A Beef with Bush’s Plan

In his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush called for 70,000 teachers over the next five years to lead Advanced Placement math and science courses. This would be an expansion of nearly 38,000 teachers with such training. The initiative also calls for encouraging 30,000 math and science professionals to become adjunct high school teachers. According to Lisa Carboni, director of teacher education in Duke University’s Program in Education, the president appears to believe that all one needs in order to teach is advanced knowledge in a subject area. But successful instruction also includes effective teaching strategies and an understanding of how students learn. Carboni proposes that teachers make professional partnerships with scientists and mathematicians; collaboration would allow teachers to share their expertise in teaching while gaining valuable content knowledge. At a time when finding enough teachers to teach basic math and science is of national concern, many wonder how our country will fare in finding teachers qualified to teach advanced courses in these areas.