October 2008
STEM Equity Pipeline News
Two States Added to STEM Equity Pipeline Project
The NAPE Education Foundation announces the addition of Iowa and Minnesota to the
states participating in the STEM Equity Pipeline Project. Iowa, led by the Iowa
Department of Education and Minnesota, led by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
and the Minnesota Department of Education, will be joining California, Illinois,
Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin who participated in the first year of the STEM
Equity Pipeline project.
ARTICLES
No Gender Differences in Math Performance
(ScienceDaily, July 27, 2008)
We've all heard it. Many of us in fact believe it. Girls just aren't as good at
math as boys. But is it true? After sifting through mountains of data - including
SAT results and math scores from 7 million students who were tested in accordance
with the No Child Left Behind Act - a team of scientists says the answer is no.
Whether they looked at average performance, the scores of the most gifted children
or students' ability to solve complex math problems, girls measured up to boys.
More Information
Video Game Helps Math Students Vanquish an Archfiend: Algebra
(Winnie Hu, New York Times)
More than 100 New York City schools are using a video game called "Dimension M"
to help teach pre-algebra and algebra to middle-school students. "You have to be
at the top of your game," said Salma Nakhlawi, 13, who works to improve her math
skills so she can play "Dimension M" with friends. "I used to hate math, but I've
started to like it. I actually understand it more."
More Information
Math Skills Suffer in U.S., Study Finds
(Sara Rimer, New York Times)
The United States is failing to develop the math skills of both girls and boys,
especially among those who could excel at the highest levels, a new study asserts,
and girls who do succeed in the field are almost all immigrants or the daughters
of immigrants from countries where mathematics is more highly valued.
More Information
Energy Department Has High School Engineering Contest
(UPI.com, October 20, 2008)
The U.S. Department of Energy has started a new competition designed to allow high
school students to work on real world engineering challenges. The Real World Design
Challenge is intended to engage high school students with real engineering problems
faced by industry.
More Information
Yucaipa Math Teacher Emphasizes Process, Creative Thinking
(Michael Perrault, The Press-Enterprise)
At Canyon Middle School in Yucaipa, teacher Zach More is serious about ensuring
that solving algebra problems never gets stale in his class. Even after 11 years
of teaching algebra, he pushes himself to find new ways to make sure his students
are grasping often-abstract concepts such as polynomials, factorization and formulas.
His enthusiasm, coupled with skill, hard work and a track record of success, earned
More a Teacher of the Year title this year in San Bernardino County.
More Information
Math Study Evaluates Digital Aides
Researchers in Kentucky are learning important lessons about whether students with
disabilities are benefiting from a digital math textbook that speaks words and equations
aloud while highlighting those elements on a computer screen. The research is one
of several federally funded projects to identify ways to deliver curriculum content
that are more effective than printed books or the common forms of digital textbooks.
More Information
AAUW to Launch Major STEM Study with Funding from National Science Foundation
AAUW has won a two-year, $249,000 grant from the National NSF to launch a major
study of the causes and dynamics behind the low participation of women and girls
in the STEM fields.
More Information
Students Who Use "Clickers" Score Better on Physics Tests
Hand-held electronic devices called clickers are helping college students learn
physics, according to a series of research studies. Ohio State University students
who used the devices to answer multiple-choice questions during physics lectures
earned final examination scores that were around 10 percent higher--the equivalent
of a full-letter grade--than students who didn't.
More Information
PUBLICATIONS
Why Women Choose IT
The Girls Scouts and the National Center for Women and Information Technology have
released a study with their findings in the third phase of "Evaluating Promising
Practices in Information Technology (IT) for Girls." This third and final phase
surveyed women currently working in IT to determine what influences in early life
caused them to pursue a career in computing.
More Information
Cross-Cultural Analysis of Students with Exceptional Talent in Mathematical Problem
Solving
(Titu Andreescu, Joseph A. Gallian, Jonathan M. Kane, and Janet E. Mertz)
This article explains that many girls exist who possess such extremely high aptitude
for mathematics. The frequency with which they are identified is due, at least in
part, to a variety of socio-cultural, educational, or other environmental factors
that differ significantly among countries and ethnic groups and can change over
time.
More Information
RESOURCES
Visit SMILE for science and math activities that you and the kids in your life will
love.
These fellowships are awarded to qualified young men and women committed to teaching
high school science and/or mathematics in American schools.
Low-income and middle-income high school students with top math and science test
scores may be eligible to apply for up to four years of free college tuition.
Two new parts to The Sounds of Progress, a free series of radio stories that highlight
the changing role of girls and women in STEM, are available.
SAVE THE DATE
"Partners on the Path to Equity"
March 29-April 1, 2009 Arlington, VA
"Documenting Performance Results: Step One of the Five-Step Program Improvement
Process"
November 5, 2008, 2 pm ET
"Identifying Root Causes: Step Two of the Five-Step Program Improvement Process"
November 19, 2008, 2 pm ET
"Interactive Effects in the Theory of Planned Behavior"
December 17, 2008, 2 pm ET
"Inspiring Girls in Science and Engineering: Interactive Program Models and Resources"
November 12, 2008, 11:00 AM Pacific
"Sustainable Science"
Portland, Oregon, November 20-22, 2008