Title : NSF 94-12 - 2nd National Conference on Diversity in the Scientific and Technological Workforce (Part 2) Type : Report NSF Org: EHR Date : June 8, 1994 File : nsf9412b HEARING I: THE STATE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION Luther S. Williams, Co-Chair Assistant Director, Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) Eugene H. Cota-Robles, Co-Chair Former Special Assistant for Human Resource Development and Affirmative Action Officer, NSF Wanda Ward, Recorder Program Director, Career Access EHR, NSF OPENING REMARKS Eugene H. Cota-Robles I serve as a member of a National Research Council committee responsible for looking at what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) can do to develop a National Scholars Program. While there has been an overall increase in minorities at the doctoral level, from 32 percent to 40 percent, the number of minorities at the doctoral level in the physical sciences has declined. A survey of the top 20 universities reveals that only 104 Mexican Americans earned baccalaureate degrees in physical science. There is a program in San Diego that follows students through junior high and high school. Ninety-two percent of the students who participated in the program enrolled in college. We must ask the question, `Can this program be replicated?' Solutions include o Unite minority student development with teacher development o Keep students in school o Provide encouragement o Work at all levels of the education system Luther S. Williams The opening hearing will examine in detail the state of science and mathematics education in America and will form the basis of the two-day conference. My presentation will begin with an overview of the state of math and science education in the context of the education universe (Fig. 1). Results of an international study of nine selected countries revealed that o Between 1964 and 1982, there was no significant progress for American students in mathematics (Fig. 2a). o Between 1970 and 1984 in America, there was a slight improvement in science (Fig. 2b). To fully understand why the American standing in the international arena is deficient, one must conduct a disaggregated analysis of American students. The top 20 percent of American students perform well in math and science. The problem lies in what happens to the other 80 percent. We must develop programs that educate students that occupy the middle, around 35 percent, and the 45 percent that make up the bottom portions of our system. An aggregate of programs that address this enormous differential in American students' math and science performance must be developed. Solutions must address real conditions. We cannot design solutions for a K-12 system when America does not have a K-12 system. Math and science, in most instances, are not required in the 10th through 12th grades where the real deficiency occurs. A study conducted by NSF revealed that less than 50 percent of the student population take Algebra 2, Integrated Math, or Chemistry by the time they graduate (Fig. 3). In many states, because of the lack of chemistry and physics teachers, the opportunity to take these subjects does not exist (Fig. 4a; 4b). There were no significant changes in the number of teachers majoring in math between 1988 and 1991. The number of teachers with majors in science has decreased. The following additional factors contribute to the state of science and mathematics education in America, with particular emphasis on minorities: o Eighty-five percent of the teachers surveyed indicated that they did not have the provisional resources needed to teach. o Ninety-five percent of white students are taught by white teachers. At the fourth-grade level, 40 percent of African American students are taught by African American teachers. At the eighth-grade level, fewer than 20 percent of African American students are taught by African American teachers. Fewer than 20 percent of Hispanic teachers are at both grade levels. o There is a definite and positive correlation between parental economic status and student achievement. o A twofold difference exists between minority and majority students in eighth-grade math performance (Fig. 5) (State Indicators of Science and Mathematics 1993, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)). Systemic reform of mathematics and science education in the generic could have the consequences of widening the performance gap between students enrolled in resource-adequate as contrasted with resource-poor schools. To counter this possible development, the Urban Systemic Initiative will target the 25 cities with the largest enrollment of students living in poverty. The NSF and the U.S. Department of Education will commit up to $1 billion to this effort over the next five years. Solutions include o Examine the system and be sure the solutions fit the problem. Be sure that there is a K-12 system o Ensure that the instructional workforce has the needed competency and skills o Be sure that instructional materials and resources are available o Examine the larger educational, social, economic, and cultural background indices and indicators of math and science education, and incorporate findings in program design and implementation TESTIMONY Eva L. Evans Deputy Superintendent for Instruction Lansing Public Schools and President-Elect, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. I am committed to involving the breadth and depth of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority chapters all over the United States in a systemic initiative to engage each community to help in this American challenge: to help students get to the university level. In some instances we will bolster existing initiatives, and in other cities we will create new ones. I was encouraged by the words of Dr. Luther S. Williams in his major address at the 1992 National Conference. He stated, "We seek to engage efforts that go beyond study and investigation to action of sufficient and appropriate scale informed by those indices essential to problem solving." I agree. It is time for action. We enter the foray fully cognizant that to discontinue trends of underrepresentation in the mathematics and science fields will require support from within the K-12 educational community and support from outside of the educational community. The women of Alpha Kappa Alpha are fully aware that the major trends of the 21st century show that to be an employed, contributing citizen, individuals will need to know and use mathematical and scientific principles. The professional women of Alpha Kappa Alpha also know that some students come to school with more of what the school values and measures than others. We know that some students can go home and get the help they need. Others go home to parents who are illiterate. Some students could do very well with a little help. Others need many social institutions to intervene in their lives. I am proposing that Alpha Kappa Alpha chapters all over the United States will leverage our organization to work with the African American community to raise their awareness of the importance of their children taking advanced coursework in math and science. We will conduct science and youth talent fairs in major cities with parents, students, school districts, colleges, churches, and universities to get the message that o These subjects can be learned. o African American children can learn. o They may be difficult and require study--but that does not matter. o The school district can help the children to learn, but the students must be engaged. o Finally, it requires the entire village to raise the children. It is our intent to use our leverage in each community in the United States to help the schools do their jobs. We believe that schools should have, on paper, a strong and challenging curriculum. It should have capable, competent teachers who are willing to help each student learn science and math in an interesting way. But we also know that is not enough. The goals of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority from 1994 to 1998 will be severalfold: o Increase by 100 percent the number of African American students who take and do well in advanced science and mathematics o Decrease by 100 percent the number of African American students who score significantly below average on math and science proficiency tests o Provide culturally enriching experience in science and mathematics for 50 students each summer on campuses in nine AKA regions of the United States