Executive Summary and Recommended Actions
Statement of Support and Supporting Organizations
Full Report
Introduction: A Moment of Urgency and Opportunity
Section 1: Excellence and Equity: Mobilizing for Math and Science Learning
Section 2: Standards and Assessments: Focusing for Essential Knowledge and Skills
Section 3: Teaching and Professional Learning: Managing for Effectiveness
Section 4: Schools and Systems: Designing for Achievement
References
Visualizing Change
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Teaching and Professional Learning

Page 6 of 6

We must build a teaching profession in which all teachers, in every discipline and from the elementary grades on up, are “STEM-capable,” or conversant with math and science.

Our schools should also be learning deliberately to make better use of teacher compensation and benefits. The need is especially great in mathematics and science given chronic shortages in those fields and competition from other industries for talented, well-prepared professionals. In particular we need to study and experiment with alternatives to the basic “step-and-ladder” pay scale, including pay differentials, performance incentives, opportunities to take on leadership roles, and other strategies that might help schools attract and keep qualified mathematics and science teachers. The Commission encourages research and pilot programs to assess the potential need to introduce pay differentials for teachers with strong math and science backgrounds.

School and district leaders need to be attuned to the human capital requirements of high-quality science and math learning for all students. Leadership must manage flexibly to develop and fine-tune operations and human capital policies that meet the learning needs of students and the professional needs of teachers. Those leaders, in turn, need access to diagnostic and predictive tools that enable meaningful evaluation of teacher performance and the development of effective capacity building. States, districts, and the federal government must look for ways to reward excellence and stimulate innovation in our schools and classrooms. A new, rigorous, standards-aligned national system of assessments would be invaluable as we develop those experiments and study their results.

Cited in this section

54 Allan Odden and James A. Kelly (2008). “Strategic Management of Human Capital in Public Education,” Consortium for Policy Research in Education, p. 2.

55 Business-Higher Education Forum (2008). “The Case for Predictive Methods in STEM Education Research & Policy Analysis.” Draft concept paper for the STEM Research and Modeling Network. bhef.com/solutions/documents/srmn_concept.pdf.

56 Debra Viadero (2009). “Educator Loss in STEM Area Called Issue: Overall Shortage Disputed,” Education Week.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/03/11/24supply_ep.h28.html. Richard M. Ingersoll and David Perla (2009). “The Mathematics and Science Teacher Shortage: Fact and Myth,” CPRE Research Report #RR-62.

57 Math and science were teacher shortage areas in 47 states in 2007-08. “Teacher Shortage Areas Nationwide Listing 1990-1991 through 2009-2010,” U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (2009). ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.html.

58 For example, according to the New Teacher Project’s internal data, 83 percent of its 2008 fellows were teaching in the high-needs subject areas of science, math, and special education. Presentation to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, February 2009.

59 Donald Boyd et al. (2008). “The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and Its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools,” NBER working paper. (Note: A co-author of this study, Susanna Loeb, is a member of the Carnegie-IAS Commission.) In 2008, a Louisiana Board of Regents report showed that the New Teacher Project’s first-year math teachers had a more positive effect on students than traditionally certified teachers who had taught for 2+ years. Similarly, a 2008 Urban Institute study showed that high-school students taught by TFA corps members performed significantly better on state-required end-of-course exams, especially in math and science, than peers taught by far more experienced instructors. Louisiana TNTP report: regents.state.la.us

60 See, for example, the qualifications for the math and science immersion programs of the New York Teaching Fellows Program at nyctf.org/prospective/fellowship.html.

61 UTeach Natural Sciences was honored in 2009 by Harvard’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation as one of the Top 50 Innovations in American Government. http://ashinstitute.harvard.edu/ash/03.31.09_Top50.pdf.

62 Susanna Loeb and Pam Grossman (2008). Alternative Routes to Teaching: Mapping the New Landscape of Teacher Education, Harvard Education Press.

63 Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (2001). The Mathematical Education of Teachers.

64 John Dossey, Katherine Halvorsen, and Sharon McCrone (2008). Mathematics Education in the United States 2008: A Capsule Summary Fact Book. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, p. 54.

65 Julie Greenberg and Kate Walsh (2008). No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America’s Education Schools, National Council on Teacher Quality.

66 For more information on Urban Advantage, see urbanadvantagenyc.org/home.aspx.

67 For more information on Engineering for the Future, see mos.org/etf/.

68 Michael Barber, Mona Mourshed, and Fenton Whelan (2007). “Improving Education in the Gulf,” McKinsey Quarterly, p. 44.

69 Data on the performance of New Leaders principals are available at nlns.org/Results.jsp.

70 Liz Gewirtzman (2008). “An Unorthodox but Pragmatic Approach to National Math and Science Literacy.” Prepared for the Carnegie-IAS Commission on Mathematics and Science Education.

71 newvisions.org/dls/AnnualReport2007.pdf

72 Odden and Kelly (2008). Strategic Management of Human Capital in Public Education, Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

73 Odden and Kelly (2008). Strategic Management of Human Capital in Public Education, Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

74 Odden and Kelly (2009). Strategic Management of Human Capital 2.0, report to the Carnegie Corporation.

75 C.T. Clotfelter, E.J. Glennie, H.F. Ladd, and J.L. Vigdor (2008). “Teacher bonuses and teacher retention in low-performing schools: Evidence from the North Carolina $1,800 Teacher Bonus Program,” Public Finance Review, 36(1), 63-87. Richard M. Ingersoll and David Perla (2009). “The Mathematics and Science Teacher Shortage: Fact and Myth,” CPRE Research Report #RR-62. American Institutes for Research, Teacher Quality Research 2007. air.org

76 Donald Boyd et al. (2008). “The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and Its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools,” NBER working paper.

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