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A fantastic article came out this week in Fortune magazine featuirng Sal Khan of the Khan Academy. Khan and We Teach Science use the web to educate students, and we run a real (in person) math boot camp each summer to apply what was learned to real world problems.

Read the article here

Learn more about lat year's boot camp here

 

The LA Times came out with an article yesterday analyzing the effectivness of LA teachers by collecting seven years of math and english test scores. They used an approach called "value added analysis" where they look at the year to year changes of each student compared to their own past years. This helps control for outside influences like poverty.

In the past couple of years, whilst I have often been asked to comment on reports like these, I tend not to. We Teach Science is focused on inspiring students to excel in math and science using mentors (bay area scientists and engineers) in after-school time. In our pilot programs (2009-2012), we work with our participating teachers to ensure our mentors are aware of weekly classroom topics and homework assignemnts. 

We evaluate the effectivness of our own program by analyzing the standardized test scores of participating students and compare them with others that were not part of the program. The Stanford CREDO group is spearheading this effort in August. Our first performance data will become avaialble later this month and will be posted on our web site.

-Aragon 

An interesting point about the importance of shifting student awareness of what it means to work in math and science.

What's a scientist?

This is a great article from the NY times about teaching Kinders  engineering.  I also love the way that they are integrating literacy with science! Check it out.
Studying Engineering Before They Can Spell It

The Common Core Standards were released today.  These are an attempt to make national standards, rather than have every state teach and test their own version of grade level standards for math and English.  The last time something like this was attempted was in the late '90s.  The NCTM standards still exist but are not used to drive instruction or assessment. 

Take a look and see what you think about the Core Standards.

Our RTM program was written up in the Pacifica Tribune this week. The article interviewed Dina and myself, along with one of our mentors, Helen, and her two students.

Read it here

Chris sent out this TED talk focusing on the art of creating good math problems that get all students engaged, to stop, and to think. Enjoy!

Taken from "Education Life" in the New York Times:

"A few times each month, second graders at a charter school in Springfield, Mass., take time from math and reading to engage in philosophical debate. There is no mention of Hegel or Descartes, no study of syllogism or solipsism. Instead, Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg and his undergraduate students from nearby Mount Holyoke College use classic children’s books to raise philosophical questions, which the young students then dissect with the vigor of the ancient Greeks."

Read more

The Bayer Facts of Science Education XIV survey polled more than 1,200 female, black, Hispanic, and American Indian chemists and chemical engineers, who also are members of the American Chemical Society, about childhood, academic, and workplace experiences that play a role in attracting and retaining women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.

“Almost eight in 10 of our survey respondents say women and underrepresented minorities are missing because they were not encouraged to study STEM fields early on,” said Bayer Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Babe.

Read the full article here

-Aragon