o Provide comprehensive staff development opportunities for science and mathematics educators o Create collaborations, partnerships, and dialogue between AKA, public schools, colleges and universities, state departments of education, and the NSF, trade associations, teacher unions, and churches. Continue ongoing academic support programs such as neighborhood education centers, tutoring, mentoring, and Saturday schools. Mobilize the hundreds of thousands of dollars given annually in scholarships by AKA chapters for students who expect to study math and science o Develop a research paradigm that enables the sorority to better understand which of the strategies makes a difference, as well as to better understand the reading and other barriers that are often why students do not do well in mathematics and science. In addition to the books that AKA currently gives to students, distribute science-related books, video games, and computer software o Develop a model for science and youth talent fairs for the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha to implement in their various communities o Use technology as an organizing variable in staff development o Add to the national clearinghouse(s) of literature for what works in aiding African American students in America o Heighten the awareness of science and mathematics' importance to African American communities in the major cities in America o Expand the knowledge of the African American community of the career opportunities available in science and mathematics o Engage our higher education HBCU (historically black college and university) colleagues in the formation of partnerships with institutions who will recognize the potential of their graduates to earn M.A.s and Ph.D.s where minorities are underrepresented o Work with business and industry to aid in the cultivation of a workforce for the 21st century We believe these goals to be attainable because Alpha Kappa Alpha women, when mobilized, can get the attention of the community. As we stand on the threshold of the millennium, we know that we must mount this important initiative so that our students--our heritage--the best we have to give to the world--will better be prepared to help themselves and their country. Maria Santos Supervisor, Mathematics and Science Division San Francisco Unified School District Society has spent a great deal of time and energy through the media criticizing public urban education and teachers. We are working diligently with limited resources to serve our very diverse and complex student population. In San Francisco we enjoy a student population that is rich in challenges and opportunities. We have over 100 different language groups in our classrooms, of which 30 percent are developing the English language as a second language. Our largest ethnic distributions are clustered at 24 percent Latino, 18 percent African American, 31 percent Asian, and 16 percent Euro-Caucasian. The statistics presented in the 1993 State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education speak to the large differential in opportunities and results for students traditionally underrepresented in the fields of mathematics and science. These statistics continue to tell the story of how little has been accomplished in the area of classroom instruction for underrepresented students. To begin to make significant accomplishments toward the narrowing of the gap, we need to start by owning these statistics. All sites, districts, schools, and teachers must own up to the statistics and challenge themselves to change their situation. The environmental community's slogan "Think globally, act locally" is called for here. Most classroom teachers view the statistics as foreign to their immediate environment. They know students are failing, but is it a significant number of their students? They know science and mathematics instruction leaves a lot be desired, but they don't fully understand what makes for a quality mathematics and science program, how to do it and how to know what effects their small starts are having on students. Since change is sometimes slow and difficult to assess, it is important to remind ourselves of what we have accomplished. This means we have to try new approaches and simultaneously document our work, then reflect on the outcomes. Most districts, schools, and teachers spend little time on documentation and reflection. Yet as we make improvement and struggle through change, we need to examine the enabling conditions, the points of most resistance, and the strategies that enhance teachers' classroom instruction. In San Francisco, we believe that each student can and will learn the importance of mathematics and science, but we own the responsibility for building the structure. We have given ourselves permission to experiment on initiatives to that end. We document closely the work and have increased the active participation of teachers and students in the documentation process. We decided to build district capacity for a major science improvement initiative. We spent three years developing curriculum, selecting instructional materials, building a leadership team, establishing a material restocking center, and creating site awareness for the need for change. Through four collaborative programs, we developed teacher leaders and drew principals into the reform process. This successful collaboration effort was supported by contributions from the San Francisco Science Leadership Project, funded by the San Francisco Foundation; the City Science Project, a partnership with the University of San Francisco funded by NSF; Partners in Science Learning, a partnership with the Exploratorium funded by NSF; and K-5 Science ARTIST, funded by the Department of Education's First Program. Jointly, we developed over 120 leaders who are enthusiastic about science; who have developed more confidence, knowledge, skills, and thinking in science teaching; and who play a variety of roles in the district. The science teacher leaders will be delivering three districtwide professional development days for all elementary school teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and interested parents. Targeted programs to address differential performance have been initiated. In the Mission district, a large Latino community, we have established "Taller de Ciencias de la Mission," a rich science center. This project is a partnership with San Francisco City College, the Exploratorium, San Francisco State University, and the District funded by California's Post-Secondary Commission's Eisenhower competitive grant program. While this project is in its infancy, our goals are to build in the Latino community a science-rich center that offers field trips, and a place where students can tinker with and build Exploratorium-type exhibits after school and on Saturdays. How do we design learning experiences to engage these learners? How do we make it fun? We need to care about students and show them we care by understanding the student population we are working with, at each grade level, where they are developmentally, what are their interests/questions, what are their backgrounds, and what do they bring to the learning process. How instruction is designed is important. Are we designing learning experiences that challenge students to investigate, create, reflect, analyze, critique, and interpret, or are we limiting these students to the world of recall? What do we believe is important learning? What do we believe students must be able to do? These questions must be answered daily. There is a curriculum that teachers are delivering, but what is the learning experience that is going to engage the student? Currently, we plan using the following paradigm, "What do I need to do to teach this concept?" We need to shift the paradigm to "How can I help each student construct understanding of this concept?" This second question leads teachers to design an array of learning opportunities using multiple activities and resources to engage students in the construction of knowledge, skills, and thinking. Changing the traditional teaching practice is difficult. How do we do it? I submit that carefully designed professional development is key. Professional development has to address teachers' knowledge, skills, and thinking in the specific content area. It needs to build confidence and enthusiasm for the teaching of the subject matter. It also needs to build teachers' capacity to open possibilities of learning in the subject area for each