Fear Not the 'Nerd Patrol’
President Bush stumps for science and math learning; librarians ponder role
By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2006
Studying math and science doesn’t make you less cool. That’s the message President Bush delivered to students in a presentation outside an Intel chip-making plant in Albuquerque, NM, recently reported the New York Times.
Rather than peg you as a member of the “nerd patrol,” Bush told youngsters, a renewed emphasis on math and science education will help the nation stay prominent in the new global economy.
Bush’s new American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), unveiled during his January State of the Union address, commits $5.9 billion in new funding in FY 2007 to support scientific research and science and math education programs. ACI will expand Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate science and math programs, bring 30,000 new math and science teachers into high schools nationwide, and create new programs similar to Reading First to bolster math learning in elementary and middle schools. The administration is also calling on states to adopt No Child Left Behind Act science assessments to help gauge adequate yearly progress.
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), among other educators, applauded the move. “Our nation’s science teachers are educating the next generation of scientists, engineers, and workers who find new ways to defend our country, create new technologies, and cure diseases,” says Gerald Wheeler, NSTA’s executive director. “We commend the president for highlighting the importance of science and math before a national audience.”
Education secretary Margaret Spellings followed up the president’s message, announcing the formation of a new $10 million National Math Panel to evaluate the effectiveness of K–12 math teaching methods.
Will media specialists have a role in the new initiative? Absolutely, says Linda Williams, president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). “If there’s a focus on [math and science], the library media specialist will be right there. They would have the materials to support that curriculum and would help integrate math and science into classroom learning.” Williams, who is also director of library media services for the Anne Arundel County (MD) Public Schools, says science is not currently on the Maryland state test, but will be in 2007. “The schools are gearing up for that.”
While not presently on AASL’s agenda, math and science, along with ACI, might become topics for discussion at the organization’s next executive board meeting in May, says Williams. “Perhaps we could create guidelines for materials related to the integration of math and science.” AASL may also coordinate on programming with NSTA, she says.
Still, some groups are wondering how President Bush can effectively support math and science in schools after culling the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program in his recently proposed budget. The administration zeroed out the $272 million EETT, for many states the sole source of federal funding for technology in their schools. “We are deeply disappointed that the administration has chosen, once again, to eliminate federal funding for education technology,” says Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education. “Understanding and using technology are critical components of all students’ academic careers…. We do not see how eliminating federal education technology funding advances [the president’s] global competitiveness agenda or helps our students.”
