or industry sites can re-invent and revitalize
mathematics and science teaching and significantly enhance the
attractiveness of careers in these fields.
Consistent with the recommendations of the Business Higher
Education Forum in An American Imperative,\4\ the report that reflects
the results of a major project co-chaired by President Warren Baker,
the CSU has begun an initiative with Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory aimed at enabling outstanding science undergraduates
interested in becoming teaching candidates to work at the Lab on a paid
basis during the summer. This type of program, which increases the
quality of science teacher preparation and the interest of science
majors in teaching careers, is especially promising, and we urge
greater federal support for these types of programs for future teachers
at federal laboratories.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Business Higher Education Forum. (2007). An American
Imperative: Transforming the Recruitment, Retention, and Renewal of our
Nation's mathematics and Science Teaching Workforce. Washington, D.C.:
BHEF.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSU STEM Activities Focused on College Access and Preparation
Strengthening the K-12 pipeline by increasing the numbers of well-
qualified mathematics and science teachers is one critical underpinning
of improving California's competitiveness. The CSU is also engaged in a
broad range of activities focused on enhancing college access and
academic preparation for California's diverse population that
contribute in significant ways to preparing the workforce that is
critical to the state's economic prosperity. For example:
The CSU is deeply engaged in efforts to ensure college
access for diverse populations of high school students. The system is
the most prominent and prolific system in the Hispanic Association of
Colleges and Universities (HACU), with 19 of our 23 campuses
participating actively. Since the 1970's, the CSU has been one of the
most Latino friendly university system in the nation. Today, 26.2% of
our students are Latino.
The CSU is committed to ensuring minority parent awareness
and understanding of higher education. We have a three-year partnership
with Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) reaching 120 middle
schools, 8,000 parents, and 25,000 school children every year. Its
purpose is to increase the number of students eligible to enter the CSU
from underserved communities. Through this partnership, parents are
receiving training and resources that will prepare their children for a
college education. The partnership helps parents to create a home
learning environment, navigate the school system, and work
collaboratively with teachers, counselors, and principals.
The CSU has focused outreach activities aimed at creating
a college-going culture among minority and low-income students
throughout their elementary and secondary experience. In a partnership
with the Boeing Corporation, the CSU publishes its now widely acclaimed
``How to Get to College'' poster. For California students who will be
the first in their families to go to college, the information in this
widely distributed poster about the steps to prepare for and apply for
college and financial aid is extremely valuable. CSU has distributed
the poster in English and Spanish to schools throughout California and
now also distributes copies in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
The CSU has a deep commitment to outreach programs
equipping students from underrepresented groups for success in college.
Our federal GEAR UP, TRIO, and Upward Bound programs are the largest in
the country and represent major priorities across the entire CSU
system. For example, eleven CSU campuses have been the fiscal agent for
GEAR UP grants totaling over $112 million since the inception of the
program in 1999, using these resources to encourage economically
disadvantaged youth to aspire to college and preparing them for college
and success.
The CSU is dedicated to supporting talent development
programs for students from underserved communities. For example, the
CSU has nine MESA pre-college sites and eight MESA engineering program
centers. CSU campuses with pre-college MESA programs work with over 180
schools and serve more than 9,000 students annually. Nearly 50% of the
students in the MESA Community College Program in California transfer
to CSU campuses and major in mathematics, engineering, science or
technology.
The CSU is engaged in partnerships having significant
promise for preparing new groups of STEM professionals from diverse
backgrounds who are first generation college goers. For example, we are
working closely with the Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Awards
Corporation (HENAAC) in planning a program that will provide early STEM
career awareness and preparation for elementary, middle and high school
students in inner city Los Angeles. HENAAC has developed plans for an
outstanding project that will involve CSU Los Angeles as the primary
higher education partner, include students, their families and
teachers, and will be made possible through support of the Office of
Naval Research.
While these targeted programs provide essential assistance to
underrepresented students, programs that enhance the capacity of
secondary schools to prepare all students for college success are also
essential. The CSU Early Assessment Program is a nationally recognized
collaboration involving the CSU, the California Department of
Education, and the State Board of Education. It provides the
opportunity for high school students to learn about their readiness for
college-level English and mathematics in their junior year, and it
makes available opportunities for them to improve these skills during
their senior year so they can enter the CSU without requiring remedial
coursework. By providing professional development for English and
mathematics teachers across the state, the EAP is a major resource for
increasing the readiness of students from high need communities to
enter college ready for success.
Concluding Comments
The CSU has a significant commitment to advancing California's
competitiveness, and is dedicated to building the foundations that are
critical to preparing all students for STEM careers. This includes: (a)
preparing the mathematics and science teachers needed to equip
California's students for success in STEM fields and (b) fostering
access to STEM fields among students from the underrepresented groups
that are an increasingly large portion of our workforce.
When students from diverse backgrounds begin their study on CSU
campuses, there are dozens of outstanding programs that enable them to
select and excel in STEM fields. Programs that provide special
resources for these students include, for example, the excellent Louis
Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation programs, the Minority
Access to Research Careers (MARC) programs, and the Minority Biomedical
Research Support (MBRS) programs found across CSU campuses. Also, many
of our campuses foster undergraduate and master's level research in the
STEM disciplines, leading to increased readiness among our students to
become research and development STEM professionals. As evidence of our
effectiveness, the National Science Foundation has consistently
identified the CSU as a top baccalaureate institution of origin for
STEM doctorate recipients. For example, a recent published study
identified five CSU campuses among the top 50 undergraduate
institutions of origin of Hispanic doctoral recipients.
There are, in addition, outstanding engineering programs that focus
on increasing the numbers of underrepresented students excelling in
engineering careers in the CSU. Programs such as the Minority
Engineering Program (MEP) make available exceptional engineering
opportunities and have significantly expanded participation of Latino
and African-American students.
This past year, the CSU initiated a systemwide Professional Science
Master's (PSM) program that offers innovative Master's degrees that
prepare students for the state's highest growth sectors in industry and
government. Eighteen PSM programs are in place or underway. Industry
partners in PSM programs nationally include some of the nation's
foremost science and technology firms. Enrollment of underrepresented
minority students is substantial, and the 18 planned CSU programs will
enable students from diverse backgrounds to develop the science,
technology and management skills most needed in today's workforce.
The fundamental components of the CSU and the state's success
reside in (a) developing the foundations for STEM careers through
teacher preparation, (b) increasing access and participation of
underrepresented groups, and (c) monitoring of the effectiveness of our
efforts. These are approaches where the CSU has done more than almost
any other institution in the nation and is committed to continuing its
leadership.
Preparing an outstanding teaching force and making CSU a route of
access for underrepresented students are guiding visions underlying our
priorities as a system. We rigorously measure the outcomes of our
efforts and make the adjustments to ensure our programs are effective.
Through our hundreds of baccalaureate and master's degree programs, we
will build on these critical underpinnings and continuously contribute
to the future workforce needed to secure California's competitiveness
in a global market.
I will be glad to respond to any questions you may have, and look
forward to working with you in the future.
______
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you.
Dr. Baker.
STATEMENT OF DR. WARREN BAKER, PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIA
POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY
Dr. Baker Thank you very much, Chairman Hinojosa. I
appreciate the opportunity to comment on policy options for the
renewal of California and the Nation's science and technology
workforce, and our continued global technological and economic
leadership.
We face considerable challenge sin renewing our college-
educated science and technology workforce, and a few statistics
help illustrate the magnitude of the challenge that we have
here in California.
We know that in 2006, approximately 48 percent of our
public school students were Hispanic, 20 percent were African,
Asian and Native American. In addition, 25 percent of those
students in the K-12 population were English learners.
The college participation rates of many of these students
is way too low. A 2002 report estimated that less than 5
percent of California's Latino high school students graduate
with college-ready skills.
We're not on track to meet California's need for college-
educated workers, and by 2020, we will face a 20 percent
shortfall in the number of workers that we will need requiring
college education.
We've seen early warning signs of the consequences for
science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. In
the 1990's, the number of California bachelor's degrees in math
and engineering declined by 13 percent.
California will see a significant decline in per capita
income by 2020 unless rates of educational achievement improve,
and this will occur across the Nation. To divert these dire
trends, we must bring more students into higher education. To
preserve the state's capacity for discovery and innovation, we
must bring more students into STEM disciplines, and we must
have a strong K-12 STEM education system aligned with the
expectations of higher education and with industry.
And we must, most importantly, have qualified, effective
and inspiring teachers in science and mathematics in the
classroom for every student, teaching in a multilingual
minority population as well.
Some steps that are being taken to address these were
outlined by Chancellor Reed in his testimony, describing what
the California State University is doing to provide access to
California's population of young people, and as a university,
one of the universities, we have formed P-12 councils and
provided opportunities to work together with the constituents
who have an interest in furthering the improvement of our K-12
system.
Earlier this summer, the Business Higher Education Forum,
and other members of the initiative, Tapping America's
Potential, wrote to Representatives Miller and Hinojosa, and
other Congressional leaders, in support of reauthorization of
the Higher Education Act, and, in particular, the policies that
would improve U.S. STEM education at all levels.
I am supportive of these recommendations and I would also
invite the subcommittee to review the findings and
recommendations of two recent business higher education reports
that Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson and I co-chaired. the first, in
2005, a commitment to America's future, responding to the
crisis in mathematics and science education, and the most
recent, 2007 report, An American Imperative, Transforming the
Recruitment, Retention and Renewal of our Nation's Mathematics
and Science Teaching Workforce.
In keeping with the spirit of the recommendations of TAC
and the Business Higher Education Forum STEM initiative, I
would like to encourage the committee to give special
consideration to several potential initiatives which are in my
written testimony.
I would like to point out three of these. First, I would
encourage consideration of federal policies that support the
establishing of P-16 councils in each of the 50 states, charged
with developing statewide plans to promote and strengthen
student access and success in science and mathematics, from
pre-school to university, with particular emphasis on
leadership from business.
Second, federal policies that support and encourage the
work of established and effective STEM outreach recruitment and
retention programs, like these that I have shown on this slide.
And finally, federal policies that support the extension of
what we call a teacher as scientist programs, which meets the
requirements that we hear from young people considering
teaching programs, about being involved in science. And the
national labs programs have been particularly effective, here,
in the State of California, where we have had experienced
teachers having opportunities to work in the summer and to
provide hybrid opportunities and careers for these students in
the national labs while they are teaching, primarily in the
summer.
We also know that these programs have doubled the rate of
retention compared to the average science and math teacher,
when they participate in these programs with the national labs,
and, by the way, corporate and private laboratories as well.
We also believe that this will be an effective recruitment
tool, and we have launched a program this summer, with Lawrence
Livermore, to bring prospective teachers of science and
mathematics into these laboratories.
I interviewed all of these students this summer and asked
them if they were going to continue to pursue careers in
teaching. They were even more excited about the opportunities
that they could bring in hands-on learning, and in critical
thinking, to the classroom as a result of their experiences
with the national labs. Thank you very much.
[The statement of Dr. Baker follows:]
Prepared Statement of Warren J. Baker, President, California
Polytechnic State University
To Chairman Hinojosa and members of the Sub-Committee, I would like
to express my appreciation for the opportunity to comment on the
growing need for graduates in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) disciplines, some of the steps we are taking at
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) to address this
need, and additional policy measures that might be implemented at the
federal level to help us address this issue at the state and local
level.
Background
The United States and particularly California have enjoyed
significant economic gains over the past half century. Much of this
growth has come from investments in science, engineering and technology
education and research and from creation of the world's pre-eminent
universities. Thanks to investments since WWII, we have become the
world leader in scientific and technological discovery and innovation,
to the great benefit of our standard of living and quality of life. Our
leadership position is now being challenged by rapid progress in
science and technology in other industrialized nations, fueled by
strong rates of public investment in education and research, including
establishment of first-class universities.
According to the National Science Foundation's biennial report on
science and engineering, natural science and engineering doctoral
degree production is either not increasing or declining in Western
nations like the U.S., United Kingdom and Germany, while it is
increasing in China, South Korea and Japan (NSB 2006:2-6). The
proportion of U.S. bachelor's degrees conferred in science and
engineering disciplines remained relatively constant over the past two
decades (about one-third of the total), but the proportion of degrees
granted in engineering declined from seven percent to five percent
during that period (NSB 2006:2-4). The report documents continued low
rates of baccalaureate degree completion among underrepresented
minorities in the U.S. For example, only 10 percent of Hispanics aged
25-29 had completed a baccalaureate degree in 2003, compared to 34
percent of whites (NSB 2006:2-5). This is a particularly worrisome
statistic for California, with its large Hispanic population. A 2002
report estimated that ``less than five percent of [California] Latino
high school students graduate with college-ready skills'' (CCST
2002:45). We have seen early warning signs of the potential
consequences of the state's changing demographics for STEM education.
In the 1990s, the number of California baccalaureate degrees in
mathematics and engineering experienced a 13 percent decline (CCST
2002:67).
Recently, a number of celebrated reports have called for renewed
investment in STEM education to reverse decline in the nation's
relative strength in science and technology and regain our
technological leadership. To cite just a few examples:
In 2005 a blue ribbon committee of the National Academies,
responding to a congressional charge, issued the report, ``Rising Above
the Gathering Storm.'' It recommended key steps the nation must take to
preserve its capacity to compete technologically and economically in an
increasingly competitive global environment. Two of the four main
recommendations in this report called upon the nation to expand its
investment in STEM education--from kindergarten through graduate
school.
In two other recent national reports, the Business-Higher
Education Forum highlighted the critical role that K-12 science and
mathematics education play in preparing students to pursue STEM
careers:
the 2005 report, ``A Commitment to America's Future:
Responding to the Crisis in Mathematics and Science Education,'' and
the 2007 report, ``An American Imperative: Transforming
the Recruitment, Retention, and Renewal Of Our Nation's Mathematics and
Science Teaching Workforce.''
These reports call upon the nation to make it an urgent national
priority to strengthen K-12 science and mathematics education and in
particular to invest in renewal of the science and mathematics teacher
workforce.
The California Council on Science and Technology raised
similar concerns in several reports over the past decade:
the 1999 ``California Report on the Environment for
Science and Technology,''
the 2002 ``Critical Path Analysis of California's S&T
Education System,'' and
the 2007 ``Critical Path Analysis of California's Science
and Mathematics Teacher Preparation System.''
These reports documented strong continuing demand for science and
technology workers in the California economy, an educational system
that is failing to keep pace with this demand, and a K-12 science and
mathematics teacher workforce that is being eroded by retirements and
attrition without sufficient numbers of qualified replacement teachers.
Against the background of these reports, and with the assistance of
other recent policy analyses, I would like to share several
observations on the nature of the challenges we face and steps we can
take to sustain and renew the California STEM workforce and ensure
continued vitality of the State's economy.
California will need a growing number of college-educated
workers in coming decades, but we are falling short in meeting this
demand. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, in 2020
75 percent of jobs will require at least some college but only 61
percent of the workforce will have achieved this level of education; 39
percent of jobs will require a college degree but only 33 percent of
workers will have attained one (Public Policy Institute of California
2005:1).
Given projected rates of educational participation and
achievement, the state will experience significant decline in per
capita income. This is something that should concern all Californians.