student. J. Herman Blake Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education Indiana University--Purdue University at Indianapolis Indiana developed two significant programs after attending the 1992 NSF conference: o A six-week math camp for seventh graders was developed. The camp targeted high-potential but low-performing students. o A science and math workshop was provided for ministers, with the goal of integrating science experiments and math into the church and church service. One church is actively participating. Twenty churches have expressed interest. A strategy has been developed by which ministers incorporate global issues bearing on the essentiality of math and science as a part of the religious services and make provisions of church-based informal science education experiences. The presenter acknowledged this approach could be controversial, but he feels it is important to take science to the students. The following figures are not included in this electronic version: Figure 1 Figure 2A Figure 2B Figure 3 Figure 4A Figure 4B Figure 5 HEARING II: MINORITY PRECOLLEGE STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT Daryl Chubin, Co-Chair Director, Division of Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) Elizabeth Stage, Co-Chair Co-Director, Science Initiatives, New Standards Project Office of the President University of California at Oakland Costello Brown, Recorder Program Director, Career Access EHR, NSF and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies California State University at Los Angeles OPENING REMARKS Daryl Chubin Members of minority groups--specifically, African American and Hispanic students--appear to face academic obstacles as early as grade 4, according to the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), published in 1992. NAEP is funded by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. NAEP is the only national study that continuously assesses what American students know and can do in various subjects. The subjects tested are science, mathematics, geography, history, reading, and writing. TESTIMONY Bernice Taylor Anderson Research Scientist Educational Testing Service Beatriz Chu Clewell Senior Research Scientist Educational Testing Service Dr. Clewell and her colleague, Dr. Anderson, discussed NAEP's 1990 survey and its findings. The presentation provided information on the average science proficiency and variation by gender, ethnicity, and geographic region for grades 4, 8, and 12. Approximately 20,000 students participated in the survey during the winter and spring of 1990. The data on racial and ethnic differences in access to science-related activities in education were also reviewed during this hearing. The questionnaire was a series of multiple-choice questions designed to measure students' knowledge of the nature of science, including the life, physical, earth, and space sciences. NAEP also collected information on what sciences students were learning about in the classroom, as well as outside the classroom. Dr. Anderson pointed out that there are four times as many white students in the sample as African American and Hispanic students. This study also revealed that African American students were concentrated in the Southeast and Hispanic students were in the West. However, students were evenly divided by gender. The results of NAEP's assessment were analyzed by item response theory methods. This analysis allowed NAEP to describe performance across grades and subpopulations on a proficiency scale of 0 to 500. The four levels of proficiency identified were as follows: o 200--Student understands simple scientific principles. o 250--Student can apply general scientific information. o 300--Student can analyze scientific procedures and data. o 350--Students can integrate specialized scientific information. Several findings emerged from the study: o The educational system continues to perpetuate gender inequity in science, favoring males. o The types of science experiences that students have, both in and out of school, affect their attitudes toward science as well as their acquisition of science knowledge. o Fewer than half of elementary and high school minority students are receiving science instruction every day. o Students, regardless of race/ethnicity and grade, spend too little time each week on science homework. o The lecture method continues to dominate teaching practices in science. o Most minority students are more likely to take biology and then elect not to take additional high school science coursework. o Higher percentages of all students expressed a liking for science in grade 4 than in grades 8 and 12. In addition, the audience expressed great skepticism about the reporting and use of NAEP data, which is discussed in the recommendations. HEARING III: THE PREPARATION OF K-12 TEACHERS George Peterson, Co-Chair Executive Director Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Dorothy Strong, Co-Chair Manager of Mathematics Support Chicago Public Schools and Program Director, Urban Systemic Initiatives Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) Terry Woodin, Recorder Program Director Division of Undergraduate Education EHR, NSF OPENING REMARKS George Peterson In order to attain the goal of Hearing III, we have adopted an ambitious agenda. Based on the sobering statistics Dr. Betty Vetter will provide and the example of two exemplary programs presented by Dr. Abdulalim Shabazz of Clark Atlanta University and Dr. Thomas O'Haver of the University of Maryland at College Park, the audience will consider themselves agents of change, form teams of three to five members, and recommend strategies to reach the goal. Dorothy Strong These days my time is split between the Chicago Public Schools and the National Science Foundation. Thus, I understand both the current need for teachers well trained in mathematics and science and the changes in the public schools of this Nation that will result from the implementation of new standards in mathematics and science. Programs for prospective teachers must be developed which recognize the needs and interests of this Nation's diverse population. As you listen to the speakers, put yourselves in my shoes and think of strategies to increase the number of women and minorities who are new entrants to the teaching profession in mathematics and the sciences. TESTIMONY Betty M. Vetter Executive Director Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology In assessing our progress in achieving diversity among science teachers, we need first to examine three questions: o Relative to their presence in the working population and to the school-age population, are minority members appropriately represented among teachers? If not, is their representation increasing? o Is the preparation of minority students to become mathematics and science teachers better than, worse than, or the same as that of majority teachers? o Are efforts to recruit well-prepared students to become science and mathematics teachers different when recruiting minority students, and if so, is such difference an advantage, a necessity, or a disadvantage, and why? We do have several recent new sources of information, including four in particular: o Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: First Edition. (1992) Washington, DC: The National Science Foundation. o The Schools and Staffing in the U.S. (1991) Washington, DC: The Department of Education. o Blank, R.K., and Gruebel, D. (1993). State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education: 1993.Washington, DC: Council of State School Officers, State Education Assessment Center. o Nelson, B.H., Weiss, I., Conaway, L.E. (1990). Science and Mathematics Education Briefing Book: Volume II. Washington, DC: National Science Teachers Association. The easiest of my three questions to answer is the one we'll start with: whether minorities are appropriately represented among secondary science and mathematics teachers. The answer is that they are not. Racial and ethnic minorities are 25 percent of the U.S. population and 27 percent of the school-age population, but only 11 percent of secondary mathematics teachers and only 8 percent of secondary science teachers (Percent Minorities in Different Populations, 1991). The second question is the one I will concentrate on this morning: whether the preparation of minority students for teaching mathematics and science is comparable to the preparation of non-minority science and mathematics teachers. The third question, dealing