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Bill Aids Math, Science Teaching ; $4.2 Million Initiative Would Upgrade Teacher Training, Create New Programs

Posted on: Monday, 30 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By GABRIELA C. GUZMAN Journal Staff Writer

SANTA FE If today's public school children are to become future scientists at a proposed spaceport in southern New Mexico, they'll need to know how to add, subtract and apply the concept of gravity.

Test scores show New Mexico's children struggle with those skills, but an initiative announced by Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday aims to change that.

More money to educate current and future teachers on better ways of teaching math and science, and the creation of a math and science bureau in the Public Education Department form the core of the proposal.

In addition, expanded outdoor classrooms and internships would help make math and science more relevant to young people.

The initiative would cost about $4.2 million over three years.

"We have to upgrade our math and science standards," Richardson said. "Our students' test scores are not what they should be."

By the ninth grade, 34 percent of students are proficient in math and 36 percent in science.

Some of those number drop dramatically when broken out by race and ethnicity. For example, in the ninth grade, 24.7 percent of Hispanic and 19.7 percent of Native American students are proficient in math, compared to 55.1 percent of Caucasian students.

Close to $500,000 is dedicated to improving training for prospective teachers at the state's colleges and universities.

"You can't teach what you don't know," said Sen. Cynthia Nava, D- Las Cruces, a sponsor of the proposed legislation.

Source: Albuquerque Journal

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