Schools and Systems

Recommended Actions

The Commission recommends actions in three areas toward designing schools and school systems for mathematics and science achievement:

1. Build high expectations for student achievement in mathematics and science into school and classroom culture and operations as a pathway to college and careers

By states, school districts, and charter organizations

• Foster an ethos and culture emphasizing high expectations for math and science achievement by all students within each school and assess specific indicators of that culture using methods such as School Quality Reviews

• Organize schools to focus on teaching and learning as their core mission with a strong emphasis on science and mathematics; enable schools to focus their resources (money, time, people) flexibly and accountably on increasing student performance

• Build data-driven instructional improvement and innovation into the culture and professional learning of each school
• Develop tools and technologies that enable students and families to track student progress and plan for the future with key indicators in science and math achievement linked to college-readiness

• Explore and assess technology-based learning innovations in science and math learning, including digital media and games; document and expand those that show positive results; invest in promising cyberlearning to allow all teachers to support and reinforce student learning using new educational technologies

2. Enhance systemic capacity to support strong schools and act strategically to turn around or replace ineffective schools

By the federal government, states, and school districts

• Create aligned data, accountability and knowledge management systems across K-16 education to support research and development for improvements in policy, practice, and strategy to increase student achievement, graduation, and post-secondary success; ensure that science achievement is included in the early generation models

• Develop data and accountability systems that enable schools to use data to inform instructional improvement by individual teachers and school-wide; data on science achievement, especially in middle and high schools

• Make the policy and management changes to generate and accelerate innovation, and facilitate connections to increase the talent and math and science assets available in schools

• Foster a more rigorous approach to ongoing professional learning in many more districts, focused on keeping teachers up to date with emerging science and math knowledge and on effective, differentiated pedagogical techniques

• Make policy changes and take administrative action to end policies and practices that result in persistent low achievement, and, in particular, close and replace schools that are low-performing

• Stimulate the production of ideas and products that will support school and classroom innovations to increase math and science achievement through a variety of public funding sources beyond education including economic development, energy, and environmental quality departments

• Identify school models and innovations in school design and instruction that have shown substantial achievement gains in mathematics and science, especially for under-performing middle and high school students

• Remove barriers and pro-actively grow and scale effective school models through innovative governance and management arrangements with educational entrepreneurs; integrate with strategic human capital reforms

• Call for research in areas where innovations do not exist or where there is a need for new knowledge, including basic research, implementation research, and tool development to advance math and science learning

Providing an effective school for every student is a challenge we must meet, but doing so will require stronger systems—and systemic change.

3. Tap a wider array of resources to increase educational assets and expand research and development capacity

By the federal government, states, school districts, colleges and universities, and philanthropy

• Narrow the gap between research and practice in improving science and math education by designing innovative partnerships between K-12 education and universities, cultural and scientific institutions that are accountable for joint strategies for improving student achievement

• Bring innovation and design approaches to bear on improving math and science education in the K-12 educational system by developing R&D capacity and external resources (such as consulting firms, private-sector companies, universities)