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Academic Competitiveness Council Finds Little Scientific Evidence Backs Federally-Funded Math and Science Education Programs |
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From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today released the findings of the Academic Competitiveness Council (ACC) and its recommendations to integrate and coordinate federal education programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Deficit Reduction Act, signed into law by President Bush in February 2006, established the Academic Competitiveness Council, led by Secretary Spellings, to review all federal programs with a focus on math and science education and to report its findings to Congress. "We must all work together to give students the math and science skills they need to compete and thrive in the global economy," Secretary Spellings said. "Currently there are more than 100 programs that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education spread across 13 agencies, yet little is known about the impact of these programs on student performance. The Council's review revealed that, despite decades of significant federal investment in science and math education, there is a general dearth of evidence of effective practices and activities in STEM education. Among the 105 STEM education programs totaling $3.12 billion in fiscal year 2006, 45 programs have a goal to recruit and retain teachers with majors or minors in STEM fields or to increase the content knowledge of current K-12 STEM teachers. Pre-service teachers are a target population in 22 programs and in-service teachers are a target population in 39 programs. Recommendation 1: The ACC program inventory and goals and metrics should be living resources, updated regularly and used to facilitate stronger interagency coordination. Recommendation 2: Agencies and the federal government at large should foster knowledge of effective practices through improved evaluation and-or implementation of proven-effective, research-based instructional materials and methods.
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