The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems has
projected the future economic consequences of educational trends in the
fifty states. California is projected to experience a $2,475 decline in
per capita income by 2020 if we are not successful in increasing rates
of educational participation and completion (Kelly 2005:25).
Our ability to remain globally competitive as a state
depends especially on our capacity for scientific and technical
innovation. This in turn depends on our ability to engage students at a
young age in the study of science and mathematics and to encourage them
to embark upon college and university programs in STEM disciplines.
We know that a strong K-12 educational system, with a
curriculum and pedagogy responsive to the expectations of higher
education and the workforce, is of critical importance in meeting our
future STEM workforce needs.
We also know from educational research that perhaps the
single most important thing we can do to promote student involvement
and success in STEM disciplines is to be sure that every K-12 student
is taught science and math by competent, effective and inspiring
science and math teachers while we continue to make needed investments
in college programs, laboratories and faculty.
But we face significant challenges:
While progress has been made through the implementation of new
educational standards in California and the other states, additional
work is needed to ensure that K-12 educational systems are responsive
to the expectations and requirements of colleges, universities and
workplaces.
The U.S. will need more than 280,000 new mathematics and science
teachers by 2015 (BHEF 2007:4). We face a similar challenge in
California. Over the next decade the state will need over 33,000 new
mathematics and science teachers (CCST 2007:3). Even though the CSU and
UC systems have ambitious plans to increase the number of science and
math teachers they prepare, we have not yet caught up with demand. In
2005-06, 35 percent of new California science teachers and 40 percent
of new math teachers were under-prepared (lacking even a preliminary
teaching credential) (CCST 2007:22). Shortages of qualified science and
math teachers are particularly acute at schools that have large
percentages of students from minority and low-income backgrounds.
To ensure a continued adequate supply of science and technology
innovators in California, we must continue to work to strengthen K-12
science and math programs and make it a special priority to prepare a
new generation of science and mathematics teachers.
We must also invest in our universities and community colleges to
increase access to STEM programs and to ensure that those programs are
innovative, of high quality and responsive to rapid changes in science,
technology and society. Weak STEM programs in K-16 education are now
resulting in a shortage of advanced degrees in STEM fields. We will
soon feel these effects in our universities and national laboratories.
Some Steps Being Taken at Cal Poly to Address the Crisis in STEM
Education
Chancellor Reed's testimony to the committee describes in some
detail steps being taken by the California State University to address
the State's need for STEM graduates and in particular the need for
qualified and inspiring science and mathematics teachers. I would like
to share with the committee some steps that are being taken at one
campus, in collaboration with partners in government and industry, to
strengthen collaboration with the K-12 system and community colleges
and to prepare additional science and mathematics teachers.
K-12/Higher Education/Industry Collaboration
In April of 2005, a P-16 Council was established in San Luis Obispo
County. It has brought together leaders in K-16 education, business,
and the community to address ``critical gaps in educational
achievement.''
An early focus of the Council's work is an initiative on
Mathematics and Science Education. It has identified the following
goals:
1. Recruit and prepare well qualified P-16 teachers in science and
mathematics.
2. Provide professional development for P-16 science and
mathematics teachers.
3. Engage P-16 students in science and math and promote careers in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
4. Serve as a repository/disseminator of best practices in P-16
science and mathematics Education.\1\
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\1\ Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics
Education (http://cesame.calpoly.edu/P-16.htm)
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While this local effort is still in its early stages, we concur
with the Business-Higher Education Forum and others that P-16 Councils
can play critical roles in bringing together education, business and
community stakeholders to achieve greater alignment of the educational
segments and stronger preparation of graduates to meet the expectations
of workplaces and higher education programs.
Teacher Recruitment and Preparation
Cal Poly has taken several important steps to address the state's
need for science and mathematics teachers, including:
1. Development of a new undergraduate program that prepares
chemistry majors for teaching careers in four years and a term.
2. Collaboration between the College of Education, College of
Science and Mathematics and College of Engineering in teacher
recruitment and preparation.
3. Creation of a University Center for Excellence in Science and
Mathematics Education (CESaME) with the following goals:\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics
Education (http://cesame.calpoly.edu/Vision.htm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To help recruit and prepare K-12 teachers who are
confident of their skills in mathematics and their understanding of the
natural world, and who are dedicated to helping all children to become
scientific literate citizens of the 21st Century.
To offer practicing K-12 teachers opportunities to enhance
their knowledge of science and mathematics and to guide them to the
``best pedagogical practices'' of presenting that knowledge to children
and young people.
To explore and develop new ways of enhancing the science
and mathematics learning of all students K-16, particularly less
advantaged students.
To promote careers in Science, Mathematics, Engineering
and Technology(STEM) among K-12 students.
4. Recruitment of prospective science teachers through a Teacher-
Scientist model that introduces science majors to a dual career as
teacher during the academic year and paid science researcher in the
summer.
Across the country, through partnerships with Federal laboratories
and with major science and technology firms, science and mathematics
teachers have opportunities to participate in summer laboratory
research programs and enjoy an innovative career pathway in which they
are both teachers and researchers.
Sometimes called ``teacher as scientist'' programs, these
opportunities:
Allow teachers to gain first hand experience in the
applications of science and mathematics within applied research
settings.
Foster inquiry-based teaching and learning strategies.
Foster development of learning communities in the schools
and a sense of participation by science and math teachers in an
extended community of scientific colleagues.
Include the added prestige of teachers having a joint
assignment in an industry setting.
Provide opportunities for teachers to supplement their
salaries.
Open the door to assistance from industry and national
labs with school laboratories, including support for experiments, field
trips, and guest scientists.
There is evidence that these programs promote science and math
teacher retention. For example, impressive results have been reported
by Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME),
``founded in 1985 by a consortium of San Francisco Bay Area companies
in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of
California at Berkeley'' to allow teachers to carry out summer projects
in industry settings (See: http://iisme.org/). A 2001 evaluation of the
IISME program found that IISME teacher participants (``Fellows '') were
only half as likely to leave classroom teaching as other California
teachers (Weisbaum and Huang 2001:3).
We believe that teacher scientist programs may also have a positive
impact on the recruitment of science and mathematics teachers.
Therefore, in collaboration with the CSU Chancellor's Office, CSU-East
Bay, a number of sister CSU campuses and Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Cal Poly is exploring an expanded vision of the teacher
scientist program concept, extending this opportunity to science majors
who are prospective teachers.. We believe this pilot program's emphasis
on pre-service candidates and early development of a dual career
identity is perhaps unique.
A pilot Teacher Scientist project was undertaken this summer at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It placed 16 outstanding
science majors from four CSU campuses in research labs for paid summer
research internships. Half were majors in the three areas in which the
state faces the severest shortages of science teachers: physics,
chemistry, and geosciences. The purpose was to enable these science
majors, all of whom had a serious interest in high school teaching, to
begin an innovative science career that combines teaching at the
secondary grade level with paid summer research on a sustained basis.
Initial evaluation results have been highly positive. The 16 CSU
students were judged as being well-prepared research team members by
the mentor scientists with whom they worked. Each prepared a high
quality presentation for the Lab's annual student Poster Session. The
students identified a broad range of areas in which they gained
significant knowledge, ranging from a conceptual understanding of the
research issues explored, to a deep appreciation of the nature of
scientific inquiry and an understanding of the most sophisticated
equipment used in scientific research. Participants have the
opportunity to participate in paid summer experience during future
years. Long-term evaluation of this pilot is planned, with a design
that focuses on the impacts of the laboratory research experience and
the hybrid science teacher identity on the professional paths of these
science majors.
STEM Outreach and Recruitment
Universities like Cal Poly have important responsibilities for
outreach to parents and prospective students to encourage preparation
for collegiate study. In Cal Poly's case we have particular
responsibility in the State of California for fostering awareness of
STEM academic and career opportunities and we have a number of programs
and initiatives that work to promote wider participation by California
students in these fields and disciplines. I will mention a few examples
of efforts that we believe to be effective:
Cal Poly's Admissions Office uses sophisticated targeted
marketing approaches to reach out to 10th and 11th grade prospective
students all across the State of California, including students from
populations traditionally underrepresented in STEM academic programs.
As described by James Maraviglia, Assistant Vice President for
Admissions, Recruitment and Financial Aid, methods used to communicate
with these prospective applicants include ``flash/video e-messages,
broadcast phone messages, text messages, parent and student blogs, our
new student portal, direct mail, virtual view books and
telemarketing.'' For fall 2007 Cal Poly received a record number of
undergraduate applicants for the 13th year in a row (34,173). The
campus received applications from over five thousand Hispanic/Latino
students, double the number received in 2000.
During the past few years, Cal Poly has developed a
special relationship with 191 ``Partner'' high schools, all of which
have a large percentage of first generation students as well as
historically low college-going rates. We help students at these schools
to learn about Cal Poly and encourage them to complete the rigorous
course of study necessary to be competitive in Cal Poly's admissions
selection process.
In collaboration with the California-based ``Parent
Institute for Quality Education'' Cal Poly is bringing information
about college readiness to parents of elementary and middle school
students in communities traditionally underrepresented in higher
education. Recently a first cohort of 160 parents of students in
Guadalupe, a predominantly Hispanic central coast agricultural
community, completed a nine week program that gives them skills to aid
their children in preparing for college.
With support from the University of California, Cal Poly
conducts a MESA Schools Program (Mathematics, Engineering, Science,
Achievement) to promote science and math success among pre-college
students and awareness and participation in STEM higher education
programs.
Cal Poly student engineering association chapters
participate in invaluable STEM-related outreach to diverse K-12 student
populations. Examples of these student organizations include Cal Poly
chapters of AISES (the American Indian Science and Engineering
Society), SHPE (the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), NSBE
(the National Society of Black Engineers), and SWE (the Society of
Women Engineers).
These are just a few examples of an array of outreach efforts at
Cal Poly--formal and informal--that engage students, faculty and staff
in promoting awareness of STEM academic and career opportunities and
encourage students to prepare for post-secondary study in these
disciplines.
Potential Federal Policy Initiatives
Earlier this summer, the Business-Higher Education Forum and other
members of the initiative, ``Tapping America's Potential,'' wrote to
Senators Kennedy and Enzi and Representatives Miller, McKeon, Hinojosa
and Keller in support of reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
(HEA), and in particular ``policies that would improve U.S. science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at all
levels'' (TAP 2007).
The letter urges federal policy support for efforts to:
1. Align K-12 Education with College and Workplace Expectations:
The TAP letter advocates grants in support of state P-16 councils, as a
key to strengthening the ability of schools and teachers to prepare
graduates, whether they are moving into the workforce or pursuing
further study. At Cal Poly we believe P-16 councils at all levels can
play an extremely valuable role in ensuring that students receive early
and ongoing preparation in science and mathematics so that they may go
on to pursue careers and/or advanced study in STEM fields. These
councils also provide an important opportunity for business to assume a
position of expanded policy leadership in support of efforts to reform
and strengthen P-16 education.
2. Recruit and Retain High Quality and Effective Math and Science
Teachers: The TAP letter echoes the recent Business-Higher Education
report and other recent reports in calling for policy initiatives to
``attract and retain math and science teachers and strengthen teacher
preparation programs.'' Financial assistance for aspiring teachers,
better alignment of teacher preparation with state content standards,
incentives for math and science teachers to serve at ``high-need
schools'' are among the promising measures recommended. In addition to
these recommendations, I might also suggest consideration of support
and incentives for expansion of Teacher Scientist programs in industry
and national labs, providing laboratory research experiences starting
in the pre-service phase of student preparation and extending into at
least the early years of their teaching careers.
3. Motivate Students to Study and Enter STEM Careers: The TAP
letter advocates ``incentives for colleges and universities to produce
more STEM graduates,'' including expanded support for undergraduate and
graduate scholarships for STEM students and support for development of
professional science master's degree programs. Along with these
promising recommendations I would suggest considering additional steps
to support and encourage the work of established and effective STEM
outreach, recruitment and retention programs, including but not limited
to programs like MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement)
and organizations like the National Action Council for Minorities in
Engineering (NACME), AISES (the American Indian Science and Engineering
Society), SHPE (the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), NSBE
(the National Society of Black Engineers), and SWE (the Society of
Women Engineers). Among the outreach initiatives that have shown
particular merit and promise over the years, one might include summer
campus for elementary and middle school girls, engineering summer camps
and robotics competitions.
References Cited:
Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF)
2005 ``A Commitment to America's Future: Responding to the Crisis in
Mathematics and Science Education.''
2007 ``An American Imperative: Transforming the Recruitment, Retention,
and Renewal Of Our Nation's Mathematics and Science Teaching
Workforce.''
California Council on Science and Technology (CCST)
1999 ``California Report on the Environment for Science and
Technology.''
2002 ``Critical Path Analysis of California's S&T Education System.''
2007 ``Critical Path Analysis of California's Science and Mathematics
Teacher Preparation System.''
Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics
Education (http://cesame.calpoly.edu) Kelly,
Patrick J.
2005 ``As America Becomes More Diverse: The Impact of State Higher
Education Inequality.'' National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems (NCHEMS).
National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of
Engineering, Institute of Medicine
2007. ``Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing
America for a Brighter Economic Future. Committee on Prospering
in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for
American Science and Technology.''
National Science Board (NSB)
2006. Science and Engineering Indicators 2006. Washington, DC.
Public Policy Institute of California
2005 ``Getting to 2025: Can California Meet the Challenge.'' Research
Brief, Issue #100, June 2005.
Tapping America's Potential (TAP)
June 8, 2007 letter to Senators Kennedy and Enzi and Representatives
Miller, McKeon, Hinojosa and Keller regarding reauthorization
of the Higher Education Act (HEA) (http://www.tap2015.org/news/
HEA--letter.pdf). Weisbaum, Kathryn Sloane and Danny Huang
2000 ``IISME Teacher Retention and Program Impact 1985-2000.'' Industry
Initiatives for Science and Mathematics Education (IISME).
______
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you very much.
Dr. Tarantino.
STATEMENT OF DR. FRED TARANTINO, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITIES SPACE
RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
Dr. Tarantino. Chairman Hinojosa, thank you for this
opportunity to appear before this committee today.
It is my pleasure to testify on a topic that is important
to all of us, American competitiveness in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics disciplines.
My remarks draw from my experience as the president and CEO
of the University Space Research Association, USRA, a nonprofit
association of 101 major space science and technology research
universities.
As a long-term federal partner, USRA provides a mechanism
through which universities can cooperate effectively with one
another, with the Government and with other organizations, to
further knowledge in space science and technology and to
promote education in these areas.
As you know, American competitiveness in math and science
is declining. This decline is occurring just as space is
generating new opportunities. Space isn't just creating jobs.
It's creating entirely new markets and prospects for economic
growth that have not previously existed.
It is affecting every aspect of how we live, enabling
communications, telemedicine, point to point GPS navigation,
weather and climate modeling, and is even starting to form an
embryonic tourism business in Earth orbit.
Another very important benefit of space research is the
skills it develops in people. Succeeding in the ever-
heightening global competitive environment requires
technological innovation to drive competitiveness and growth.
Many things can cause innovation to occur. However, in
space, scientists and engineers are compelled to innovate
daily. Space research, including human and robotic exploration
of space, cannot be accomplished without know-how beyond what
we have today. It is bold, exciting science and engineering. It
inspires people to do their best, to innovate and discover on a
scale that is unmatched anywhere else.