with recruitment differences, if any, for minority and non-minority students as potential teachers, I will leave to my distinguished colleagues. In 1990-91 the Education Department surveyed a national integrated sample of public and private school teachers. One of the questions asked was how many undergraduate and graduate courses teachers had taken in mathematics, computer science, biological science, chemistry, physics, earth science, and other sciences. Teaching assignments also were ascertained separately, so it was possible to select only teachers whose primary or secondary teaching assignment was mathematics or science and to compare their group answers on college preparation in these fields. More than one-tenth of all secondary science and mathematics teachers reported taking no mathematics courses at all in college. Men were more likely than women to report taking no college mathematics, and minority teachers--especially Native Americans--were somewhat more likely than others to have taken no college mathematics. The situation is more mixed when one considers how many teachers have taken college science courses. We cannot break out the data to determine how many teachers who actually teach a particular subject (such as chemistry) do so without any college preparation in that subject. But the large proportion of secondary science and mathematics teachers who took no chemistry, physics, earth science, or computer science indicates that among both majority and minority teachers, the general level of science preparation is not as high as we might wish. This study also shows that among elementary teachers, 92.2 percent reported taking one or more mathematics courses in college, compared with only 88 percent of secondary science and mathematics teachers. Elementary teachers also are more likely than high school science teachers to report having taken computer science courses. However, when it comes to chemistry, physics, and (to a lesser extent) biology and earth sciences, more elementary teachers report no college courses taken than is true for secondary science and mathematics teachers. How much difference in preparation, by sex or by race, does this study indicate? By sex, men who are elementary teachers report less college preparation in mathematics, computer science, or science than women do. At the secondary level, women science teachers are more likely than men to have taken some college courses in math, computer science, and biology. Men are somewhat more likely than women to have taken some college physics, earth science, and chemistry. By race, Native American teachers of both sexes and at both levels are more likely to report no college courses in mathematics and science, but the sample size is small, so the numbers may be deceptive. In general, African American teachers are less likely than white or Asian teachers to have taken one or more college courses in physics, chemistry, or earth science. However, they are less likely than whites to report taking no college mathematics courses. Because most elementary teachers teach whatever science their students are exposed to in school, the large percentage of elementary teachers reporting no college courses in these subjects also is of concern. Mathematics and biology are the only subjects at the college level taken by most elementary teachers, regardless of sex or race. But the available data indicate an improving situation in the representation of minority teachers in science and mathematics, as verified by the NSF indicators study showing that the percentage of minorities among new hires is substantially higher than the percentage in the total science and mathematics teaching staff. As for the adequacy of teacher preparation for teaching science and mathematics, the need for better college preparation in the sciences and mathematics obviously is not restricted to minority teachers. Thomas C. O'Haver Professor of Chemistry, Chemistry Department University of Maryland at College Park What is the role of faculty from the scientific disciplines in the preparation of mathematics and science teachers? I believe that they have an essential contribution to make in the development and delivery of content courses taken by prospective teachers. Active scientists and mathematicians who have personally experienced the excitement of scientific inquiry and the beauty, relevance, and power of the ideas of mathematics and science are especially qualified to bring these experiences to students and to our future teachers with authenticity and passion. Academic scientists and engineers have valuable intellectual and professional backgrounds and a wealth of experience, skills, and talents that have enabled them to identify and to solve key problems in a vast array of areas. And discipline faculty bring a measure of scientific authority that is important in making the hard choices required to make deep changes in content courses, particularly in discarding traditional content that no longer serves the current population of students. But there are many challenges. Most discipline departments are still centered on their own majors and, in the research-oriented universities, on their graduate students. The value system within such departments is based on competition for resources--faculty, space, and money--with other departments. Discipline faculty have traditionally liked to teach future professionals in their own fields--young versions of themselves. In most departments, the large elementary science courses are aimed primarily at the preparation of future professionals in the sciences or the health industry. Such courses are often oriented toward building the quantitative skills and vocabulary that science majors will need in more advanced courses. The terminal course for nonmajors is often a small part of the entire enterprise and is not viewed as the most fertile ground for recruiting more majors. Discipline faculty usually have no formal training in pedagogical methods and are not traditionally familiar with the educational research literature. Progress is being made, if slowly. Encouraged by many substantial and innovative programs supported by NSF and other organizations, we science faculty are gradually changing the way we teach. The large-scale projects--such as the Statewide Systemic Initiatives and the NSF Collaboratives for Teacher Preparation projects now under way in Maryland, Louisiana, and Montana--will surely produce substantial results in time. The Maryland collaborative project, for example, is working to develop a new program of interdisciplinary science and mathematics courses and field experiences for prospective upper elementary and middle school teachers that models the best instructional practice; emphasizes important connections between science, mathematics, and technology; includes substantial field experiences; uses modern technologies as standard tools; exhibits sensitivity to cultural diversity of students; provides experiences in school settings that enroll children of all levels of ability; and includes placement assistance and sustained in-service support. The excitement and energy generated by such major funding programs helps generate critically needed mind-share in busy discipline faculty. Already in the Maryland project, faculty in the mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biological sciences departments in nine state colleges and universities have joined their colleagues from the departments of education to inform each other of the major trends and big ideas in their respective fields and to collaborate on the development of new theme-oriented course materials, content strand analysis, and course configurations. Such collaborations between disciplines present wonderful opportunities for illuminating useful connections between the sciences and mathematics. For example, one theme-oriented unit on symmetry, developed this summer in the Maryland collaboratives project, combines and connects elements of coordinate geometry, group theory, matrix algebra, the symmetry of elementary particles, biomolecules, chiral drugs (e.g., the thalidomide tragedy), food flavorings, kaleidoscope construction, the imperfect bilateral symmetry of human faces, the operation of locks and keys, the mating rituals and pollination behavior of insects, and geometric African fabric designs. I believe there is reason to be hopeful about the future of science and mathematics education. Young people have a great deal of natural curiosity. They are often more