Learning from the Challenger Tragedy
Posted on January 30th, 2011 by Jaimie Schock
Twenty five years ago, on January 28, Americans watched in horror as the space shuttle Challenger exploded, barely a minute after takeoff, killing all seven crew members. Schools nationwide still honor the memory of Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire high school social studies teacher who was aboard the ill-fated flight that morning as NASA’s first Teacher in Space Project participant.
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Tags: Aeronautics, Aerospace, Events, History, NASA
Scores released January 25 from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress show that many U.S. students still struggle in science. Just 34 percent of fourth graders, 30 percent of eighth graders, and 21 percent of 12th graders are performing at or above ‘proficient’ – with just a tiny fraction displaying the advanced skills that could lead to careers in science and technology. 
A science fair entry can open doors. Just ask Amy Chyao of Richardson, Tex. Her development of a photosensitizer for cancer treatment won her a first place award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, an introduction to President Obama, and interest from researchers. 
Vi Hart has an audacious career ambition: she wants to make math cool. In November, she posted a video about doodling in math class. More videos followed, including one about drawing stars and another about prime numbers. By now, they’ve gone viral, viewed more than a million times.
A bill pending in the Kentucky legislature would pay extra sums to math and science teachers, including bonuses of up to $7,500 a year to those whose students score well on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. But some teachers have mixed feelings about the proposal.
For a former New York public school teacher and six young African-American men, a wrecked grocery store in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward has become a place of second chances. Nat Turner, a former history teacher, is the founder of Our School at Blair Grocery, a fledgling educational venture and commercial urban farm. The enterprise is an unusual hybrid of G.E.D. training and a farm academy.
A crime scene visit with law-enforcement officers brings math to life for San Bernardino, Calif.-area high schoolers. One lesson: How investigators use trigonometry to calculate the location of a victim, suspect or crime objects. 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says teaching can no longer be the “only profession” without consequences for failure. Teachers in his state can gain tenure after three years. While defenders of the system say it ensures due process, critics contend the method for getting rid of bad teachers is too long and costly. 
The nation receives a C when graded across the six distinct areas of policy and performance tracked by Quality Counts, the most comprehensive ongoing assessment of the state of American education. For the third year in a row, Maryland is the top-ranked state with a B-plus. The majority of states receive grades of C-plus or lower.