That innovation translates into improved competitiveness,
broadly, across all economic sectors, not only in space, but in
areas as diverse as commercial electronics, medical treatment
and disaster preparedness.
USRA's member institutions have spent considerable time
studying this, and, in turn, USRA strongly supports funding for
the Congressional innovation agenda in the president's American
competitiveness Initiative.
These should help address key needs to replace an aging
space workforce. Today, our institutions of higher education
are producing insufficient numbers of graduates to meet the
space workforce needs.
A key reason for this is that within universities, there
are fewer opportunities for students to gain experience they
need. For example, a review of the annual number of flight
opportunities where graduate students can be involved in
designing and experiment, building hardware, and analyze net
data that returns after it is launched into space, shows a
steady decline, over time.
In fact, over the last 40 years, U.S. suborbital launches
have decreased 80 percent, from 270 per year to just 50 planned
launches this year, in 2007. This has resulted in a severe drop
in the training opportunities our universities provide
students, in turn, limit the ability to recruit students into
space studies.
Without such research, it is not possible to train the
highly-specialized workforce that would keep America
competitive in space and receive the associated benefits that
provides.
This issue is very important to USRA's members. Last year,
we canvassed our universities on their most pressing concerns.
The response was surprising for its uniformity and unanimity.
Across the country, faculty representatives cited the shortfall
in student space-flight opportunities as the single most
important need.
At our annual meeting this year, members voted unanimously
on a resolution urging action, and for this reason USRA is
asking Congress to double spending on research and training
opportunities for students in these areas.
We also have considerable success in motivating students by
introducing them to the space research environment.
For example, USRA is the NASA contractor for the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.
Managed here, in California, at the Dryden and Ames
Research Centers, SOFIA is a world-class astronomical
observation in a Boeing 747 aircraft. It is designed to make
observations while flying at 40- to 45,000 feet, and will begin
collecting scientific data in 2009.
SOFIA also provides a unique educational resource that will
unite teachers and practicing scientists in meaningful long-
term relationships. The aircraft has a special educator seating
section, that will enable thousands of teachers to fly aboard
the observatory during its lifetime and directly contribute the
recommendations of the Rising Above The Gathering Storm report
to train 10,000 teachers, 10 million minds.
It is the only major astronomical observatory designed from
the start to foster partnerships between educators and
scientists in the operating research environment.
In closing, I would like to commend the subcommittee for
its commitment to our universities and for support of higher
education funding.
Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today.
I look forward to working with you and I am happy to answer any
questions.
[The statement of Dr. Tarantino follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. Frederick A. Tarantino, President and CEO,
Universities Space Research Association
Chairman Hinojosa, Ranking Member Keller and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before the
Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness
of the House Education and Labor Committee. It is my pleasure to
testify today on a topic that is so important to all of us--American
competitiveness in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics
disciplines.
My remarks draw from my experience as the President and CEO of the
Universities Space Research Association (USRA), a non-profit
association of 101 major space science and technology research
universities.\1\ As a long-term partner with the federal government on
a variety of initiatives that extend the boundaries of our scientific
expertise, USRA provides a mechanism through which universities can
cooperate effectively with one another, with the government, and with
other organizations to further space science and technology, and to
promote education in these areas.
To give you a context for my passion for this subject, I would like
to share with you a bit about my background. While with the U.S. Army,
I served in a variety of space power research and program management
assignments. I later served as Defense Liaison in the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy, and as Executive Assistant to
the National Security Council Senior Director for Science and
Technology. In the private sector, I was the President and General
Manager of Bechtel Nevada Corporation, responsible for management and
operations of the Nevada Test Site, and as the Principal Associate
Director at Los Alamos National Laboratory with responsibility for
managing the laboratory's science-based weapons stewardship program.
Through my experiences in the government, private sector and a non-
profit university research association, I have gained an appreciation
for the importance of education and research in the science and
technology fields.
Today, I would like to discuss three topics that are essential to
our national education and workforce development initiatives. First,
the critical workforce need of the 21st century in space sciences and
technology. Second, the importance of strengthening our nation's
education and public outreach programs, and finally, the need for
federal reinvestments in university research programs.
As is well known, the status of American competitiveness in the
important areas of math and science is declining. In 2005, the National
Academies of Sciences report titled ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm:
Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future''
recommended: (1) improving K-12 math and science education, (2)
sustaining and strengthening basic research, (3) enhancing higher
education in science and engineering, and (4) creating economic
incentives for innovation.\2\
USRA's member institutions have spent considerable time reviewing
these findings and, in turn, USRA has developed four recommendations
for improving American competitiveness in the science and engineering
fields. First, we must increase funding for Education and Public
Outreach programs at the university level. Second, Congress must
appropriate sufficient funding for the various elements of the
Congressional Innovation Agenda and the President's American
Competitive Initiative. Third, Congress must include adequate funding
for NASA in its Innovation Agenda and American Competitiveness
Initiative plans. Finally, Congress must double in five years federal
spending on research and training opportunities for undergraduate and
graduate students in the mathematics, the physical sciences and
engineering disciplines.
Workforce Needs of the 21st Century
Today, the technical workforce in the aerospace and space science
industry is facing two key issues: (1) the need to replace an aging
workforce, and (2) the need to provide highly technical training at the
university level to develop the future leaders of U.S. space research.
Statistics highlighting the aging American aerospace workforce are well
documented: \3\
The U.S. aerospace industry employed an average of about
630,000 workers in 2006, and 75,000 of these workers are in space-
related jobs (31,400 military and 43,600 civilian).
27% of the aerospace engineering workforce will be
eligible for retirement by 2008.
Similarly, institutions of higher education are not producing a
sufficient number of students to fill the workforce needs of the
aerospace industry.
Of the 70,000 engineers graduating annually, only about
40,000 are qualified to work for the U.S. aerospace industry.
These problems are occurring for two key reasons: (1) competition
for America's best minds has shifted much of the resources and talent
towards scientific pursuits in other areas such as computer programming
and related next-generation high-tech specialties, and (2) there are
fewer opportunities than ever for the next generation of students to
gain the training and experience they need to succeed in tomorrow's
aerospace specialties. A review of the annual number of flight
opportunities where graduate students can be involved in building
hardware and analyzing the space data returned from it shows a steady
decline over the last two decades. In fact, over the last 40 years,
U.S. suborbital experimental launches have decreased 80%--from 270 per
year to just 50 planned launches in 2007. Decreases in suborbital
launches have resulted in a corresponding drop in the hands-on training
opportunities our universities provide to undergraduate, masters and
doctoral students in hard sciences, and have limited our universities'
ability to recruit high quality students into space studies. Without
these hands-on research opportunities at the university level, it is
not possible to train a highly specialized technical workforce that
will keep America competitive in the future global economy.
This issue is of critical important to USRA's member universities.
Last year, we canvassed our members on their most pressing interests
and concerns that needed to be addressed at the national level. The
response was surprising for its uniformity and unanimity. Across the
country, faculty representatives from our member universities cited the
shortfall of student space-flight opportunities providing graduate
student involvement as the single most important need.
In response, USRA began working to address this issue. At USRA's
annual meeting in March of 2007, our 101 member university body
unanimously passed a resolution (attached to this report) urging
federal support for increased student opportunities to get hands-on
experience in space tests. Given the graduate program structure, these
opportunities are most often found on sounding rocket, balloon, and
small spacecraft flights.
To help maintain American competitiveness in critical areas to
national economics and security, USRA is asking Congress to double in
five years federal spending on research and training opportunities for
graduate students in mathematics, sciences and engineering disciplines.
Strengthening Education and Public Outreach Programs
Ever since the 1983 Department of Education (DOEd) report, A Nation
at Risk, pointed out significant shortcomings within the American
public school systems, the national education reform effort has been
building. As part of its mission, the National Science Foundation (NSF)
has compiled reports on the health of the nation's educational system.
Two interrelated reports, supplying data on U.S. mathematics and
science education, indicate results of national and local level reform
efforts are generally positive, but mixed.\4\ The average amount of
classroom time devoted to science and math for grades one through six
rose substantially since the late 1970s. Schools are imposing stricter
science and mathematics high school graduation requirements, and are
increasing availability of advanced science and mathematics courses
nationwide.\5\ On the other hand, the report documents great
disparities in proficiency gains from state to state scores for white
students remain significantly higher than for black and Hispanic
students; and the U.S. still fares poorly in comparison to other
developed countries. The NSF, as well as the Department of Education,
has been working toward the ``systemic'' reform of grades K-12. This
refers to the need for fundamental changes in science, mathematics, and
technological literacy by stimulating reforms in school policy,
financing and management, as well as reforms in course conduct and
content.
USRA strives to complement the systemic reforms being undertaken in
the U.S. by enabling students and teachers to share in our nation's
space research experiences. We have considerable success in bringing
students into the NASA research environment, and in bringing NASA
research into the classroom, either in the form of properly configured
teaching materials or by coordinating the in-person/hands-on presence
of NASA engineers and researchers.
As an example of our efforts to connect students and teachers with
leading space research initiatives, let me briefly describe one of our
major activities and how USRA relies on its institutes and programs to
take the lead on educational initiatives related to space science
disciplines. USRA is the prime contractor to NASA for the development
and operation of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
(SOFIA). Managed out of California at NASA's Dryden and Ames Research
Centers, SOFIA is a well-known world-class astronomical observatory,
with a 2.5-meter telescope designed to provide infrared and sub-
millimeter scientific observations into the next century.
SOFIA provides a unique educational resource that will unite
teachers and practicing scientists in meaningful, long-term
relationships. As a modified Boeing 747, SOFIA is designed with a
special educator seating section that will enable thousands of teachers
to fly aboard the observatory during its lifetime, and directly
contribute to the recommendation of the Rising Above the Gathering
Storm report to ``train ten thousand teachers, ten million minds.''
SOFIA is the only major ground- or space-based observatory designed
from the start, both physically and administratively, to foster
partnerships between educators and scientists in a research
environment. Over 600 teachers and other education professionals, such
as museum and planetarium workers involved in science education, have
already indicated their interest in the SOFIA educational program.
The Need for Reinvestments in University Research Programs
America's leadership in science and technology markets has helped
secure the standards of living we have enjoyed for decades. Currently,
the U.S. employs close to one-third of the world's researchers in
science and engineering, and accounts for 40% of all R&D spending,
though it possesses only 5% of the world population. Yet at the dawn of
the 21st century, our nation faces an unprecedented level of global
competition in emerging science and technology markets. These technical
and scientific achievements are directly linked to the unparalleled
quality of American universities since World War II. There is
competition from universities in China, India and other countries in
both research and investments in infrastructure. We cannot afford to
lose this edge, and investments in research are an important component
of this race. We commend your support of the Congressional Innovation
Agenda and the President's American Competitiveness Initiative which
increase federal investments in research and development (R&D) at our
universities and serve as the key platforms for maintaining our
nation's leadership in the technology and science areas.
While our universities still lead the rest of the world in both
undergraduate and graduate research and education, they face serious
challenges. One of these challenges is the need to strengthen the
research funding that has been essential in attracting the best and
brightest students to the engineering and scientific fields. Since the
early 1990s, federal and state funding has been flat or declining in
real terms.\6\ This has challenged the universities in continuing to
develop a workforce that will ensure our nation's ability to compete
effectively in an increasingly global and technologically-oriented
economy.
One key recommendation from the 2007 National Research Council
report entitled ``Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the
Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration'' is that
NASA should make workforce-related programs, such as the Graduate
Student Researchers Program and co-op programs, a high priority within
its education budget. NASA should also invest in the future aerospace
workforce by partnering with universities to provide hands-on
experiences for students and opportunities for fundamental scientific
and engineering research specific to NASA's needs. These experiences
should include significant numbers of opportunities to participate in
all aspects of suborbital and Explorer-class flight programs and in
research fellowships and co-op student assignments. USRA urges Congress
to provide increased federal funding for critical hands-on training
opportunities at the university level.
In closing, I would like to commend the Subcommittee for its
commitment to our universities and for support of funding higher
education programs. In addition to other government agencies, NASA
continues to play an important role in educating our nation's technical
workforce. Much of the exciting space research conducted at our member
universities is funded by Research and Education programs from NASA,
and we appreciate your continued support of these programs.
We at USRA believe that strengthening our higher education
institutions is essential to our national security and to maintaining
our competitive edge in the global marketplace.
Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. I look
forward to working with you and I would be happy to answer any
questions.
attachments
USRA White Paper on Educating the Next Generation of Space Scientists
and Engineers
``Our policymakers need to acknowledge that the nation's apathy
toward developing a scientifically and technologically trained
workforce is the equivalent of intellectual and industrial disarmament
and is a direct threat to our nation's capability to continue as a
world leader.'' (The Report of the Commission on the Future of the U.S.
Aerospace Industry, November 2002)
``At present, there are insufficient methods for students to
acquire hands-on experience in the scientific and technical disciplines
necessary for space commerce and exploration.'' (Commission on
Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy (the Aldridge
Report), June 2004)
There is a significant deficit of scientists and engineers in the
United States with meaningful hands-on experience with space
instrumentation and space systems, which is jeopardizing the ability of
the nation to maintain a vigorous presence in space into the future,
regardless of whether we are in space for reasons of commerce,
exploration, national defense, or scientific research. This deficit
leads not only to a loss of capability, but also to escalating costs of
many of the space systems vital to the nation's security and industrial
competitiveness.
Space scientists and engineers are trained at universities,
particularly in the science and engineering graduate programs of those
research universities active in space research. To attract good
students into these fields requires sufficient funding for graduate
stipends from either research projects or graduate fellowships, and
projects or research opportunities that excite students so that they
choose space research over other possible areas. These projects or
research opportunities must also provide the students with the range of
experiences they need to become fully trained scientists and engineers.
The scientists and engineers who learned their trades during the
first decades of the space age have reached or are nearing retirement.
These were exciting years for a young person to enter space research,
and space attracted many of the best young scientists and engineers.
These years were marked by frequent launches of smaller missions many
of which were led by university-based teams that included graduate
students. These students got plenty of hands-on experience, and learned
first hand the difficulties of designing and constructing an experiment
or engineering system that would operate reliably in space. Many
students also learned from designing and building experiments for
smaller, suborbital flights on rockets or balloons, or by observing
with an airborne telescope.
The chart shows that the number of these opportunities peaked in
1968, at the height of the Apollo program. Since then the number of
student opportunities provided by spacecraft missions, rocket and
balloon fights and airborne observatory sorties has diminished from
over 250 per year to consistently less than 50 per year. Most graduate
students now never have an opportunity to do hands-on science. Instead
the vast majority of science PhD students analyze data obtained from
instruments they have never seen and thus have only a vague idea of how
they work or how they might malfunction. They certainly don't learn the
important skills needed to conceive of, and to help design and
construct a space experiment.
The chart hides another phenomenon. As space missions have,
necessarily, become more complex, they also take longer to design and
construct. The increasing complexity means that fewer universities have
the resources and capabilities of managing the complexity, so
increasingly missions are being run by non-academic laboratories and
research centers. The mission time scale is now significantly longer
than a typical graduate student remains in school. Both of these
effects significantly decrease the likelihood of graduate student
involvement, exacerbating the problem.