open-minded and willing to experiment than teachers who were raised in an earlier age. Even more than reading about science, actually doing science in laboratory activities can be exciting and fun. It is critical that our future teachers be given practical hands-on laboratory experience in their college courses that supports their own personal conceptual development and builds their confidence and technical skill, so that they will have the commitment and resourcefulness needed to create similar opportunities for students in their future school settings. Discipline faculty who have mastered modern technological tools and laboratory techniques in their research careers have much to offer in educating the future teachers of this Nation. Abdulalim A. Shabazz Department of Mathematical Science Clark Atlanta University We have before us today a very important subject, a serious problem: How do we maintain competitiveness as the leading industrial country in the world? It is a fact that there is underrepresentation of so-called minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This is not just perceived or supposed, but real underrepresentation. This should be no surprise to any of us who read, who have lived in America, and who have some sensitivity to life in this country. Not only is there observed underrepresentation of teachers in the areas mentioned, there are some misconceptions that feed into and give body to this underrepresentation. I'll mention two of these misconceptions: (1) Only a few students can be expected to reach high levels of excellence in mathematics. (2) African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are not expected to reach high levels of excellence in mathematics. The victims believe it, and their parents believe it also. This has not always been so. Five hundred years ago, so-called minorities were leaders in all the arts and sciences. How do we combat these misconceptions? Let me tell you what is done at Clark Atlanta University. We make certain assumptions: o All children can do mathematics. o High levels of success in mathematics depend on students' perceptions of their abilities and hard work. o All students come to our classes to learn. Results from these assumptions are dramatic. In 1990, there were 35 mathematics majors at Clark Atlanta; now we have 160. By the end of the school year, we should have 200 or more students majoring in mathematics. Teachers at all levels who understand the role of culture and history in the education of students will soon see that underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans will be a thing of the past. Teachers must have several characteristics to cause this transformation in students: o Teachers must come with the knowledge of the subject to be taught and must be willing to teach all students. o Teachers must believe that all students can learn mathematics. o Teachers must accept that all students need to know the part they have played in the development of mathematical knowledge. o The preceding item must be kept in mind. Students benefit from knowing how they have contributed to the knowledge of the subject they are studying. o Teachers must come to know, love, and respect their students. o Teachers must not blame students or attack their self-esteem because of their lack of understanding or knowledge. o Teachers must make mathematics come alive and inspire their students to work hard. o Teachers must seek every opportunity to publicize their students' success. HEARING IV: THE TRANSITION FROM TWO- TO FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES Robert F. Watson, Co-Chair Director, Division of Undergraduate Education Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) James M. Rosser, Co-Chair President California State University at Los Angeles Carolyn Girardeau, Recorder Program Director Division of Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination EHR, NSF OPENING REMARKS Robert F. Watson Good afternoon and welcome to Hearing IV on the Transition from Two- to Four-Year Colleges. We have two goals. First, as stated in the program, by the year 2000 we seek to increase fourfold the number of minority students in two-year colleges that successfully transfer to four-year institutions. Our second goal is to come up with specific recommendations to the Nation for achieving the first goal. Increasingly, community and two-year colleges are assuming an important role in preparing U.S. students for careers in science and technology. The two-year college has traditionally prepared students to go directly into the workforce upon receipt of associate degrees, but community colleges are also increasingly important for the role they play in the pipeline toward baccalaureate and graduate degrees in the scientific disciplines as well. This is our focus today. Most minority students enrolled in higher education begin in two-year colleges. Thus, we must ensure their successful transfer if we are to meet our broader goals of increasing minority representation in scientific careers. For our purposes today, successful transfer is defined as achieving at least the baccalaureate degree. NSF has several programs that can consider and support creative projects focusing on these issues. These include most of the programs in the Divisions of Undergraduate Education and Human Resource Development; specifically, Advanced Technological Education (ATE), Course and Curriculum Development (CCD), Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI), Faculty Enhancement (FE), and Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP). Now to our agenda. First, you will hear from my distinguished co-chair and then our equally distinguished speakers, whose testimony will, no doubt, trigger many of our own creative notions. Following these presentations, promptly at 3 p.m., we will invite you to play musical chairs and form into a few groups for about 30 minutes to hammer out some recommendations that will form a part of our contribution to the conference report. The speakers will circulate among the groups, so I ask that you hold questions and comments as well as applause for them until that time. James M. Rosser We know that Hispanics, African Americans, and Native Americans are proportionately much less likely to participate in higher education than their Anglo and Asian American peers. Over the past decade, while students of color have increased at both two- and four-year institutions, with most of the growth occurring at the two-year level, these gains have not closed the participation rate gap. More important, gains in achievement and graduation rates have not improved significantly, and these students continue to lag behind their peers in functional competency in math and science and in oral and written communication. It is clear that there must be redefinition and improvement in the education offered to underrepresented students in two-year institutions if access gains are to be translated into eventual graduation rate and achievement gains at both two-year and baccalaureate-granting institutions. Two-year colleges are considered the gateway to higher education for most people from poor and underrepresented groups. However, we know that transfer rates of underrepresented students from two-year institutions are below those of their Anglo peers. Although the problem is complex, a basic part is structural. Certain community colleges are seen as "technical"; their educational objectives are not transfer-oriented. Others are seen as feeder institutions for four-year institutions, with primacy given to the transfer function. The reality is that community colleges that are seen as feeders for four-year institutions are not in Hispanic, African American, or Native American communities, further complicating the ability of these students to obtain a four-year degree. Today, higher education in this country faces the worst budget crisis in history. While demand for higher education is at an all-time high, tuition and fees are growing at a rate that is placing higher education beyond the reach of many eligible aspirants, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Indeed, financial aid has not kept pace, and the basis on which aid is granted as well as the mix of aid further complicates matters for poor, underrepresented students. To cope with budget reductions in California, the University of California, California State University, and the community colleges have raised fees, cut class schedules, limited admissions, and reduced