C Grade for Future U.S. Math Teachers
How well do America’s future math teachers stack up against their counterparts around the world? Just so-so, according to a new study released last week, the New York Times reports. They earned an average C grade, and were well and truly aced by rivals from education-centric countries like Singapore and Taiwan.
The Michigan State University study, the first of its kind, gave a 90-minute teaching-skills test to 3,300 future teachers at 81 colleges and universities in 15 countries; all were nearing the end of their college training. One test was given to those planning to teach at the elementary school level; the other was given to those going on to middle-school teaching. The stars of the elementary school test were Singapore, Taiwan and Switzerland. The U.S. came in roughly even with Germany, Norway and Thailand, and ahead of Botswana, Chile, Poland and Spain. At the middle school level, top results went to Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, Poland and Switzerland. The U.S. came in ahead of several other countries, including Georgia, Norway, the Philippines and Oman.
Preparation of America’s middle school math teachers “is not up to the task,” William H. Schmidt, who headed the study, told the Times. He says the U.S. needs to recruit stronger candidates to the profession and require them to take more advanced math. Some 80 to 100 percent of students from the highest-scoring countries had taken courses like linear algebra and calculus, but only 50 to 60 percent of the U.S. students had. But, Gage Kingsbury of the Northwest Evaluation Association told the paper that it’s not fair to criticize middle school teachers for not taking calculus, since calculus isn’t taught in middle schools. “So, I think they overreach a bit.”
Filed under: K-12 Education News
Tags: College, Math teachers, Mathematics, Research on Learning, Teacher Training