This is a national problem. It affects not only space science, but
also human space exploration, global climate prediction, commercial
ventures in space, and national security uses of space. All these
enterprises require space engineers able to design and construct
reliable space hardware, and space scientists who understand the space
environment and the rigors of conducting any activity, robotic or
human, in space.
What needs to be done?
These critical needs are addressed by a proposed hands-on, rapid
cycle flight program of moderate risk that focuses on inexpensive
system development for suborbital and orbital applications. This
program should provide multiple flight opportunities involving graduate
and undergraduate students from science and engineering disciplines,
and should provide the excitement of discovery to attract those who
will become leaders of the future U.S. space enterprise. The program
should permit a four-fold increase of hands-on experiences over present
levels to return to the peak levels of the 60's and 70's. The proposed
level of activity should allow an average of two launches per month or
more.
endnotes
\1\ USRA was incorporated in 1969 in the District of Columbia as a
private, nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS). Institutional membership in the Association
has grown from 48 colleges and universities when it was founded, to the
current 101 institutions. All member institutions have graduate
programs in space sciences or technology.
\2\ Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st
Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology, Norman R.
Augustine (Chair).
\3\ John W. Douglass, AIA Update June/July 2007, Volume 11, No. 8.
\4\ Division of Research, Evaluation, and Communication,
Directorate For Education and Human Resources, Indicators of Science
and Mathematics Education 1995 & The Learning Curve: What We are
Discovering about US Science and Mathematics Education. Edited by Larry
E. Suter. Arlington, VA & Washington, DC: National Science Foundation,
1996 (NSF 96-52 & 53).
\5\ The Learning Curve: What We are Discovering about US Science
and Mathematics Education. Edited by Larry E. Suter. Arlington, VA &
Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1996 (NSF 96-53), p 2.
\6\ Harnessing Science and Technology for America's Economic
Future: National and Regional Priorities, the National Academies,
(1999).
______
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you very much.
Dr. Drummond.
STATEMENT OF DR. MARSHALL DRUMMOND, CHANCELLOR, LOS ANGELES
COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Dr. Drummond. Chairman Hinojosa, honorable members, it's a
genuine pleasure to be here today.
I want to thank you specifically, and the distinguished
members of the subcommittee, for the leadership each of you
have provided the education community. It demonstrates your
understanding of the complex issues confronting America and its
role in a free world.
I especially want to thank you for the recent work you've
completed to increase Pell grants and to remove tuition
sensitivity, which is very, very important to Californians.
I am the chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College
District. The district has nine colleges throughout the Los
Angeles area, and is the largest community college district in
the Nation, educating approximately 190,000 students a year.
Most of our students come from disadvantaged backgrounds
and what most consider ``underserved'' populations. Eighty
percent of our students are minorities and 40 percent live
below the poverty line. All of our nine colleges are HSIs. A
third of our students attend college to obtain vocational
technical training and jobs, and another third transfer on to
colleges and universities to obtain bachelors degrees, and on.
California community colleges are a major pipeline to
California's four year colleges. Two-thirds of the California
State University graduates and one-third of the University of
California graduates start at a community college.
I'm here today representing the Los Angeles Community
College District. However, I have a statewide perspective,
having just served as chancellor of the 109 campus California
community college system.
There are many outstanding programs and innovative efforts
underway throughout the state to improve and expand the quality
of science, technology, engineering and math education.
Sadly, insufficient numbers of public school teachers are
credentialed in these disciplines and the pipeline to replace a
cadre of seasoned and about-to-retire teachers isn't sufficient
to meet the challenges of a prepared workforce.
California community colleges represent one of the largest
potential recruitment tools for future math and science
teachers. Nearly 50 percent of all the CSU teacher candidates
in math and science began at California's community colleges.
California community colleges are attempting to address the
STEM teaching crisis by partnering with the UC's and Cal
State's with a variety of innovative programs to develop
highly-qualified teachers. A few notable programs include the
Teacher Preparation Pipeline Project, the SCU Mathematics and
Science teacher Initiative, and MESA, Mathematics Engineering
Science Achievement.
Another issue we face in the Los Angeles community colleges
is that approximately 85 percent of incoming students require
some form of remediation in math. This is not an indictment on
public schools. However, it is a picture of the challenge
ahead. The sooner innovation strategies can be implemented in
the public schools and in partnership with the community
colleges, the more likely the pipeline of qualified candidates
for college-level math, science, and the related disciplines
will increase.
Our campuses reach out to the K-12 schools. Specifically, I
will speak to the Jaime Escalante program at East Los Angeles
College, that uses highly-effective, innovative teaching styles
to motivate inner-city youth and develop their math aptitudes.
Many of you may be familiar with the portrayal of Mr.
Escalante in the motion picture Stand and Deliver. Escalante
students' chances for success in college are greatly improved
by the program.
Another noteworthy STEM project recently launched, is the
Los Angeles Infrastructure Academy at Los Angeles Trade
Technical College, just announced yesterday.
It was created in partnership with the Los Angeles
community colleges, the mayor's office, the Department of Water
and Power, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Cal
State Los Angeles and College of Engineering.
This innovative program for job preparation will train high
school students in skills and trades and provide multiple
pathways to further education and jobs.
This program hopefully addresses the 50 percent high school
dropout rate, grades 9 through 12 in Los Angeles, by relating
education to specific job skills, and also will help stem the
need for trained labor for our public utilities.
We have over 700 openings, at the present time, in our
Department of Water and Power.
As I mentioned, we spend considerable resources to
remediate students in math, yet we've had great success. I am
pleased to inform you that the math at Los Angeles City College
ranked number one in national competition this year, and East
Los Angeles College was right behind.
It's also interesting that a team of students from the
Santee Learning Complex, one of the lowest-performing schools
in Los Angeles, combined with students from Los Angeles Trade
Tech, working with faculty from Trade Tech and Cal State LA,
came in second in the world in Las Vegas, last year, in the
fighting robot competition.
This clearly demonstrates to me that we have no shortage of
talent in our inner city youth. We have no shortage of
willingness and good ideas. What we do have is a real shortage
of qualified teachers and we have a shortage of resources.
The STEM program was designed to create partnerships of
excellence, and I urge you not only to fund the program, but to
include in legislative language a provision that community
colleges should be included in program partnerships for funding
consideration as we play an integral training role in these
fields.
On behalf of Los Angeles Community College District, I look
forward to working with you and your colleagues to shape
meaningful legislation, legislation no less fundamental to
America's future than the national defense program which
prepared our last generation of engineers, who, as we know,
created a world-class space program and benefited a variety of
U.S. industries.
I thank you very much for this opportunity and I welcome
any questions you may have.
[The statement of Dr. Drummond follows:]
Prepared Statement of Marshall E. Drummond, Chancellor, Los Angeles
Community College District
Mr. Chairman, it's a genuine pleasure to be here today. I want to
thank you and the distinguished members of the subcommittee for the
leadership each of you has provided the education community. It
demonstrates your understanding of the complex issues confronting
America and its role in a free world. I especially want to thank you
for the recent work you've completed to increase PELL grants which is
particularly important to Californians and for correcting the student
loan program making it less expensive for students to borrow (though we
all wish students would not be forced to borrow funds to further their
educations).
I am the Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District.
The district has nine colleges throughout the Los Angeles area and is
largest community college district in the nation. We educate over
187,000 students each year. Many of our students come from
disadvantaged backgrounds and are what most consider the
``underserved'' population. Eighty percent of our students are
minorities and forty percent live below the poverty line. A third of
our students attend our colleges to obtain job skills through career
technical/vocational training and another third transfer on to colleges
and universities to obtain a bachelors degree.
California Community Colleges are a major pipeline to California's
public four-year colleges. Two-thirds of California State University
graduates and one-third of University of California graduates start at
a community college.
I am here today representing the Los Angeles Community College
District; however, I have a statewide perspective having just served as
Chancellor for the 109-campus California Community College System.
There are many outstanding programs and innovative efforts underway
throughout the state to improve and expand the quality of science,
technology, engineering and math education as part of work force
development but there is much more to do.
I applaud the congressional efforts to increase support for these
disciplines in legislation you refer to as STEM. Each of us is aware
that the economy is changing and for California to retain its economic
competitiveness, job creation requires a work force equipped with
skills in science, the technologies, engineering concepts, and a solid
foundation in mathematics.
Sadly, insufficient numbers of public school teachers are
credentialed in these disciplines and the pipeline to replace a cadre
of seasoned and about to retire teachers is insufficient to meet the
challenges of a prepared work force. California Community Colleges
represent one of the largest potential recruitment pools for future
math and science teachers in the state. Nearly half of all CSU teacher
candidates in math and science begin at community colleges.
California Community Colleges are attempting to address the STEM
teaching crisis by partnering with the UC's and Cal State's with a
variety of innovative programs to develop highly qualified teachers. A
few notable programs include the Teacher Preparation Pipeline Project,
the CSU Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI), and MESA--
Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement.
Another issue we face in the Los Angeles Community College District
is that approximately eighty-five percent of incoming students require
some form of remediation in math. This is not an indictment on public
schools. Rather, it's a picture of the challenge ahead. The sooner
intervention strategies can be implemented, in the public schools and
in partnership with the community colleges, the more likely the
pipeline of qualified candidates for college-level math, science, and
the related disciplines will increase.
Our campuses reach out to K-12 schools. Specifically, I shall speak
to the Jaime Escalante program at East Los Angeles College that uses
highly effective, innovative teaching styles to motivate inner-city
youth and develop their math aptitudes. Most of you may be familiar
with the portrayal of Mr. Escalante in the motion picture titled Stand
and Deliver. Escalante students' chances for success in college are
greatly improved by completing the program as they are better prepared
for the challenges ahead of them in math, science, engineering, and
technology (STEM).
Another noteworthy STEM related program recently launched is the
Los Angeles Infrastructure Academy at Trade Technical College. It was
created in partnership with LACCD, the Los Angeles Mayor's Office, the
Department of Water and Power (DWP), Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD) and Cal State LA College of Engineering. This
innovative job preparation program is designed to train high school
juniors and seniors in the skilled trades and engineering. Not only
does this program address the 50% high school drop out rate because
students see how education relates to good paying jobs but also
attempts to diminish the shortage of trained labor for public
utilities.
As I mentioned, we spend considerable resources to remediate
students in math and have had great successes. I am pleased to inform
you that the Math club at Los Angeles City College ranked number one in
national competition this year with East LA College right behind. There
are countless other examples of successes but time limits what I can
showcase today.
We ask that you support and fund programs aimed to strengthen the
likelihood of student success in education. This can come in the form
of Title V grants aimed at streamlined basic skills, Extended
Opportunity Program and Services (EOP&S) type programs specifically
aimed at STEM potentials, and scholarship or loan forgiveness programs
for STEM participants.
The STEM program is designed to create partnerships of excellence
and I urge you to not only fund the program, but include in legislative
language, a provision that community colleges must be included in
program partnerships for funding consideration as we play an integral
training role in these fields.
Nowhere are the needs more pressing than in the broad array of
health care services, the entertainment industry where technology is
advancing at breakneck speed, and in the need to replace retiring
classroom teachers. Academies which focus on science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics can provide the model from which work
force needs can begin to be addressed. We cannot deny the nation's
security and international competitiveness are predicated on the
quality and sufficient numbers of graduates in these disciplines.
Again, I encourage you to further support STEM educational projects and
other related funding opportunities.
As you move forward with this legislation, I am confident that you
are mindful of California's and Los Angeles' changing economy and work
force needs. Whether it's advanced manufacturing, the digital world,
the music and movie industry, teaching, financial services, energy and
its related challenges to become independent, hospitality, or bio-
technology, each field requires individuals who can enter the work
force prepared to move the industry forward internationally.
On behalf of the Los Angeles City College District, I look forward
to working with you and your colleagues to shape meaningful
legislation: legislation no less fundamental to America's future than
the National Defense program which prepared our last generation of
engineers who, as we know, created a world class space program and
benefited a variety of U.S. industries.
Thanks you for this opportunity. I welcome any questions you might
have.
______
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you, Dr. Drummond.
Todd.
STATEMENT OF DR. TODD ULLAH, DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE,
LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Dr. Ullah. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the
honorable committee, and panelists, for the insights they have
shown so far in terms of highlighting the need for STEM
education here in California and in the Nation.
I welcome the opportunity to be here today on behalf of the
superintendent of schools, David L. Brewer III, and our chief
instructional officer of Secondary Education, Mr. Robert
Collins, and the over 750,000 kids engaged in science and
mathematics education each day in our district.
This committee's work is of vital interest to the children
and families of urban and rural schools throughout the Nation.
It is our belief that STEM education is critical to the
national security and economic prosperity of the Nation, here,
in the 21st Century.
Science and technology will be a vital part of every job
and occupation in this century, for jobs that exist and jobs
that are new to us in this century, and in the future.
The children occupying seats in the Nation's largest cities
and schools need access and equality of opportunity regarding
education in general, and STEM education in particular.
Public education must succeed in providing a rigorous,
culturally relevant, comprehensive standards based education
for all students in our schools.
I would also emphasize this point by indicating that we
must close the achievement gap by providing sound instructional
support, and again, culturally relevant strategies to the
Nation's science and mathematics teachers in explicit ways to
help them provide the rigorous and relevant education for
learners we find in our schools today.
Our district is reaching out to make this happen every day
in our schools through five guiding principles. Decision making
based on data, research and analysis, professional development
for all employees; promoting innovation and change within the
district; engaging partners and partnering with the community;
and ensuring physical and emotional safety of students on
campuses.
This supports our theory of action of standards-based
instructional guides, diagnostic periodic assessments given
through the year, and intensive ongoing professional
development for math and science teachers.
In this quest, we focus on building leadership capacity in
science and math, vertically within schools, and horizontally
among schools. We fully believe that developing leadership with
a consistent direction within a constantly changing educational
landscape is critically important.
So we focus our efforts on equity and access, and
instruction in our schools. This we believe will help our
district to go to scale in implementing incremental but
sustained changes in teacher practices.
We believe that in order for the Nation's districts to
improve public instruction and heed the recommendations and
alarms of previous reports by this committee and other eminent
bodies, worldwide, a series of key supports and risks must take
place across the Nation.
I've outlined, in detail, my testimony for these points to
follow, but I want to highlight a few things.
One. Focus on instruction. Our district is doing this with
a vengeance, in terms of key initiatives in mathematics and
science education. We have employed hundreds of coaches and
over 1200 science lead teachers are in our schools, helping to
move the initiative, and bringing science awareness to our
students each and every day.
One thing critical to science instruction, I must say, is
adding science to the adequate yearly progress in NCLB, so that
it is tested, monitored and given the focus and attention it
needs nationally.
Two. Attend to recruitment, retention, and the morale of
new and experienced teachers. This is critical as we begin this
work at finding high quality teachers in the United States.
Third. Implementing elementary and middle bridge programs
in science and mathematics to help students with misconceptions
that they have in science and math, and reaching out to
parents.
Fourth. Continue building bridges with universities,
businesses, the city, community, museum partnerships that
support items one through three.
In this area, we have been particularly happy and pleased
with our work in partnership with CSU and the community
colleges in our area, to bring awareness and collaboration
between our faculty members and our students.