enrollments. As this Nation and the world make the transition from an industrial to an information age, propelled by advances in math-based and math-related disciplines and fields of study, participation rates and the achievement gap for underrepresented students in math, science, engineering, and technology continue as formidable barriers to enhanced social and economic justice and the security of our Nation in an emergent, more competitive global marketplace. While acknowledging that the best place to address this national deficiency is in the pre-K through 12 sector, the pressure of the times and enrollment patterns mandate that we focus more attention on two-year and four-year colleges and universities. TESTIMONY Marsha Hirano-Nakanishi Director, Analytic Studies California State University System California accounts for one-fourth of the Nation's annual enrollment at two-year institutions. The combined proportion of underrepresented minority groups--African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and Pacific Islanders--is nearly 27 percent. California State University (CSU) is the largest senior institutional system in the Nation and confers about 5 percent of the baccalaureates conferred in this country. A key to CSU baccalaureate production is the community college transfer. The California higher education system was mandated in 1987 to place the transfer function as a "central institutional priority." In 1992, Senate Bill 121 called for all concerned to ensure transfer access toward the baccalaureate degree, to improve the level of academic preparation for transfer, to enhance transfer services in both two- and four-year institutions, and to ensure that high priority is placed on increasing the number and rates of transfer among underrepresented ethnic populations. CSU tracked transfer students for an eight-year period. Fifty-two percent earned baccalaureate degrees; 97 science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) degrees were conferred for every 1,000 transfers who entered the CSU system. For the underrepresented new transfers, 43.1 percent earned baccalaureates; only 49 SEM degrees were conferred for every 1,000 new transfers who entered the CSU system. In the total population, nearly 85 percent of the observed SEM graduates earned their baccalaureates in five years or less, while the comparable proportion for underrepresented minorities was 82 percent. The system office of the California Community Colleges is developing and maintaining a centralized database that documents the academic and demographic characteristics of all students at 107 campuses. The state soon will be better informed about the numbers systemwide and will be able to address questions such as the following: o How many community college students are able and motivated to transfer? o How successful are community colleges in preparing students for transfer? o For which categories of community college students is the transfer function most or least effective? Alfredo G. de los Santos, Jr. Vice Chancellor for Educational Development Maricopa Community College, Arizona Maricopa Community College (MCC) is the second-largest community college system in the United States and is composed of 10 colleges. Communication is the key. The president of Arizona State University (ASU), the fifth-largest university in the United States, and the chancellor of MCC meet twice a year. The provost and the vice chancellor meet monthly. MCC has curriculum committees comprising faculty from both the college and university. MCC has established transfer centers on campus that are also staffed twice a week by ASU staff. Programs in Maricopa County in which MCC and ASU participate are targeted to increase participation by underrepresented groups. The programs include o Program to Improve Minority Education (PRIME), which provides workshops on how to take examinations and encourages students to take advanced placement courses o Achieving a College Education (ACE), which forms a bridge between high school, community college, and the university o Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement/Achieving in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (MESA/AIMES) o Comprehensive Regional Centers for Minorities (CRCM) o Honors Math/Science Program at ASU, which is a residential four-week summer program in math and science serving 200 to 250 students Helen Giles-Gee Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Director of Articulation University of Maryland System In Maryland, there have been many examples of successful collaboration and articulation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs. In the fall of 1990 alone, public two-year colleges showed an 8 percent increase in enrollment. In the Maryland system, enrollment in community colleges increased from 86,054 in 1978 to 114,591 in 1991--a 33.2 percent change. Because of the large number of students attending two-year colleges, collaboration and articulation must continue and, in fact, increase. Barriers to potential transfer students include the following: o Transfer at the program level is complicated by costs associated with tenured faculty, equipment, small class sizes, laboratories, or special caps due to minimum grade point average (GPA) and course prerequisites. o Some Maryland institutions have developed "screened" major categories, requiring the fulfillment of specific academic standards and courses before admittance into a major program area, to ensure entrance of only the most qualified students. o Competition for spaces is sufficient to drive the required GPA higher than advertised. There are four elements that provide the opportunity to improve statewide student transfer: o The Maryland Higher Education Commission's student transfer policy stipulates the requirements of general education programs at both two- and four-year postsecondary institutions. The policy also provides for program articulation. o Recommended transfer programs are developed through consultation between sending and receiving institutions. The university is expected to systematically exchange information with the community college to ensure the transferability of credit units. o Institutions are required to designate a transfer coordinator to serve as a resource person for transfer students at both sending and receiving campuses. The transfer coordinator is responsible for overseeing the application of all policies and procedures. o A computerized data information system (ARTSYS) provides on-line information about transferability of community college courses. RECOMMENDATIONS o Develop an organizational structure that provides continued interaction and communication among persons across the state. By including persons responsible for programs within the same discipline, this should produce recommended transfer programs between all appropriate institutions o Develop a regular schedule of statewide discipline-based meetings and program-to-program meetings o Improve communication about changes in curriculum on several levels o Develop the capability to make ARTSYS available throughout the state network AUDIENCE COMMENTS What follows are the audience responses to the three issues raised by the co-chairs. o How can two-year colleges and four-year institutions collaborate to prepare students for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers? -- Institutionalize articulation agreements between two-year colleges and four-year colleges and universities on statewide levels -- Encourage cooperative curriculum development between two-year and four-year educators and administrators through such methods as (1) faculty exchange programs, (2) faculty internships, (3) joint development of curricular materials and pedagogical strategies, and (4) cooperative faculty enhancement opportunities -- Provide access to students from two-year colleges to research assistantships, bridge and transition programs, and similar activities at four-year colleges and universities -- Define clear articulation and education goals for two-year college curricula o What are some of the factors that can help improve articulation in STEM between two- and four-year institutions? -- Increase collaboration between two-year and four-year college faculty members. These efforts should involve such activities as joint development of curriculum and courses, faculty enhancement, and cooperative ventures with high school teachers -- Prepare students better in mathematics, science, and communication skills through