[Press Release] Solid Curriculum and Strong Teaching Outweigh Negatives in Math and Science Learning
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Title : Solid Curriculum and Strong Teaching Outweigh Negatives in Math and
Science Learning
Type : Press Release
NSF Org: OD / LPA
Date : June 10, 1997
File : pr9743
Media contact: Embargoed Until 11 A.M., EDT
Peter West, (703) 306-1070/pw...@nsf.gov June 10, 1997
NSF PR 97-43
Program contact:
Margaret Cozzens, (703) 306-1628/mcoz...@nsf.gov
SOLID CURRICULUM AND STRONG TEACHING OUTWEIGH NEGATIVES IN MATH
AND SCIENCE LEARNING
U.S. fourth-graders' performance on the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) proves that students can
overcome factors that traditionally are blamed for poor learning,
if challenged by a solid curriculum based on national education
standards coupled with competent teaching, according to officials
of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
"The fourth-grade scores, released today in Boston and
Washington, D.C. confirm NSF's policy to require standards-based
curriculums and thorough teacher professional development in all
of its education programs," noted Joe Bordogna, NSF's acting
deputy director, at a press conference in the nation's capital.
"The TIMSS results are proof of what is possible in a
competent educational system," said Luther S. Williams, who heads
NSF's education and human resources directorate. "As the TIMSS
report notes, factors such as the amount of television watching,
class size, and time spent in school cannot explain student
performance. What really matters is the quality of the day-today
interaction between teachers and students around a coherent
curriculum."
The TIMSS fourth-grade results indicate that in science,
U.S. students outperformed most participating nations in the
study. In math, U.S. fourth-graders made a stronger
international showing than U.S. eighth-graders, but were not yet
among the best in the world.
Even so, Williams notes that the performance of fourth-
graders has improved markedly on international comparisons
between 1990 and 1995, a period which coincides with the
application of standards-based curriculum and teaching methods in
math supported by NSF. Even so, he added, too few school systems
yet offer what NSF considers a competent math and science
curriculum at any level.
Margaret Cozzens, who heads NSF's elementary, secondary, and
informal education division, noted that U.S. students' showing in
math can be traced directly to the influence of national
standards for exemplary math teaching as well as NSF-developed
instructional materials based on the standards.
Published in 1989 by the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, the standards have slowly been incorporated into
elementary school teaching, more so than at the middle-school
level, and can be expected to have influenced student performance
by the mid-1990's, when the latest TIMSS data were collected, she
noted.
Williams also pointed out that the TIMSS also indicates that
the sharp decline in US student performance between the fourth
and eighth grades is probably a result of an unfocused
curriculum. He noted that a report released last October as part
of TIMSS showed that the U.S. eighth-grade math and science
curriculum is vague and repetitive. The U.S. fourth-grade
curriculum more closely resembles those in high-scoring TIMSS
countries.
He added that the U.S. fourth-grade curriculum contains many
more of the topics studied by a majority of children around the
world than does its eighth-grade curriculum. He also notes that
the basics-oriented arithmetic curriculum that U.S. students
study in fourth grade still is found in schools in the eighth
grade. Many foreign countries consider algebra and geometry
"basic" in middle school.
-NSF-
Attachment: A list of NSF math curriculum projects and contact
names.
NSF-Funded Mathematics Curriculum Projects
University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP)
Elementary math:
Max Bell (312) 702-1563
Secondary math: Zalman Usiskin (312) 702-1560
Elementary School:
Cooperative Mathematics Project
Laurel Roberston
Developmental Studies Center
Oakland, Ca.
(510) 533-0213
Investigations in Number, Data and Space
Susan Jo Russell
TERC
Cambridge, Mass.
(617) 547-0430
TIMS: Teaching Integrated Math and Science
Phil Wagreich
University of Illinois, Chicago
(312) 413-3019
Middle School:
The Connected Mathematics Project
Kathy Burgis
Michigan State University
(517) 432-3635
Mathematics in Context: A Connected Curriculum for Grade 5-8
Thomas Romberg
University of Wisconsin
(608) 263-4285
Middle School Mathematics Through Applications Project
Shelley Goldman
The Institute for Research on Learning
Palo Alto, Ca.
(415) 497-7963
Seeing and Thinking Mathematically
Glen Kleinman
Education Development Center (EDC)
Newton, Mass.
(617) 969-7100
Six Through Eight Mathematics (STEM)
Rick Billstein
University of Montana
Missoula
(406) 243-2603
High School:
Applications/Reform in Secondary Education (ARISE)
Landy Godbold
(404) 355-8673
Connected Geometry
E. Paul Goldenberg
EDC
Newton, Mass.
(617) 969-7100
Core-Plus Mathematics Project
Christian R. Hirsch
Western Michigan University
(616) 387-4526
Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP)
Diana Resek
San Francisco State University
(415) 338-2071
Math Connections: A Secondary Mathematics Core Curriculum Project
June G. Ellis
Connecticut Business and Industry Alliance
(203) 244-1942
Systemic Initiatives for Montana Mathematics and Science (SIMMS)
Glenn Allinger
Montana Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Billings, Mont.
(406) 994-5351
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