In closing, I would like to say that this committee, and
others like the National Science Board, should seek out,
identify and implement effective policies that lead to
increased student performance in science and mathematics.
Effective policies will articulate best practices and
strategies for students doing science.
Comprehensive plans for recruiting and retaining highly-
qualified teachers of science and mathematics; high quality
professional development; appropriate time and quality
experiences for pre-K through grade 5 science instruction to
meet great standards. Quality science experiences for middle
school and high school students, that include field work,
laboratory investigations, and linking to their cultures.
A blend of science experiences again that target and engage
pre-K through 12th grade students with hands-on activities, lab
investigations, field work, etcetera.
Guidelines to increase the diversity of student population
in advanced science courses. Particularly in high school, we
see a leak in our pipeline to colleges and universities.
We have to provide policies that look at equipment,
materials, supplies, and technology necessary to support a
blend of science experiences for pre-K through grade 12
students.
Appropriate classroom activities and laboratory facilities
needed to maintain high quality instruction. And finally,
adequate funding to support and sustain high quality science.
It has been my pleasure today to report and testify today
to this committee, and I will be happy to take any questions.
[The statement of Dr. Ullah follows:]
Prepared Statement of Todd Ullah, Ed.D., Director of Science, Los
Angeles Unified School District
I welcome the opportunity to be here today on behalf of our
Superintendent of Schools David L. Brewer III and our Chief
Instructional Office for Secondary Education Mr. Robert Collins and the
over 750,000 kids engaged in science and mathematics education each day
in our district. This Committee's work is of vital interest to the
children and families of urban and rural schools throughout the nation.
It is our belief that STEM education is critical to the national
security and economic prosperity of the nation here in the 21st
century. Science and technology will be a vital part of every job and
occupation in this century for jobs that exist and those that will be
new to us in the future. The children occupying seats in the nation
largest cities and schools need access and equality of opportunity
regarding education in general and STEM education in particular. Public
education must succeed in providing a rigorous, culturally relevant,
comprehensive, standards based education for all students in our
schools. I would also emphasize this point by indicating that we must
close the achievement gap by providing sound instructional support and
culturally relevant strategies to the nation's science and mathematic
teachers in explicit ways to help them provide this rigorous and
relevant education for learners we find in our schools today. Our
district is reaching out to make this happen every day in our schools
through our five guiding principles (decision-making based on data,
research and analysis; professional development for all employees;
promoting innovation and change within the District; engaging parents
and partnering with the community; and ensuring the physical and
emotional safety of students on campus) and a theory of action of
standards-based instructional guides, diagnostic periodic assessments,
and intensive ongoing professional development for math and science
teachers. In this quest, we focus on building leadership capacity in
science and math vertically within schools and horizontally among
schools. We fully believe that developing leadership with a consistent
direction within a constantly changing educational landscape is
important. So we focus our efforts on equity and access and instruction
in our schools. This we believe will help our district go to scale in
implementing incremental but sustained changes in teacher practices. We
believe that in order for the California districts to improve public
instruction and heed the recommendations and alarms of previous reports
by this committee and other eminent bodies worldwide a series of key
supports and risks must take place in the nation:
1. Focus on Instruction;
Make science an assessment component of the No Child Left
Behind Adequate Yearly Progress for schools and districts to bulk up
the accountability to measure science progress in our schools
Challenge students with high expectations and give them
the support to reach their potentials.
Teach and support science at the elementary level a key to
literacy and numeracy.
Make abstract concepts in science and instruction concrete
by showing teachers, administrators, and the public what it looks like
in practice.
Provide content and pedagogical professional development
that focuses on inquiry based standards driven instruction that honored
student prior cultural knowledge and patterns of home discourse based
on language and other factors.
Continue to use system wide as well as classroom based
diagnostic periodic assessments and aim intervention at grade/credit
recovery and algebra readiness. Point classroom extensions toward
apprenticeship experience and connect abstract concepts in science to
real world experiences and realia student are familiar with and that
are engaging while strongly tied to schooling.
Take responsibility for the public infrastructure (science
facilities, professional development centers, intervention programs)
that will sustain the kind of support necessary to assure that schools
have access to curriculum and professional development;
Coordinate lesson plans and instructional unit across
schools and grades.
Fund parent participation at all grade levels with
innovative programs.
2. Attend to recruitment, retention, and the moral of new and
experienced teachers;
Develop and support Legislation that consistently and
coherently support science teacher professional development similar to
the State Reading and Mathematics initiatives. As an example, Senate
Bill 960 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) has been proposed to
add science to the existing high-quality professional development
program for reading and math. The bill also requires the State
Superintendent to convene an advisory committee to ensure the quality
and effectiveness of the science professional development training. We
urge the committee to support such legislation.
Development of policies and procedures that support
physical infrastructure that support rigorous, inquiry driven,
standards based instruction. The number one reason science teachers
leave before 5 years is inadequate science laboratories and tools.
Resolve the complex and often challenging credential
requirements as part of the highly qualified teacher component of No
Child Left Behind
Treat teachers as the trained professional educational
leaders they are and seek input and collaboration on designing
curriculum and pay them well. Remove the legacy culture that regards
teaching as low-skill work, of a profession that has failed to develop
a practice and to control entry based on the mastery of that practice.
Focus on building leadership structures and internship
opportunities that build capacity through collaboration and
revitalization.
Create greater awareness of teaching mathematics and
science teaching by honoring teachers publicly.
Support the notion and recognize efforts that engage in
continuous improvement by increasing R & D. there is an R&D component
to sustaining development and support--studies of the effectiveness of
various support models, development of new content and pedagogy, etc.--
requires public investment (Elmore, 2006).
3. Elementary and Middle Bridge programs in science and
mathematics.
Use data to identify student misconceptions in science and
mathematics and build supports around those specific concepts, attend
to them using technology and other engaging strategies to plug gaps in
our pipeline to high school and college.
Study high poverty low performing districts that have
transformed into high poverty high performing districts and analyze the
lessons learned. El Centro School District has made claims and provides
evidence that could be useful in making decisions to support science
instruction.
Public investment in summer bridge and afternoon programs
for 5th and 8th graders that attend to both intervention and enrichment
for students and parents.
Fund parent programs that allow access and engagement with
teachers and district leadership.
Follow-up with high school internships and
apprenticeships, particularly for high poverty, low performing campuses
and communities in California.
4. Build University, Business, City, Community, and Museum
partnerships that support 1-3
Support partnership structures with institutes of higher
education that focus on changing the culture of BOTH institutions so
that STEM faculty see the value and expertise of leading mathematics
and science teachers in our district nationwide. They will begin to
refer more of there student toward careers in education and also gain a
better understanding of what public school students need to know and be
able to do.
Continue to fund science partnership grants and
opportunities available to both higher education and K-12 institutions
to spur innovation.
Foster and support 2-year and 4-year college articulation
that helps structure alliances and collaboration in support of K-12
educational objectives.
Support partnerships between city governments, local
educational agencies, universities, and State and National Parks and
Recreation programs to maximize the use of public lands and funds to
advance scientific inquiry, student civic action, service learning, and
parent involvement.
As indicated in the Science Framework for the 2009 National
Assessment of Educational Progress developed by WestEd and the Council
of Chief State School Officers:
* * * In the rapidly changing world of the 21st Century, science
literacy is an essential goal for all of our nation's youth. Through
science (and mathematics) education, children come to understand the
world in which they live and learn to apply scientific principles in
many facets of their lives. In addition, our country has an obligation
to provide young people how choose to pursue careers in science,
technology, (mathematics, and engineering) with a strong foundation for
their post-secondary study and work experience. Our nation's future
depends on scientifically literate citizens who can participate as
informed members of society and a highly skilled scientific workforce-
both well prepared to address challenging issues at the local,
national, and global level * * *
Thank you this time to today in helping frame your work while
adding our perspective from the Los Angeles Unified School District.
______
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you, Dr. Ullah.
Now Dr. Hackwood.
STATEMENT OF DR. SUSAN HACKWOOD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA
COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Dr. Hackwood. Chairman Hinojosa, and members of the
committee, thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to
talk today about some issues of science and technology, and
particularly science and math teacher preparation. I will be
talking from pictures. I'm an engineer, so I need pictures. You
should have a copy in front of you, what I am talking from, as
well as a written statement.
First of all, it was mentioned, what CCST is. We are the
state equivalent of the National Research Council, or the
national academies. We represent the science and technology
community to the state. We are supported by all the major
academic institutions and the major federal laboratories in the
state, and we work on all aspects of science and technology.
Intellectual property, nanotech, biotech, all the emerging
things that are affecting the state.
And I would say, without exception, ever one of our members
would say that STEM education is the top on their list of
important things to tackle. We also have a group of science and
math teachers, because listening to what teachers say and so is
very important in influencing policy. So we have a group of
practicing science and math teachers that help us in all
aspects of the work that we do.
Over the last year, or so, we have had an opportunity to
take the report, Rising Above The Gathering Storm, which I am
sure you are familiar with. Under the request of Governor
Schwarzenegger, we produced a set of recommendations that are
California-specific, and this was based on input directly from
most of our industry base in the state, and a large number of
CEOs who were involved in doing this.
And we also have a report that we did earlier on in this
year, that is a critical path analysis of California's science
and math teacher preparation system. This was a first real
attempt at putting together the whole system, and the next
picture shows this.
This, I won't go into detail; it is not the LA freeway
system. It is the decision making processes that a student will
go through in deciding to become a practicing teacher in the
classroom. And the major message I want to give to you from
this is it is immensely complex, and knowing what causes people
to go in and out of the system, the flows to and from the
system, is really important in any policy making, and this
report does this for California. It looks at the quantity and
quality of people going through the system. Next one.
Another message I want to give you is the size of the
system. The system is complex. Everything you do within a
system affects something up the pipe or down the pipe. But it
is also a huge system. It is a system of 307,000 teachers,
etcetera, and the number of science and math teachers is about
40,000. So anything that we are talking about has to have
economies of scale, scaleability, and the ability to be able to
survive through different political systems and through time.
Another thing that is really important is the overall
percentage of teachers who are not qualified to teach in their
subject area, who are teaching in the classroom, and that is
exaggerated, the more you go into low-performing schools.
Schools with the lowest APIs have the highest number of
teachers who are not qualified to teach in their area.
The next picture shows the trends in this direction is
going to get worse because of the 2000 math and science
teachers who leave the workforce in California every year. That
is going to get worse. We have a retirement bubble coming up
through the system and our conservative estimates are that over
the next 10 years, we will need 33,200 math and science
teachers.
The efforts that the CSU system and the UC system have made
over the last couple of years are absolutely laudable, and
absolutely necessary. However, we point out that this has to be
sustained, it has to be supported, and it has to continue in
order to be able to meet the needs that we have.
The next pie charts are simply to show the best estimate
that we can do for the number of new hires, the new teachers
going into the classroom. They are more underprepared than the
teachers who are teaching in the classroom. So 54 percent of
new science and teacher hires do not hold a full or preliminary
credential. Next one.
It shows 66 percent of math teachers. So we may be filling
the classrooms but we are filling them with teachers who are
not prepared to be able to teach what they are teaching in. So
next one, please.
So the key findings of our critical path analysis are that
the teachers matter. We have a lack of a coherent system for
measuring what is going on. We will not meet the current
demand. We have attrition and retirement that have
significantly affected the system.
We need to look at alternative teacher preparation systems,
professional development is critically important, and the
preparation, particularly in science education in elementary
school teachers, is where kids get turned on in the classroom,
and that really needs to have attention focused on it.
Last point. Community colleges are an extremely important
player in this because we estimate that probably half of our
science and math teachers come through community colleges.
So thank you very much for your work, Mr. Chairman.
[The statement of Dr. Hackwood follows:]
Prepared Statement of Susan Hackwood, Executive Director, California
Council on Science and Technology
Chairman Hinojosa and members of the Sub-Committee, on behalf of
the California Council on Science and Technology I would like to
express my appreciation for the opportunity to discuss our analysis of
the status of science and mathematics teacher preparation in
California. California's economy depends heavily on its science and
technology sectors, and it has become increasingly apparent just how
much these sectors depend on science and mathematics education. This,
in turn, depends to a great extent upon its science and mathematics
teaching workforce. My comments today will focus on the findings of our
March 2007 report, Critical Path Analysis of California's Science and
Mathematics Teacher Preparation System, which was conducted in
collaboration with the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning.
The report details the scope and scale of the challenges facing
California's science and mathematics teaching workforce. These
challenges are significant, but can, we believe, be successfully
addressed given suitable focus, cooperation, and planning.
Background on CCST
The California Council of Science and Technology (CCST) is a
nonpartisan, impartial, not-for-profit corporation established in 1988
by state legislation. It is designed to offer expert advice to the
state and provide solutions to science and technology-related public
policy issues. CCST is modeled in part on the National Research
Council, and has developed a close working relationship with the
National Academies. More than half of CCST's Members and Fellows are
members of the National Academies, and several are Nobel Laureates.
Since its creation, CCST has worked directly with the Governor's
office, state and federal Legislators, and agencies to recommend
policies that will maintain California's role as a leader in generating
science and technology innovation and maintaining a vigorous economy.
CCST's sustaining institutions are the University of California
system, the California State University system, California Institute of
Technology, Stanford University, University of Southern California, and
the California Community Colleges, as well as its affiliate members,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Sandia/California National Laboratory, Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames
Research Center. CCST also has strong connections to industry through
its membership and through its actions to the executive and legislative
branches of government.
Recent projects have focused on STEM education, intellectual
property, nanotechnology, biotechnology, transportation, energy, and
climate change response.
CCST also includes the California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal
TAC), modeled after the Teacher Advisory Council, established in 2002
by the National Academies. Cal TAC's goals are to disseminate public
policy information from the state level to teachers, hold forums with
members of the business community and provide feedback to and from the
National Academies Teacher Advisory Council. Cal TAC members integrate
their `wisdom of practice' and contribute a valuable perspective to the
California Council on Science and Technology education research and
projects, such as the Critical Path Analysis of Science and Math
Teachers.
Science and mathematics education concerns in the Gathering Storm
In the past several years, K-12 math and science education in the
United States have been identified as an area of serious concern. The
National Academies' report Rising Above the Gathering Storm (October
2005) warned that the nation was in danger of permanently losing its
status as the world's economic and high-tech leader unless significant
steps were taken to improve the science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) education system. The Gathering Storm's
recommendations, presented in a context for California, are:
Increase California's talent pool by vastly improving K-12
science and mathematics education.
Ensure that California is the premier place in the world
to innovate; invest in downstream activities such as manufacturing and
marketing; and create high-paying jobs based on innovation.
Make California the most attractive setting in which to
study and perform research so that we can develop, recruit, and retain
the best and brightest students, scientists, and engineers from within
the United States and throughout the world.
Sustain and strengthen California's commitment to long-
term basic research that has the potential to be transformational to
maintain the flow of ideas that fuel the economy, provide security, and
enhance the quality of life.
CCST, at the Governor's request, convened four task forces chaired
by corporate leaders to respond to these recommendations, and presented
a list of ``actionable'' items with both short-term and long-term
components to the Governor in December 2006. One of the four principal
recommendations of the task forces was to drastically improve the
recruitment, preparation, and retention of science and math teachers in
California.