interdepartmental cooperation -- Provide support to students during transition from high school to two-year colleges and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions -- Increase cooperation in articulation issues between two-year colleges and four-year institutions -- Recognize that needs of transfer students may differ from those of traditional students, and provide for these needs (evening and weekend courses, child care, laboratory and computer time during evening and weekend hours, etc.) o What efforts can EHR initiate to increase the transfer rate and improve the transition of students from two-year to four-year institutions in STEM fields? -- Support joint curriculum development and faculty enhancement projects that involve both two-year and four-year faculty members (e.g., expand the ATE program) -- Support programs for minority students attending community colleges that allow them to participate in summer STEM activities and programs at four-year institutions (e.g., Research Experiences for Undergraduates to involve community college students) -- Support transitional and bridge programs for minority students who transfer from two-year colleges to four-year institutions -- Encourage two-year colleges to take advantage of existing state and local initiatives to work cooperatively with four-year colleges and universities -- Support faculty exchange programs between two- and four-year institutions HEARING V: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BACHELOR DEGREE ATTAINMENT Roosevelt Calbert, Co-Chair Director, Division of Human Resource Development (HRD) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) Diana S. Natalicio, Co-Chair President University of Texas at El Paso Arturo Bronson, Recorder Program Director, Research Improvement in Minority Institutions, HRD EHR, NSF OPENING REMARKS Roosevelt Calbert Today we have assembled a blue-ribbon panel to give testimony on the issue of increasing the number of minority students who earn baccalaureate degrees in science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM). This issue shall be addressed from the perspectives of Native Americans, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans. Our panelists bring a wealth of experience from the college and university levels, ranging from the office of the president to the vice chancellor's office to the classroom. Each has a personal commitment to provide and assist undergraduate students with those critical activities that heighten teachers' expectations and produce a level of individual self-esteem that leads to a student's increased retention and a quality baccalaureate degree in science and engineering. TESTIMONY Manuel Gomez Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs University of California at Irvine The University of California's flagship initiative is the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP). Its goal is to double the number of minority students completing undergraduate degrees in SEM fields by the year 2000. We are working to construct a comprehensive approach to increasing the number of baccalaureate recipients from underrepresented groups. Several strategies contribute to the achievement and persistence of minority students: o Five basic elements of the strategy are (1) constructing alliances between institutions, students, faculty, and administrators; (2) constructing a pipeline of qualified, eligible, interested high school students in SEM fields; (3) supporting faculty-student mentorships; (4) documenting and evaluating the effort; and (5) seeking extramural resources. o Research experience should be a priority as work study and provides initiatives for summer work programs in the private sector. o A comprehensive strategy is needed with efforts to construct a pipeline of students interested in SEM fields (it is not enough to focus on undergraduates alone). Student Teacher Educational Partnership (STEP) and Kids Investigating and Discovering Science (KIDS) were two of the many programs mentioned as programs that work for K-12 grades. o One technique is to encourage intergenerational alliances: Graduate school students can be allies to undergraduate students, undergraduate students can be allies to high school students, and high school students can be allies to younger students. o It is important to expand resources to produce minority secondary teachers in SEM. A Transfer Academy taps the minorities from community colleges. Federal policies and institutional collaboration could help reach this untapped resource. It is important to increase retention of students who declare an SEM major. o It is important to identify federal programs that contribute to the achievement and persistence of minority students. NSF is leading the way, and there are other federal programs. Strategies exist for increasing production of SEM baccalaureate degrees by expanding pools of minorities and women who major in these fields. NSF is having a profound impact by pursuing comprehensive strategies. We now need (1) interconnected initiatives for kindergarten through university; (2) sustained commitment to expand and disseminate current successful efforts; (3) evaluation programs focused on collaboration between projects; and (4) dialogue with leaders (private, public, and media) to institutionalize successful strategies. Bernard Harleston Former President of the City College of New York, Professor of Education and Director of the Doctoral Program in Higher Education Administration Graduate College of Education University of Massachusetts at Boston The underrepresentation of women and students of color in SEM is a major costly loss of talent. Negative factors such as sexism, racism, and low teacher expectations occur early and contribute to restricting access of minorities and women to SEM fields. By the year 2000, most entry-level jobs will require technical competency. The educational system should expand and support efforts to increase the number of minority students with degrees. An article in Science magazine (November 1992) was pessimistic regarding minority students receiving degrees. The article named seven culprits: failure of program oversight or assessment, lack of commitment from faculty and administration, vague or unrealistic program goals, inconsistent funding, low teacher and counselor expectations of students, unprepared students, and low attention to elementary and secondary education. When City College's demographics shifted, the college decided to make a concerted effort to increase the numbers of minority students receiving SEM degrees, using two simultaneous thrusts: a support strategy and an access strategy. The Program to Retain Engineering Students (PRES) involved tutoring and counseling. City College didn't have to make up research opportunities; instead, students joined ongoing research. Fourteen of 16 collegewide initiatives were research-based. The following strategies were used: o Strong institutional commitment, including support of the president o Inclusion of the program in the college mission statement o Commitment among the faculty and administration o Recognition of faculty who use strategies and meet goals o Recruitment of a diverse student body o Strong mentor-student relationships and academic support services o Initiatives for students o Sharing of financial support, peer review, and problem solving among students from various programs o Participation in professional activities, national conferences o Incentive for faculty These elements are invaluable and transferable to other institutions. It is a great challenge to train more females and people of color in science and technology. The efforts should o Be coordinated o Include faculty and administration o Ensure strong academic support for creative individual learning o Include active participation in research Freeman Hrabowski President University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) We need more passion in education in general. It is not cool to be smart and black--you get called a nerd. We need ways of making students feel good about doing well. Working with undergraduates is critical even at research campuses. It is exciting to be at UMBC now because it has the largest concentration of high-ability black students in science in the country. UMBC's goal is to be the best mid-sized research university in the country. We are challenged to get larger numbers of minorities and women to go on to graduate school. Before the Meyerhoff program, minorities (even talented