Quantity and Quality: Not Enough to Go Around

Abstract

Education and teacher education continue to be topics of national discussion. The National Research Council released a report on beginning reading in which 17 reading experts called for an end to the reading wars over phonics and whole language, careful use of the best of both approaches, and intensive help for children with learning difficulties as early as possible. The panel also recommended smaller class sizes, closer coordination between teachers and specially trained tutors, and more intensive professional development of elementary teachers in reading (Steinberg, 1998). The recent release of results of U.S. high school seniors in general mathematics and science from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study has generated much discussion about the nature of curriculum and pedagogy in those fields. In an Op-Ed article in the Boston Globe (Schmidt & McKnight, 1998), William Schmidt, professor of education at Michigan State University and national coordinator for the study, and Curtis McKnight, professor of mathematics at Oklahoma University, note that the achievement results reflect different topics emphasized, both in science and math. No country did well in everything (p. A1). They note that the United States continued to emphasize arithmetic basics long after other countries had moved to more advanced topics, and that U.S. curricula tend to cover far more topics in math and science in a more global fashion than other countries do. Many American schools also use tracking in math and science in the later elementary grades and middle school by assigning students to levels or courses of varying difficulty and complexity, thus widening the gap and exaggerating achievement differences among students. Schmidt and McKnight suggest that it is no surprise that high school seniors' scores were low; they noted a consistent decline in the comparative standards of fourth, and eighth-grade students in mathematics and science. They attribute much of the decline to inherent flaws in mathematics and science curriculum and pedagogy in the United States: Our curriculum doesn't focus on key topics. Our curriculums and textbooks are highly repetitive and unchallenging, grade after grade. How could they provide a sound foundation on which to build during the high school years? (p. C5). Education and teacher education continue to be topics of political discussion as well. In his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton proposed a $12 billion initiative over a 7-year period to help reduce primary grade class size to a nationwide average of 18 students per class. In subsequent speeches, he has proposed the hiring of an additional 100,000 new primary teachers, all of whom should be well prepared and required to pass state competency tests. Even before adding the 100,000 additional primary teachers that President Clinton proposes, school districts face record enrollments, current shortages of qualified teachers in some fields, and a projected need for many more teachers. Darling-Hammond (1998) reports, By 1998, America's schools will enroll more children--52 million--than they have ever enrolled before, even at the height of the baby boom. With more than one quarter of all teachers over the age of 50 and attrition of beginning teachers hovering around 30% over the first three to five years of teaching, the demand for teachers will be pressing for years to come (Darling-Hammond, 1998, p. 8). In a front-page story, the Boston Globe (Daley, 1988), describes the impending problem from an urban district's perspective. Almost half of Boston's 4,600 teachers are expected to retire in the next 10 years, at a time when enrollment is growing by about 1.4% each year. The district currently has 84% minority students and about 39% minority teachers. Boston, like most urban districts, wants to increase the percentage of minority teachers as it recruits replacement teachers for the upcoming retirements. …