The Critical Path Analysis
While the task forces identified the challenges, there was a great
deal of information about the status of the current teacher preparation
system that was simply not available. The March 2007 report Critical
Path Analysis of California's Science and Mathematics Teacher
Preparation System provided a more detailed analysis of the situation.
The project was conducted in collaboration with the Center for the
Future of Teaching and Learning, and followed on CCST's previous
reports, the Critical Path Analysis of California's Science and
Technology Education System and the California Report on the
Environment for Science and Technology.
To help frame our discussion of the system, we developed a
schematic flow diagram to map pathways now available into the
professional credentialed teacher workforce (the shaded diamond). It
should be noted that while this figure is constructed roughly
chronologically--that is, a potential teacher would move through the
system from left to right--it is not strictly speaking a linear
process, and many teacher begin teaching before they are fully
prepared. In this diagram, the triangles are input points where
different prospective teacher populations enter the teacher production
system; the rectangles represent requirements that they must complete
before advancing to the next stage; and the diamonds represent
populations of teachers that are actually in the classroom.
The system is the largest state education system in the United
States, with over 6 million students and 307,000 teachers. Of these,
roughly 22,500 teachers are teaching math and 17,500 teachers are
teaching science (there is some overlap between these groups). Overall,
the percentage of `underprepared' teachers in the classroom--those not
holding a credential to teach their subject--constitute 6% of the
teacher workforce. However, for high school science teachers, this
number is 9%, and for high school math teachers, the number is 12%--
twice the overall average. And the numbers are much worse for novice
teachers (those in their first or second years of teaching) and those
teaching in schools with low API scores.
Normally, an estimated 2,000 teachers leave the workforce each year
for a variety of reasons. However, a third of the teaching workforce is
over 50, indicating that a large ``bubble'' of retiring teachers will
significantly increase the demand for new teachers in the coming years.
We estimate that, over the next ten years, California will need to hire
33,200 math and science teachers (20,000 due to normal attrition,
13,200 due to retirement).
The scale of the problem: underprepared new hires
As the next two figures indicate, a substantial proportion of
science and mathematics teachers hired in 2004-05 were either interns
(that is, full-time new teachers who are also earning their preliminary
credentials) or were hired with an emergency permit. (Although the
emergency permit no longer exists, districts retain the ability to fill
classrooms with non-credentialed teachers where adequate supplies of
credentialed teachers are not available.) In this figure, an estimated
54% of science teachers hired did not have a clear or preliminary
credential.
The situation is even more serious for mathematics; here, an
estimated 66% of new math teachers hired did not have a clear or
preliminary credential.
Teachers have an important, proactive role to play in ensuring the
delivery of high-quality science and mathematics instruction in
elementary and secondary schools that serves as the building block for
success in those fields in higher education and in the workplace. It
simply makes sense for the state to develop and support policies that
prioritize high-quality science and mathematics education for all
students, particularly as the state considers strategies to avoid a
predicted decline in educational attainment.
Conclusions
California is facing a critical challenge to produce enough fully
prepared and effective science and mathematics teachers to meet the
demand. Our analysis reveals the following:
In general, California lacks a coherent system to
consistently produce fully prepared teachers, especially science and
math teachers.
The state's current teacher preparation programs do not
meet the current demand for fully prepared science and math teachers.
In the next decade, California will face a shortage of
fully prepared science and math teachers due to attrition and
retirement.
There is a strong trend toward alternative teacher
preparation programs for prospective science and math teachers by some
institutions.
California needs more high quality professional
development for science and math teachers.
California needs to ensure that elementary school teachers
are fully prepared to teach the science and math curriculum.
Recommendations
CCST offered recommendations for educations leaders and
policymakers at every level to help address the challenges identified
in this report. For state government leaders, we recommend that they:
Support efforts to encourage teaching as a second career
Support professional development for science and math
teachers
Establish a coherent system to recruit, prepare, assign
and retain science and math teachers
Streamline pathway for students interested in teaching
science and math between community colleges, CSU, and UC
Examine distribution of fully prepared science and math
teachers
For institutions of higher education, CCST recommends that they:
Examine teacher preparation programs to see how they can
be expanded, and
Ensure that all elementary school teachers are prepared to
teach science and math.
We recommend that school districts:
Provide adequate training for all mentors,
Design and implement coordinated, coherent professional
development programs throughout school districts, and
Develop incentive pay systems to attract teachers to high-
need schools.
Industry, federal laboratories, and informal science learning
centers should expand support for professional development of science
and mathematics teachers.
The potential of the community college system
Community colleges are a particularly important recruitment
location for future science and mathematics teachers. A large number of
students in teacher-preparation programs--approximately 38%--begin
their undergraduate work in a community college. And we know that
nearly 50% of STEM graduates from UC and CSU begin their postsecondary
studies in community colleges. Both CSU and UC have made strides
recently in smoothing articulation between their respective systems and
the community colleges, but a great deal of unrealized potential
remains.
Some studies suggest that community colleges may benefit from
offering fewer, rather than more, options to their students. The
proliferation of programs and pathways may lead to `information
overload', rather than an amelioration of the situation. A recent
article in Issues in Science and Technology observed that ``Community
colleges have shockingly low degree-completion rates. In fact, many
students leave with no new qualifications: no degrees and often no
credits. For students who get no degree, college provides little or no
labor market benefit.'' A systematic implementation of more stringently
planned and managed pathways to baccalaureate degrees, including those
leading to teaching credentials, could facilitate successful transfer
rates significantly.
Action since the release of the Critical Path Analysis
There have been several actions this year in California meant to
address the challenges identified in the Critical Path Analysis. Two
bills put forth by Senator Jack Scott as the ``Math Science
Initiative'' have been passed to make it easier for qualified
professionals to enter the classroom: SB 112 exempts retired teachers
who return to service from basic skills proficiency requirements and
specifies that retired teachers do not need to participate in induction
programs for new teachers; SB 859 authorizes the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing to issue or renew visiting faculty permits authorizing
instruction in math or science to individuals who satisfy specified
requirements, including having a minimum of 6 years of full-time
teaching experience in an accredited California community college.
Other legislation passed include bills to establish a Teacher Cadet
Program to recruit new teachers and to extend the Subject Matter
Projects for teacher professional development. These are an encouraging
beginning, but more far-reaching sustainable solutions at the right
scale if impact will need to be found and implemented if California is
to meet its projected need for well-prepared science and mathematics
teachers.
______
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you, Dr. Hackwood.
Each and every one of you gave excellent presentations. You
certainly have stimulated my mind in what needs to be done as
we approach the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, and
then, following that, a reauthorization of higher education.
I have been talking to the Chairman of the full committee
which is Education and Labor. That is our good friend and
colleague, George Miller, from California.
And it seems that the timeline that we have agreed to is
that we should be able to finish all of our work, and pass the
No Child Left Behind reauthorization, if not the last week of
September, it would be the early part of October, following
then the higher ed, to be finished by the first week of
November, and I can see that we have lots of work.
You all have some very good recommendations that have been
made, that we should try to incorporate in some form of
amendments, so that we can have even better reauthorizations
than we have, which are the working documents for No Child Left
Behind, known as the Miller and McKeon working document, that I
hope you all have received. It is on the Internet.
The one on higher ed should probably be available by the
end of September.
Also, I want to ask unanimous consent that my statement, my
opening statement be made part of the record. It is about seven
minutes long, and I didn't want to take up those seven minutes
because I wanted to give you the opportunity to speak, and
those of us here, Members of Congress, to ask questions.
If there is no objection, then that will be done. My
opening statement will be a part of the record.
Before I start with questions, and I am going to take five
minutes, I wanted to say that I have participated in many field
hearings as a member of the minority, and I have traveled, not
only here in our country, but abroad. Recently, two years ago,
I was invited by then-Chairman of Higher Education Committee
McKeon to go to China, and to visit with seven universities
that are producing the largest percentage of their engineers,
scientists, mathematicians, and researchers.
And I want to share with you that what we have here in
these presentations is very much like what is being done in
China now. It is the implementation, and if the Federal
Government could increase its investment in this area, I think
that we could probably move a lost faster. It is unfortunate
that we are still at war with Iraq, where we are spending $10
billion a month, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel
as to when we will be able to redeploy our troops, and
hopefully change our mission in Iraq.
But it is certainly one of the most important issues that
we are debating in Congress and I am sure that you all are
keeping up with the news, so that you would know what is
happening on that issue.
But getting back to our hearing, it is important that
states and Federal Governments increase their investment in
education, and the State of Texas is a little smaller than
California, but I would say that we are as interested in making
improvements in math and science, and all of these fields that
we are talking about.
And in listening to our last presenter, you reminded me of
one of my five children. I have four daughters and one son.
Three have graduated from the University of Texas, and the
other two are young, 11 and 13. The youngest one, Karin, called
last night, and let me know that she had become one of the
three finalists of 22 students running for student council
president. So there is supposed to be some kind of a run-off
today.
But it reminded me of Karin, because I took her walking
recently, and asked her what she was thinking about her career,
college, what she wanted to do, and she says, Dad, I think I
want to be a teacher. I said that sounds very good. Which kind
of a teacher would you like to be? She said I don't want to be
just a regular teacher. I want to be a science teacher like my
teacher who has a PhD in science, and has stimulated her mind
like I have never seen before.
She said, But I don't want to be just a regular science
teacher. I want to have a PhD and I want to teach in college.
And it is amazing what a teacher at the right time can do in
stimulating children's minds.
And one of you said that we just needed to pay more
attention to investing more in trained, certified teachers.
Well, I am pleased to tell you that there is a bill on the
president's desk, and this bill, which is entitled College Cost
Reduction Act, has $20 billion, and the money is not taxes, it
comes from the college student loan providers over the next
five years, by taking out a lot of subsidies that they were
getting, and in it, we not only address what Dr. Reed
addressed, which was improving Pell grants. It is in there.
Sixty percent of that 20 billion is to increase Pell grants so
that they will exceed $5,000.
But there is also money to invest in training teachers, and
that is something that indicates to me, that Members of
Congress are paying attention to presenters like you, who are
telling us to increase that funding, and that there will be
opportunities to attract well-trained teachers to school
districts that have a high number of families with low income,
and that really need to have a lot more teachers, as prepared
as you told us, Dr. Hackwood.
So I am pleased that we are going to eventually do what we
should have done back in the 108th Congress, get this No Child
Left Behind and higher education reauthorization done, and that
you will be pleased that, definitely, there are great
improvements being made, as I have seen in these last hearings.
We are going to start with questions, and I am going to ask
Dr. Reed to tell me how much do you think the state and Federal
Government should increase their funding for reading, for
getting our children interested and excited about reading? What
would it take, in investment, by the State of California and
the State of Texas, and other states, as well as the Federal
Government?
Because I am excited as I can be in this program that you
were telling me about before we started the program, the PIQE
program that you discussed with me. And what is your answer to
my question?
Dr. Reed. Mr. Chairman, that is a hard question about how
much. Maybe one month of resources that are being spent in Iraq
would be a good start. Mr. Chairman, I want to, you know,
commend you and your colleagues again. Not only did you
increase Pell, but as you just referred, you have put $4,000 of
scholarship money per student, that wants to teach in the inner
city, and that part, I commend you, and that is going to go a
long way, because the numbers that I talked about of increasing
math teachers, physics, and chemistry, is because California is
investing in scholarships for people that want to teach, teach
especially in the hard-to-work areas.
Now back up to the reading question. That is the key to
everything, and if we can get children to learn to read by the
end of the third grade, so many of our problems are going to go
away. And when I say that, you can't do math very well if you
can't read. One of the things that we are learning, in the 11th
grade test that I shared with you, it is called the Early
Assessment Program, EAP, that we administer, the California
State Universities, to all 11th graders that will take it, our
biggest challenge in California is reading.
Approximately 80 percent of the students who take the 11th
grade reading test do not achieve reading at a level that they
will be successful in a university. And when I say ``reading,''
I am going to say, very specifically, is reading comprehension.
Students can read but they can't comprehend, so that they can
take a paragraph or two, and then write something down,
analytically, that relates to that paragraph.
So, you know, putting our emphasis in No Child Left Behind,
on the reading program as the priority, is a key to the math,
and it is a key to learning, it is a key to liking to learn and
being more comfortable.
Chairman Hinojosa. Your answer is excellent, because I want
it to be part of the record and reasoning for an amendment that
I would like to introduce before we finish No Child Left
Behind. I have been in Washington 11 years, and I have been
participating in a RIF program, which the acronym stands for
Reading Is Fundamental, and it is a national program that has
worked tremendously in the Northeast, and my two daughters have
participated in it sincerely, and they have answered the
question I asked you.
I said how much do you think we should invest, and how much
importance should we give reading? And both Katie and Karin, 11
and 13, said, Daddy, reading is fundamental. You know that. You
have been to this program, and we have been at this weekend in
Washington, where I am one of the sponsors.
But the point is that if we listen to giants in education
like you, and children who are in the 6th grade and 8th grade,
their answer is reading, and I want to see if I can marry the
program of PIQE and RIF for Texas, because we have similar
statistics as California. Only 49 or 50 percent of Hispanic
students and African American students are graduating from high
school.
So we really need to go back, then, for children at the age
of one, and two and three years of age, to begin hearing the
parents, and older brothers and sisters reading to them, and
getting them started, so that they can be excited about books.
So I am going to stop because I have gone over my five
minutes. But I want to give time, then, to our distinguished
member of Congress, Mazie Hirono, to ask her questions.
Ms. Hirono. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
everyone, thank you for being here. Aloha. Some of you have
been to Hawaii, I see. I am halfway home. This trip, I won't be
going home, but needless to say, I am very delighted to be here
and to have the kind of presentations that you all gave. One of
the major issues that we are going to be dealing with when we
return--well, this is just a short weekend--but we have been
working on No Child Left Behind in the Education and Labor
Committee for months now.
Some of you may have been to the hearings in Washington,
D.C. on No Child Left Behind. We have had over a dozen
hearings. We have received submittals from over a 100 groups
and individuals on various aspects of No Child Left Behind.
And I am sure that you have some thoughts about No Child
Left Behind, and what that huge federal legislation, the impact
of that legislation on our schools, and in California.
I would like to start by just asking each of you if you
have had a chance to review the proposed amendments, the
working draft, the Miller-McKeon amendments to No Child Left
Behind, and if you have any comments on those, if you have had
the chance.
Have you had the opportunity to--okay. Do you have some
comments, or thoughts about No Child Left Behind as it stands?
I would like to hear your views.
Dr. Baker Well, thank you, and thank you for your interest
in this effort. I think it is one of the most important things
that we have to do in this Nation.
In No Child Left Behind, one of the important things is a
qualified teacher in every classroom, and when we think of
science and mathematics, it goes beyond simply the ability of
the teacher to understand the material, but how do they
participate, and the ways in which they engage the students.
And I want to go back to a comment I made, and one that I
have expounded on a little bit further in the written
testimony.
Related to this program of teacher as scientist, to be a
catalyst to help engage students in science and mathematics in
the classroom, this answers two serious problems that we have
with young people studying science and mathematics and choosing
careers in teaching.
The first is that they always tell you, well, as a
scientist I can earn more money than going into teaching. But
they also tell you, and equally important is, if I go into
teaching, my view is that I will stagnate and be isolated from
the scientific community.
