Skilled math teachers scarce
| • | Storytime for preschoolers on Wednesdays |
| • | UH grads will get degrees Saturday |
| • | Colleges expand recruitment areas |
| • | Families rethinking college plans amid economic downturn |
By Libby Quaid
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Math can be hard enough, but imagine the difficulty when a teacher is just one chapter ahead of the students.
It happens, and it happens more often to poor and minority students. Those children are about twice as likely to have math teachers who don't know their subject, according to a recent report by the Education Trust, a children's advocacy group.
Studies show the connection between teachers' knowledge and student achievement is particularly strong in math.
"Individual teachers matter a tremendous amount in how much students learn," said Ross Wiener, who oversees policy issues at the organization.
The report looked at teachers with neither an academic major nor certification in the subjects they teach.
Among the findings, which were based on Education Department data:
Math is important because it is considered a "gateway" course, one that leads to greater success in college and the workplace. Kids who finish Algebra II in high school are more likely to get bachelor's degrees. And people with bachelor's degrees earn substantially more than those with high school diplomas.
The teaching problem is most acute in grades five to eight, the report said. That's a crucial time for math, said Ruth Neild, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University.
"This is a time when kids are making a really important transition from arithmetic to mathematics," Neild said. "It takes careful instruction, and if kids can't get that, and really get it, they're not going to succeed in math in high school."
Yet it can be tougher to find qualified teachers for middle schools, especially in low-income areas, said Neild, who studied the problem in Philadelphia public schools. She did not work on the Education Trust report.
Teachers should not be blamed for out-of-field teaching, the report said.
It can happen anywhere there is a teacher shortage in a particular discipline.
It can also happen where there is no shortage but where school administrators have planned poorly.
Congress tried to fix the problem in the sweeping 2002 No Child Left Behind Law. The law insisted that all teachers in core academic subjects be "highly qualified" by 2006.
Wiener, the Education Trust official, said teaching is the key to fulfilling the goal of No Child Left Behind — that every student will be able to read and do math on grade level by 2014.
"We cannot meet our goals for increasing student achievement unless and until we focus on improving teaching quality and the effectiveness of teachers in front of the classroom," Wiener said.
