Views about Teaching - Oct 27, 2009

A nice companion to Shelia Tobias's recent book is the new report, Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today from the Public Agenda. They report that teachers fall into three groups: the Disheartened, the Contented and the Idealists. (I was in all of those groups at some stage of my career!)  Read the report.

Remedial College Math - Oct 10, 2009

The October 2009 issue of APS News has a wonderful article by Joseph Ganem about the mismatch between high school and college mathematics. Could some of Ganem's ideas apply to physics too?  Read the article.

NSTA Survey on Science Education - Aug 31, 2009

Over 3,500 science educators responded to NSTA's survey about their perspectives on science education, the status of science teaching, and professional development opportunities. Read the survey results.

The Gender Gap in HS Math - Aug 30, 2009

A new paper out of MIT uses mathematics competitions, to examine the gender gap among high school students at very high achievement levels. The highest achieving girls in the U.S. are concentrated in a very small set of elite schools.  Read the paper!

National and State ACT Scores - Aug 21, 2009

There is a sign of progress as measured by average scores on the 2009 ACT college entrance exam since the pool of students taking the test is expanding but scores hold steady. You can see how students in your state compare or  download the full report here.