What this teacher-scientist program does is offer
significant opportunities for teachers to engage in the
scientific endeavors with scientists, practicing scientists,
and the National Labs in California have been extraordinary in
providing opportunities for teachers, in-service teachers, and
we, as I said, started this year with pre-service opportunities
for aspiring teachers.
We also have the private sector joining in in this, and
this has been going on for 20 years, with corporations
providing opportunities for teachers to work in the summer in
their laboratories. And the data for 20 years has shown that
the teachers who participate in these programs will be retained
in the schools at twice the rate as the average teacher. So
they stay there longer, and it addresses the retention issue;
but it also does something else that is very important.
It brings a way of inquiry-based thinking into the
classroom to engage the students. It engages the partners and
creates learning communities in the schools, the partners being
either the National Labs or the private sector, to help with
guest speakers, to help with their laboratories, and what could
be more inspiring to have a young student taught by a teacher
who is also a scientist at JPL, and to go home and say, you
know, Dad, my teacher knows what she is talking about cause she
is a scientist at JPL as well, and I am excited about that, and
I want to be a scientist.
The example. We have teachers who need to be competent,
they need to be effective, but they need also be inspiring if
we are going to solve this problem of getting young kids
interested and excited about science.
And I mentioned this program to Secretary Spellings. She
had a program of bringing into the classroom professionals, who
are either early retiring, or spend part of their time, and
those are effective programs as well. She recognized that this
was the reverse of that in providing opportunities for teachers
to go into laboratories and become part of the scientific
community, and to bring that excitement of inquiry, in real
time, into the classroom.
If, somehow, what you do in No Child Left Behind
incorporates some incentives for that to occur, expand the
programs with the National Labs and provide incentives for
broader participation of our scientific corporations in this
country. Thank you.
Dr. Reed. Mr. Chairman, may I just comment, quickly, about
reading again.
Chairman Hinojosa. Yes, sir.
Dr. Reed. I want to commend you for broadening the focus of
No Child Left Behind because we don't want to leave them behind
at the elementary school. The focus needs to continue about
reading through the middle school and the high schools. This
country does not teach reading in high schools, and i can tell
you that there is a whole generation of students in all these
high schools that can't read.
So if you could focus more of your reading effort on No
Child Left Behind, on high school teaching reading, I think
that would be a great service to this country.
Chairman Hinojosa. The gentlewoman's time has expired, and
before I recognize the next member of Congress, I want to agree
with you on those last points you made, and I could add, that
in the visit to China, we asked questions about their success,
and they answered parental involvement from the time the child
is born, and reading.
And I knew then, after that long trip that we made for
about 10 days, that I would come back, and see how I could
really focus like a laser, to really pay attention to those two
recommendations that the Chinese gave us. But we must go on.
I would like to now recognize California, Congresswoman
Grace Napolitano.
Ms. Napolitano. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and to me, it is
especially gratifying because I am a high school graduate, and
I have no degrees and to sit here, and listen and be part of
this, so exciting a panel of individuals who just ``blow me
away.'' Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
The Chairman just touched upon it. I have been in many of
the countries where education is primary. I know some of the
countries are putting a lot of their time into education and
into high technology, who are taking away the jobs that
Americans should be doing, that we should be putting the
education funding into, to be able to be competitive.
And so that just goes for the record. But we need to hear
from you what must be done at every level, and I am talking
about not only federal, but state, the county. How do we reach
out to the companies like Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and
thank you, we had the Chair of Intelligence here last week, and
he went to Boeing and Northrop Grumman, both.
And we, in speaking to the CEO of Northrop Grumman, in a
specific portion that we went to, he said if the immigration
laws that are in place now were in place when I came in, he is
from Greece, I would not be here.
So how are we then able to help our youngsters, our
students, that have such potential into being able to being the
competitors that help the United States become the world power
again, that it has been? Anybody.
Dr. Drummond. Let me just on that point say something I
think is important, that we square with, is that the real
problem is not the 30 percent of the people that enter the 9th
grade that go on to, eventually, to higher education and
succeed. The problem is the 70 percent that don't.
In LA Unified, I don't have an exact number, I think 30 to
40 percent of the students in LA Unified are undocumented, as I
understand it. In California, we are fortunate to have a law,
that is not universally popular but it is very important, AB
540, which allows undocumented students to graduate from
California high schools to attend either the community college
or the Cal State without paying out-of-state tuition. Terribly
important.
Unfortunately, those same students are not eligible for
financial aid, and there has been a struggle in the state to
get--Senator Cedillo has a bill called the California Dream
Act. But the point being, if we continue to ignore the 70
percent of the population--and all the role models, all the
people getting exposed to great scientists and such is fine--
but the real point is what about those 70 percent that are not
succeeding, that are on the streets?
Within a one mile radius of Los Angeles Southwest College,
there are 29 operating gangs. And the answer to young people
not being in gangs is hope for employment, hope for a future.
And it is very important that we build these pipelines at
the grassroots level. If we don't intercede, if we don't
intervene, that slide that was up there before about California
leading the Nation, which isn't very pretty, in per capita
income lost by 2020, a per capita income loss of perhaps as
much as $2000, that will create a death spiral.
$2000 less per capita income means less income tax, and
that means less resources for the higher education community
and the K-12. So we begin a death spiral. We can't be the
leading state in the Nation. In fact we shouldn't have any
states falling off the cliff like that.
If you look at the states that aren't falling off the
cliff, the question to ask is why aren't they. That is a very
informative chart.
Ms. Napolitano. Well, part of what you are saying, sir, is
very critical for us, because statistics show that minorities,
especially African American and Hispanic, have the largest
dropout rates, and we are not continuing--and part of it is
reading because they are not able to stay in school and be able
to continue.
I have got just a very, very small amount of time to do
this in, unless you are going to have a second round. But, you
know, I need to ensure that not only does education reach out
to other academicians, but also to the business sector, and to
the government sector, because without their help, we are not
going to be able to make much inroad.
We are preparing people to go to work for them, and we must
ask them what do they need to be able to hire the students you
are preparing. And I know in some areas it has been done.
What else? How about the entertainment industry media?
Because they use engineers. So do the health professions.
Almost any professional. I must say, I have got to throw it in,
my granddaughter is at USC in engineering school. So I am very
proud of that fact. And, to me, it was something she has been
dreaming of. How many youngsters that we have not reached out
to have dreams but cannot afford it? My granddaughter happened
to be that grandma and others kicked in to help her get to USC.
She didn't qualify for any support.
But how about those that really are bright students? And I
know, between us here, we can tell you individuals who have
come to us at the local level and said, My daughter has
graduated from whatever high school as the valedictorian, and
can't go on to university.
I bet you one of us could tell you, on one hand, how many
cases we have got of that.
How do we get those students to be able to succeed, and be
able to help others reach that same amount? Anybody.
Dr. Ullah. Let me respond to that for a second. In Los
Angeles, as Dr. Drummond indicated, we have a lot of
challenges. One of the things that we could do in NCLB is to
focus on strategies in the classroom, A, with a highly-
qualified teacher that knows science and mathematics, and all
the supports in the system, to provide and retain those
teachers. But B, to utilize and promote strategies that make
science and mathematics accessible to students in our urban
classrooms.
Strategies such as using graphic organizers connecting to
prior knowledge.
Ms. Napolitano. The Net.
Dr. Ullah. You know, basic features of inquiry that
scientists use, and making sure that those are explicit in the
professional development at all levels that we are doing, both
preservice and in-service, in our schools. We are focusing on
that, LA Unified, this year in science education, very
explicitly, strategies in Los Angeles that gear themselves
towards making science accessible to English language learners,
which is a critical need for our area to make students achieve.
Ms. Napolitano. I am sorry. Again, I have to run through
this because my mind is running. But as I am listening to the
use of technology, how many of you, or do you think the high
schools and the junior high schools are using technology to
reach out to the Northrops and the Boeings of the world, to
have scientists come online and, on site, in the schools, talk
to the students and the teachers about things that will open
their mind, and PIQE, their interest in science and technology.
Dr. Hackwood. I think you ``hit the nail on the head'' when
you mention the entertainment industry, of getting--and a good
strategy is to get the entertainment industry to encourage
youngsters to go into science and technology. You know,
engineering in the city. You know, the CSI effect. The number
of students who have gone into forensic science.
Numb3ers, that is on on a Friday night, that has really
encouraged students to go into math.
The entertainment industry is a critical component.
Ms. Napolitano. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for
your answer, Dr. Hackwood.
Chairman Hinojosa. I have decided to put in a second round
of questions, and with that, I will move to Congressman Joe
Baca.
Mr. Baca. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for having the
hearing out here, and I want to thank our host, Grace
Napolitano, who has always been a strong advocate, not only for
the community but for education and for water issues, and many
of the other issues that impact our State of California.
I also want to thank, you know, Dr. Miguel Ortiz, for
hosting us here today, and his leadership that he has
presented, here, at Cal Poly Pomona, because this truly is an
engineering school that does a lot of the science and the math
and the outreach, and many of the students that do come to this
excellent campus, and thank you very much for having it here.
Having said that, I want to thank the panelists for sharing
their knowledge, and their wisdom, and their concerns of what
they need for the State of California, and as I heard them all,
they have all said one thing. There isn't a difference between
any of the six that spoke right now, that talked about funding.
So when you talk about teacher preparation, you talk about
the needs in terms of the students, it all comes to funding,
which is why I am really glad that we have a representative
from Texas, a representative from Hawaii that is here, because
you need to take a message back as well. In order to get the
funding for the State of California, you need to change the
formula, so California receives its first share of dollars.
That is a top priority, because when you look at the
population of the State of California, we have more students in
K through 12, have more students in our community colleges, and
we have more students in our Cal State Universities, and we
have more students in our universities than any of the other
universities.
Yet, when it comes down to that formula, we are not getting
our fair share. So in order to prepare our students, we need
the funding, and the formula has to change, which means you
guys have to change, and sometimes we all become selfish
because we look out for our own states. No offense but that's
true. We all do that. We are guilty of that. But we need to
change that formula, if we truly want to address the needs.
And I want to ask a few of the questions that I have,
because one of the things that was mentioned earlier, the need
to start preparing more of our students--oh, before I do--is
when you look at preparing and attracting teachers, because all
of you said there is a need to have more teachers.
Well, we need to increase the salaries for teachers. If you
truly want to motivate and increase, whether it's science,
math, or technology, or just in the area of teaching, we need
to increase the level, so this way our teachers are competitive
with the private sector, because most everybody can go out
there and get a job starting at 60, 70, 80,000, or a 100 and
some thousand dollars, and yet we are asking people who are
dedicated, and we know that, and I think that is important. So
we need to change the level.
And then also, if we look at recruiting students into our
state colleges and universities, we are increasing the fees
right now. That makes it a lot more difficult. And we are
saying we need more students; but yet the cost continues to go
up. So there is a problem there.
And I know that part of the problem that we had, we used to
have partnerships between the private sector and corporate
America, and corporate America is shrinking. So we don't have
the kind of private participation that we have had in the past,
and I will state that, because I had a program called YEMP,
Youth Educational Motivational Program. It basically emphasized
the importance of reading, writing, arithmetic, and it was done
at the intermediate level.
Corporate America was involved. We stopped doing that. so
we are not doing what we should have done because we are
outsourcing and most of the jobs have left the United States.
So in reference to my question, Dr. Reed, let me ask you,
that being said, everyone in the room is aware of the
discrepancy in academic success that exists in minorities, in
California and throughout the Nation.
In your opinion, what can we do to ensure that our English
language learner students have access to math, science and
technology, and education necessary to compete?
Dr. Reed. Congressman Baca, that is again a very difficult
question. Let me, you know, respond to your comments. Everybody
has a different definition of fair. I have found that out at
Congress. And you are talking about that.
One of the things in the reauthorization, though, that I
know that Chairman Hinojosa and I have worried about and worked
together on, and I think you as the leader of the caucus--if
you can get Florida, Texas and California together, I think you
can do something for the Hispanic-serving institutions that
will make a big difference.
It has been done for the historic black institutions in
this country, and we have got to increase the federal support
for the Hispanic-serving institutions, which gets at exactly
what you just said in preparing good teachers, high-performing
teachers to teach reading, math, and science.
That would be a huge step in being able to do that, if you
could make those changes.
Mr. Baca. I know that my time has passed but just to answer
that real quick. We have got more funding for Hispanic-serving
institutes in the history of the Congress, this time around,
than any other time, thanks to our leader, Ruben Hinojosa, who
chairs our task on not only higher education but K through 12
for Hispanic-serving institutes, and a variety of different
committees.
I do agree with you, is that we need to put more money, and
I do appreciate the fact that 19 out of the 23 institutions
here, in the State of California, are Hispanic-serving
institutes. So can you imagine, when the numbers were mentioned
at community colleges, that 80 percent of the students are
minorities. So they all basically, our community colleges are
Hispanic-serving institutes, and we need to put in more money.
Chairman Hinojosa. Thank you, Congressman Baca.
Dr. Mardirosian. My name is Vahac Mardirosian. I was
looking at the No Child Left Behind program----
Chairman Hinojosa. Will you pause, please. You need to get
to a microphone because you are not being heard. The record is
not picking you up.
Dr. Mardirosian. I thought I had a pretty loud voice.
Chairman Hinojosa. I am afraid not. And after your
statement, then I am going to hold all the other comments and
answers to the panelists because that is the way that we have
set up our hearing. With all due respect to you, I am going to
let you have one minute to make your statement.
Dr. Mardirosian. [off mic] Thank you. No Child Left Behind
has four gradations. Basic, low basic, basic competent and
advanced, and in programs is supposed to be children be graded
on four levels. In math and reading. And I just happened to see
what the achievement level of children in Puerto Rico was, and
found that Puerto Rico, 96 percent of the children in 4th and
8th grade, 96 percent are below basic. And I just wondered who
is minding the store? The only people who really would like
their children to be achieving at the level where they would go
to college and become engineers are the parents, and you are
spending billions of dollars in a system, ignoring that the
first and most important teacher in every household is a
mother.
And if we were wise enough, we would spend a little bit of
that money in teaching mothers what they need to do in order
for their children to achieve. The United States has one fourth
of the population of China. China is four times as many people
as the United States. But China produces ten times more
engineers than is in the United States.
Chairman Hinojosa. I will be glad to visit with you after
the hearing. Thank you very much for your statement.
I wanted to say that in 1996, when I was elected, I went to
Congress wanting to see what could be done to an area where I
was born and raised, that was so neglected, that not even a
President would come visit us.
I found out that there was a strong movement to make
English the official language, and every other language to be
eliminated from all ballots, and any kind of communication to
the households.
I also found out that the idea was to discontinue the
Department of Education at the federal level, because those
leaders wanted the education responsibility to be local and
state.
So looking as a member of the local school board, I saw
that 7 percent of our LEA budget came from the Federal
Government. The balance came from local and state property
taxes.
So when Congressman Baca was talking about getting
increasing funding, and all of that, you have to understand
that those are very difficult questions, when the mindset in
Washington is that education, especially K-12, is the
responsibility of the state.
So for us to increase funding as we have under the
Reconciliation of Higher Education Act, which has--by the way,
Dr. Drummond said that we needed to help HSIs and HBCUs. Well,
for your information, never in our history, since the U.S.
