Students Converge to Talk Water
Posted on June 7th, 2010 by Jaimie Schock
Three rivers run through Pittsburgh, so it is blessed with an abundance of potable water. But 3 billion people across the globe, nearly half the world’s population, don’t have ready access to fresh water. That was the lesson driven home to 550 high school students at a recent daylong tutorial sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.
Filed under: K-12 Education News | Comments Off on Students Converge to Talk Water
Tags: Clean Water, Public Policy, Water, Water management, Water Resources
A survey conducted by Public Agenda and funded by the GE Foundation has found that Americans are conflicted when it comes to mathematics and science instruction. While a big majority say that strong math and science education is key to the country’s future, most parents think that the science and math classes that their kids take are “just fine.”
President Obama wants American high schools to graduate kids who are college- and career-ready. But, statistics on remedial education indicate that that’s not going to be an easy goal to meet. In 2007-08, a third of first-year college students required at least one remedial education course in either math, science or English.
Math and science teachers are having a tough time making the transition from traditional teaching methods to more effective inquiry-based learning, a prize-winning elementary school teacher told U.S. senators May 6, appealing for more professional development programs. Susan Naylor, a mathematical instructional coach from Woods County, West Virginia, testified before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
We can do better. That’s the bottom-line assessment of STEM education in the U.S. by John P. Holdren, the former Harvard physicist who now directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy, making him President Obama’s chief science advisor. “Too many of our children, particularly too many of our girls and minorities, are steering away from science and engineering, and we’re trying to address that.”
Up to 300,000 K-12 and public university teachers and staff face layoffs in the next academic year. Members of the U.S. Senate Education Committee are hoping to pass a $23 billion measure to keep many of them on the job.
When the Space Shuttle program is grounded later this year, after nearly 30 years of service, quite a few scientists, engineers, and technicians could find themselves jettisoned into the ranks of the unemployed. So why not turn some of them into teachers? That’s the notion behind the proposed Space to School Act introduced in Congress by Democratic Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, of Florida, reports the Orlando Sentinel. 
The set of common academic standards most states are expected to adopt this year got strong reviews from veteran K-12 teachers in Baltimore. The teachers — who include former Teachers of the Year — read and rated the draft common core standards and generally gave them thumbs up. 
Senate Democrats are pushing for another bailout of recession-hit public schools. Iowa’s Tom Harkin, the Senate’s leading Democrat on education issues, has proposed a $23 billion package to help K-12 schools across the country avoid layoffs of teachers and staff. Last year, as part of the economic stimulus package, Washington gave nearly $100 billion to states to help them shore up schools hit by budget squeezes.
