Carol’s summary:

Although our nation’s worst readers have made some strides, over the past 17 years reading scores have stayed about the same for most students, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress sponsored by the American Institutes Research. The reading test, mandated by Congress, was given to 338,000 fourth- and eighth-grade students last spring. Here are a few highlights from the report:
o The average scores of fourth graders in the bottom 10 percent for reading increased by 16 points from 2000 to 2009.
o In contrast, the average scores of the nation’s best fourth-grade readers, those in the top 10 percent, rose by only 2 points during the same period.
o On average, 33 percent of fourth graders scored at or above the proficient level in the latest reading results.
o Math scores rose 20 points for eighth graders and 27 points for fourth graders from 1990 to 2009; But in the most recent period, from 2007 to 2009, math scores also failed to rise much.

Experts point to two plausible reasons for stagnant scores in reading: In children’s lives, reading time has been replaced with surfing the Internet, texting and watching television. Other experts fault weak curriculum, particularly as students move past elementary school into the upper grade levels, as the culprit to stagnant scores.

If students are to improve in reading ability and comprehension, they first must love to read. LifeBound’s books foster a joy of reading through personal awareness, learning and growth, and our programs are used in summer academies, advisory, and English and Social Studies classes. Each text addresses the developmental issues students encounter at each grade level, 5-12, and includes stories about real students who’ve overcome obstacles that our readers can identify with. For review copies, please contact the LifeBound office by calling toll free 1.877.737.8510 or email contact@lifebound.com.

ARTICLE

March 25, 2010

New York Times
By SAM DILLON

The nation’s schoolchildren have made little or no progress in reading proficiency in recent years, according to results released Wednesday from the largest nationwide reading test. The scores continue a 17-year trend of sluggish achievement in reading that contrasts with substantial gains in mathematics during roughly the same period.
“The nation has done a really good job improving math skills,” said Mark Schneider, a vice president at the American Institutes for Research and a former official at the Education Department, which oversees the test, known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. “In contrast, we have made only marginal improvements in reading.”
Why math scores have improved so much faster than reading scores is much debated; the federal officials who produce the test say it is intended to identify changes in student achievement over time, not to identify causes.

To view the entire article visit
http://nyti.ms/9DDiFZ

Carol’s summary:

Studies show that women tend to be underrepresented in math and science due to stereotypes and cultural biases, and this week’s report by the National Science Foundation offers insights that can help draw more women to careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.  One study at the University of Chicago from earlier this year (January 2010) revealed that women teachers who were anxious about math transmitted that anxiety to some of the girls in their class, and that the girls who subsequently subscribed to the math-is-for-boys stereotype got lower scores on a math test than the girls who didn’t. 

Source:  http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/01/14/0910967107

The good news is that math skills, like other intellectual pursuits, are not fixed and can grow with practice.  Research also indicates that girls who have mothers, older sisters or other female role models who like math and science tend not to succumb to the stereotypes.  Starting in the early grade levels, teachers can help students develop patterns of question asking that foster critical and creative thinking.  LifeBound’s book, CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING, is coordinated to 21^st century skills and offers real-life contemporary and historic examples in each chapter of men and women who excel in the sciences and other innovative fields.  Each chapter features exercises, “Thinking on the Cutting Edge,” that prompt student to probe beneath the surface on various topics or issues.  Here’s an example from Chapter 4:  Knowing about birds’ flying formations (they fly in Vs) what questions can you ask that might save humans time and energy? We follow this exercise with questions posed by scientists and engineers from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center to help students apply the birds’ efficient flying relationship to aircraft. When students become great questions askers, they can begin to see new perspectives on problems, and to move the brain from problem to solution mode, skills that all students need for 21^st century work.

How can we do a better job of encouraging girls to strive to do well in math and science?

How can we help match girls with female role models who are in STEM careers?

What resources might help teachers move past these obstacles to help girls reach their full potential?

 ####

ARTICLE

New York Times

by Tamarin Lewis

A report on the underrepresentation of women in science and math by the American Association of University Women, to be released Monday, found that although women have made gains, stereotypes and cultural biases still impede their success. The report, “Why So Few?,” supported by the National Science Foundation, examined decades of research to cull recommendations for drawing more women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the so-called STEM fields. “We scanned the literature for research with immediate applicability,” said Catherine Hill, the university women’s research director and lead author of the report. “We found a lot of small things can make a difference, like a course in spatial skills for women going into engineering, or teaching children that math ability is not fixed, but grows with effort.”

To view entire article visit 

http://nyti.ms/djzVsl