Department of Education had Title Five, and I believe the other
title for the HBCUs is seven? It is Title Three. That I got
there, and they were funding HSIs with $10 million a year for
all the 200 HSIs. Today, it is at 95 million through lots of
effort of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
However, now that I am Chairman of the Higher Ed, we were
able to take out of this reconciliation of the act, of $20
billion we took $500 million, and said this is going to be
given, 200 million to HSIs and 200 million to HBCUs, and thanks
to you, we even took a 100 million and divided it up so that
Hawaiian students attending universities, and Native American
predominantly controlled colleges and universities, and
predominantly black colleges, would share 100 million.
All of this to say we are hearing you and we are doing
something about it. But to be able to come up with 500 million
over two years, not the five years of the regular act, because
of my insistence that we have waited too long, and that it
needed to be done now, we got the votes in the committee to
spread it out over two years.
Now you just have to help us come up with a rule on how
it's going to be spent, so that the biggest state, with the
biggest number of HSIs, which is California, will certainly be
able to qualify, because it is going to be on a competitive
basis.
But Puerto Rico is also already in Washington to see how
they can have input into that. So we are listening. But the
Federal Government mindset has to change, and that is that we
must invest more than we have in the past in the elementary and
secondary education as well as higher ed.
If it were up to me, I'd make sure that we upped it to 15
percent of the local education budget. That is a substantial
amount of money. I am sorry, I am not going to go into the
audience because I said that I wouldn't allow another round of
questions, and I am going to start with my Congresswoman
Hirono.
Ms. Hirono. Thank you. There are just so many educational
reforms that states are trying, and you certainly are doing,
and so many public-private partnerships that need to be
encouraged and fostered.
When we look at where we should spend our resources, if
resources are deemed finite, I am particularly focused on the
early education part of you mentioned the importance of really
hooking the students at a really young age to law, science, and
math, and reading, and all those areas.
So I did want to mention that one of the changes that I
hope will be made to No Child Left Behind will be support for
pre-K, cause there is science and research showing that when a
child goes to preschool, that child is much more prepared to
succeed in kindergarten and basically all through life.
So that is a piece that is not in No Child Left Behind in
any appreciable way at all. The Chairman had asked me to put
together language that will provide that kind of federal
support, and it is in a bill which I have introduced, along
with the Chair of the committee, Chairman Miller. It is called
the PRE-K Act of 2007. It is a separate bill right now. It
creates a federal-state partnership with an authorized funding
of a billion dollars a year for five years. Of course the
appropriators will have to decide what the level of actual
funding will be.
But what it does is the Federal Government will provide
grants to states, to encourage states to move toward making
available quality, that is a really important adjective,
quality, high quality preschool education.
And so it is to support what states are doing, not to
supplant. Much of what NCLB has done is to supplant states'
efforts, and that is where a lot of the criticism has come. So
I hope that all of you, who are I know much more focused on the
higher education side of things, that you also recognize how
important it is to do some fundamental things, which is at the
preschool level, and in the elementary levels, cause that is a
bill that I am hoping will become a new title to No Child Left
Behind, which it will be called the PRE-K Act of 2007.
So you are nodding your heads. I hope that means that you
are in agreement with that kind of a prospective orientation.
Dr. Reed. I am in agreement but I just want to caution.
Included in that is the professional preparation of the people
who work in the preschool area.
Ms. Hirono. Oh, definitely.
Dr. Reed. And it is not day care.
Ms. Hirono. That is right.
Dr. Reed. What is important is that we professionally
recognize and pay these people, and they should also be
educated to be able to teach these kids to learn, to learn.
Ms. Hirono. I agree completely. That is one of the great
needs for a pre-K education. That is, where do you find the
qualified teachers? And so the College Reduction Act does
have--we encourage those who go into that kind of education,
that kind of career, as well as police officers, first
responders, nurses. That they will have a loan forgiveness
program, and that is one of the ways that we are attempting to
address the shortage there.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Hinojosa. I will go now to Congresswoman Grace
Napolitano.
Ms. Napolitano. Thank you, again, Mr. Chair, and I
apologize. I wasn't here for what I hear was an interesting
comment from those that feel that parents need to be brought
into the picture, which is exceedingly important, and in
looking at this Parent Institute for Quality Education
programs, maybe we need a summit of all the programs that are
out there, to explain how they are working, and be able to see
how some of that assistance and funding, and maybe some of the
assistance from business can help foster the growth of those.
We just don't work out of the box, sometimes, and we need to
think globally, who else can we bring in to help in this area?
A couple of other things. We started a program in East LA
some eight years ago, that businessmen brought to my attention,
that they wanted to do. Instead of giving Christmas gifts to
children, Christmas toys, how about books? So what he decided--
and he came to me and asked for money.
There is no money for that kind of a thing. There is just
no program. So I challenged him with the professors that he
brought with him, to go back to Cal State LA, and begin to work
on getting the student teachers to come in and practice at a
grammar school, being able to talk to the parents who are, by
the way, not English speakers, most of them, in East LA, and
challenge them.
So they started a program. So now we have a program, there
are schools on a waiting list, where they are going to, on
Saturdays, bring the families in who signed an agreement, that
they will go home and read to their children.
It is a literacy program, because now, then, the grammar
school children are beginning to get the parent to say, okay,
espanol and that is something, that we need to look at all the
programs that are out there, that are helping us get the
parents involved.
And when you talk about this, do it in languages, and not
just in Spanish. But in Chinese, and other areas, where we have
parents who have no concept of what is going on in the school.
So if a student doesn't give them the information, that
parent doesn't know which way to point the child. But if you
bring them, like Chancellor Reed, on that program you are
talking about, and talk to the parents in the language they
understand, they can go home and tell that child, you are going
to start looking at this particular program that will put you
on a career path.
It is important. We live in such a, what would I say?
homogenous society, that we need to reach out to those parents,
and unfortunately, in California, we have so many immigrants
who have never gone to school or have low achievement in
school.
How can they do something they have never been in? I was
never in college until I married. Well, how could I tell my
children, then, this is the path you have got to take, or
should take, or must take? So we need to think other than to
reach out to the populace that we serve, all of us.
Part of is maybe the universities would give credit, or
assist, or find some way of being able to help volunteers who
are going to be going to these programs and help it expand. We
have schools on waiting lists to be able to teach literacy. Why
are we not working in tandem with them, to be able to support
those programs in the inner cities, in barrios, in wherever. So
I am kind of just throwing it out for you.
But I have got to tell you one other thing that we are
working on. I am the co-chair of the Mental Health Caucus in
Washington, D.C. In working with Tim Murphy, my Republican
colleague, we set out a bill that will help universities be
able to deal with the issue, the Virginia Tech type, allow the
university to be able to share information if they do certain
things with the people involved, the parents, or the spouses of
the students that you have in your school, to try to avoid
another such happening.
Please look at it, and I know most of you have sent letters
of support. This is key for us to be able to help you have a
safe campus.
But going back to parent information, when my children, and
my baby is 47, were going to school, I was told you leave the
student on the sidewalk, and he goes to school, and then your
responsibilities are done.
Well, that translated in my son, when he was in high
school, being told by the counselor that he was not college
material. Cause I didn't know how to help him.
So understand, things have evolved, changed, but you still
have a lot of that mentality out there in some of your
teachers, and some of those that feel that the parents'
involvement is not required because you are interfering in our
education curriculum.
And I am sorry to say that I still hear that from some
parents. The outreach. And PT is not enough. I am sorry. You
need to have more engagement with the students and the parents
to be able to be more successful in bringing out those programs
that are so key to getting our workforce and our students the
capability of being what they can be, or must be, to help us
regain our stature.
I have a whole litany. How much do I have, sir?
Chairman Hinojosa. Thirty seconds.
Ms. Napolitano. Thirty seconds. Thank you.
Dr. Reed. Congresswoman Napolitano, we have printed this
poster in six languages.
Chairman Hinojosa. With Congresswoman Napolitano finishing
her questions, I now move to Doc--Congressman Joe Baba.
Mr. Baca. Thank you. I appreciate the promotion, being a
doctor. Maybe I will get an honorary doctorate degree.
First of all, before I ask the questions, I want to add,
for the record, Dr. Barbara Flores who is the National
Association for Bilingual Education, she has a set of five
concerns I would like to enter for the record, if you may, Mr.
Chair, accept those concerns.
And then on the panelists, I have five questions that I
would like to ask, and I would like you to be as short as
possible, because I want the rest of the five to try to answer
the questions, and they are just going to be questions. I am
not going to make a statement.
So Dr. Baker, I will start with you. In your opinion, what
additional steps are necessary at the K through 12 level to
ensure culturally linguistic, appropriation learning, so that
California Latino students are better prepared with science,
math and technology skills they need to succeed at college and
at the university level, and if you can be short and brief, so
the others can answer as well, additional questions.
Dr. Baker Thank you. I think the most important thing that
can be done is in schools of education, and the preparation of
undergraduates for teaching, we should have significantly more
effort to attract role models of people who come from those
neighborhoods, and that we should provide incentives for people
to go back to teach, so that they understand the people that
they are working with.
That would be the best way, I think, to make progress.
Mr. Baca. Thank you. The next question is for Dr.
Tarantino. In your opinion, what effects have the president's
budget constraints had on NASA, educational budget, and in
particular the workforce related to programs that put emphasis
on careers in space science industry, and what can we do at the
federal level for future alleviation of the situation?
Dr. Tarantino. Well, it has constrained it, and I would say
I really appreciate the Chairman's remark at the beginning of
this about how space can inspire people to go into technology.
That it is very important, and particularly when we are looking
at an era of diminishing enrollments, and graduate and
undergrad, higher education in the math and sciences
technologies. Our thinking with respect to space cannot be a
minor part of the solution.
Mr. Baca. Thank you. Dr. Drummond, in your testimony you
state that 85 percent of the students require some form of
remediation in math. My question is what additional steps must
we take at both the federal and local level to ensure K through
12 students have the necessary math skills to avoid the kind of
remediation when they move into higher education? And you
mentioned that about getting into colleges.
Dr. Drummond. Yes. Let me first thank you all for your
attention to TRIO, and EOP&S. It is interesting that EOP&S
deals with students who come in with lower scores and
capabilities but have a higher graduation rate. I don't want to
lose the great importance of the program.
To answer your question, I believe we have to really focus
on the pipeline issues. You know, I ran marathons for many
years, and one thing you don't do when you run marathons is
look at the 26 mile marker at the end. You look at the next
mile marker, because you get pretty discouraged if you look 26
miles out.
The point is that if we go tell people, you know, your goal
is to be a PhD, or be this or that, an awful lot of these
students, the 70 percent that go nowhere get very discouraged
and can't see that far ahead. So it is a pipeline issue.
It is very important community colleges work with the
middle schools and the high schools. It is very important the
CSUs are right along with us. And some of the grants I talked
about, the Heinecke grant, a new development in Los Angeles
called READY, an initiative, all involving those partners, so
that we are reaching into the middle schools, and we are giving
the kids not only an idea of the next step but we are giving
them support.
We are helping the faculty in the middle schools. We are
all working together. Cal State faculty helping ours, ours
helping them, them helping us. It is really a conversation.
These are not silos. These young people have to move through
these pipelines. And so any programs that encourage that sort
of partnership are very positive and very powerful, and Title
Five can certainly be one vehicle for that.
Mr. Baca. Okay. Thank you. We all know that difficulties
can be to have proper resources in our schools in the major
urban areas like LA. We know that overcrowding of our schools
is almost a major deterrent in school achievement.
In your professional experience, how much of the difference
would smaller classrooms in science and math make in student
achievement?
Dr. Ullah. The research on that is still out in terms of
smaller class size and effective student achievement. But in my
view, I think that if we reduce class sizes in science and
mathematics, as there are bills, for instance, our 1133 bill
here in California is reducing mathematics and science
classrooms in the country.
Again, personalization of the environment to kids in our
schools is also important as you reduce class size. So I would
say personalization, along with reduced class size, and as our
colleagues have said, you know, preparation for teachers to
work with students in our areas is key.
Mr. Baca. I have got one more question. Dr. Hackwood, I
represent a district that has close to 70 percent Latino
population. This is a statistic that is quite troubling to me.
What kind of incentives do you think are necessary to attract
more qualified teachers to each in the underprivileged and high
minority areas?
Dr. Hackwood. I think the most important thing is to
professionalize the discipline of teaching, to recognize that
teachers are professionals. They are doing an extremely
important job, and the support of teachers, and through
professional development, for example, the kinds of programs
that you have heard about with the federal laboratories, a
connection to the universities so that the teachers can feel
part of the science and technology community.
Salary is an issue but it's not as much an issue as the
support and professionalization of the teaching career, and to
get teachers teaching in the geographic areas where they
represent the same population that they came from.
Mr. Baca. Okay. I know that my time has run out, but
Congresswoman Hirono asked an important question about the
Leave No Child Behind Act, and as we look at the Leave No Child
Behind Act, what effects does overcrowdedness have in terms of
learning behavior and the evaluation of teachers? Because I
believe that our teachers are getting a ``bad rap'' with
overcrowded classrooms in the State of California compared to
other states, too, as well.
Would anybody like to elaborate on that?
Dr. Ullah. I would like to say one thing about overcrowded
schools. In Los Angeles, many of our schools are on year-round
calendars, and these year-round calendars and multi-track
schools are a result of not having enough facilities and
qualified people to run them.
So as a result, you have some deleterious effects on
student learning and teacher morale related to schools
operating around a year-round calendar.
So any support, policies, at the state, federal, county
levels of support, facilities construction, and again, teacher
preparation, are going to be key to helping kids and teachers
have learning environments that would help the process.
Chairman Hinojosa. I want to thank my colleagues and
members of Congress for participating today and for asking your
questions. It raised the quality of our hearing. I messed up my
five minutes of asking questions but I want to make closing
statements, and I am going to ask this one last question of Dr.
Hackwood.
There is a national controversy as to whether the National
Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education, or some
alternative accreditation, should play the major role in
addressing the problem that you were addressing.
What is your perspective regarding alternative teacher
preparation programs for math and science teachers and the
accreditation of those programs?
Dr. Hackwood. Alternative teacher preparation programs are
very important, and the data that we have show that a
significant fraction of teachers come through that program. The
various programs. You saw the complexity of the wiring diagram
I showed. So if you remove those ways of getting into the
teaching profession, you will exacerbate the problem. You will
make the problem much worse.
The question I think you are asking is on measuring the
quality and the performance of the teacher, so that you have
the right type of person teaching in the classroom, with the
right pedagogy and the right support to be able to teach what
they are teaching.
I think that is a much more fundamental issue to ask, and
comparing credentialing programs----
Mr. Baca. So how should we address that?
Dr. Hackwood. By comparing credentialing programs and
looking what the pedagogy is. What ammunition are we giving
teachers to go and teach in the classroom?
Chairman Hinojosa. Well, I thank you. This has been very
interesting, and in my closing remarks, I would like to thank
our hosts for today's hearing, California State Polytechnic
University at Pomona.
I also wish to thank President Michael Ortiz and his staff
for working with ours in Washington to make this hearing as
interesting as it has been.
I thank everyone for providing this wonderful venue, and
for the kind hospitality given to those of us who came from
Washington. We thank you, and this hearing is ended.
[Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]