ones) didn't do as well as whites. We developed a program focused on knowledge and skills, motivational support, monitoring and advising, and academic and social integration. The program is supported by NSF, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), and Robert Meyerhoff. UMBC has put money in the endowment for this effort. There are five sources of influence among students: peers ("We tell students we'll make them as popular as the basketball players"), faculty, administration, family ("We have a support group for parents"), and community members. When faculty are not aware of who the best minority students are, it translates into low expectations. Who are the best minority students at your campuses, and how are they doing? We ask faculty to evaluate the performance of Meyerhoff scholars. The critical components of the Meyerhoff program are: o Recruitment of top students and making them feel special o Summer bridge program that includes math, science, and humanities o Scholarships o A computer for each student o Faculty support o An advisory committee consisting of department chairs o Meyerhoff affiliate program o Study groups o Values o Meyerhoff scholars who tutor other students or serve as speakers o Summer research experiences o Faculty involvement o Awards for students who receive A's The overall grade point average for Meyerhoff scholars is 3.4 (the average in SEM courses is 3.3). The program is evaluated and the findings used to offer special support for other students and to enrich the freshman experience for all students. Program results are being published. Frank Dukepoo Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs Northern Arizona University The goals and characteristics of the National Native American Honor Society follow: o To qualify, a student must earn straight A's for two consecutive quarters. Members get a gold eagle pin for each straight-A semester. At a science fair in Prescott, Arizona, 29 of the 34 Honor Society students who attended received awards. o The Honor Society is based on the Indian value of hard work. We don't accept excuses; we expect results and get them. o We have a lot of negative aspects in the community to overcome, including alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, anger, and stereotypes. We make the anger disappear. We need to smash stereotypes--for example, that Indians are noncompetitive. Geronimo would have a thing or two to say about that! o The students have tough lives; one calculus student has a solar calculator because he has no electricity at home. And you all are crying because the lighting in the room is poor. o We do magic and motivational shows at other schools. Students go home telling parents to set goals and overcome procrastination. Some parents are going back to finish school. We have several straight-A families, where even the parents make straight A's. o We teach students six steps to achieving their goals: (1) Fix in your mind what you want to do. (2) Determine exactly what you will do in return for your goal. (3) Establish a date. (4) Create a plan for carrying out your goal. (5) Begin right now. (6) Say your goal aloud 500 times a day. You should see our kids saying their goals over and over, looking crazy, acting like a bunch of wild Indians, getting those A's! We teach these principles: positive mental attitude, definiteness of purpose, self-discipline, personal initiative, enthusiasm, learning from defeat, budgeting time and money, not letting them laugh at you (produces a laughing machine), not letting anyone talk you out of your good idea, carrying a pencil and paper at all times, and giving back to society. I challenge someone to run up to the podium, do a somersault, leap up on the speakers' table, and sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb." (When no audience member took the challenge, Dr. Dukepoo showed a $100 bill he had been prepared to give to anyone who accepted the challenge. He then asked why no one accepted his challenge.) We teach kids to never pass up an opportunity because you never know what the reward will be. If we want students to stand up to these challenges, maybe we should be role models. Our strategies are working. We plan to have a gathering of more than 20,000 members of the National Native American Honor Society in 1999. You are welcome to come, but the price of admission is a straight-A report card. HEARING VI: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DOCTORATE DEGREE ATTAINMENT Joseph Bordogna, Co-Chair Assistant Director, Directorate for Engineering National Science Foundation (NSF) Clifton A. Poodry, Co-Chair Acting Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Biology University of California at Santa Cruz Lola E. Rogers, Recorder Program Director Programs for Women and Girls Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) NSF TESTIMONY James Dietz Program Analyst Division of Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination EHR, NSF A variety of statistical data were presented to establish the context of need. The data demonstrate a highly constricted graduate pipeline in science and engineering for minorities, including African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. The data provide compelling evidence of the Nation's need to commit to proactively altering current circumstances. As a result, NSF has been inspired to establish the goal of significantly increasing the number of minorities who attain doctorates in science and engineering by the year 2000. Cora M. Ingrum Head, Minority Programs and Student Supportive Services School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Pennsylvania While minority enrollment in graduate programs is increasing, attrition remains a problem. The success experienced at the University of Pennsylvania can be attributed to strategies that reflect devotion to personal attention. Such strategies convey caring for students before they arrive, when they arrive, and during their entire program. The strategies used encompass o A cooperative commitment of graduate and undergraduate students, in addition to faculty helping all students o Fostering of peer mentors among graduate students o Conducting welcoming events and periodic social activities that promote close relationships among the students and faculty o Encouraging strong advisory relationships that carefully guide students in planning career development and encourage continuous participation with the home departments, especially to present research papers at professional meetings Dr. Antoinette Torres Director Minorities in Engineering Program Center for Underrepresented Engineering Students College of Engineering University of California at Berkeley The success of Berkeley's efforts is a result of personalized attention and the establishment of an aggressive fellowship program for minority students. Efforts must alter university infrastructures that influence student attitudes and perceptions of self. Since graduate schools are predominantly white male dominated, it is important to o Provide visible minority and female role models in the College of Engineering o Foster the development of an intellectual community that includes people of color, i.e., as teaching assistants o Use diagnostics to determine appropriate course placement o Provide a summer camp with workshops and advice focused on the theoretical and research demands of the university o Actively promote student visualization of themselves in the future and concretely identify strategies needed to realize future goals o Broker the relationships of students with faculty and the research community Clifton A. Poodry An administrative approach that appears to be working at the University of California, Santa Cruz is the "Just Say Yes" policy. It was initiated for those faculty and staff who offer to work on innovative programs and risk upsetting the status quo to promote minority student success. AUDIENCE COMMENTS o Reform at universities needs to be systemic, from improved financial aid and course information to improved university and professional career advisement. o The students' right to know must be expanded so they can identify the professors who advise students successfully. o Universities should be restructured so that the teaching and coaching of students would be more highly valued. o NSF should provide the funds for a national minority speaker exchange involving graduates and undergraduates in colleges and universities. o Universities should institute a human resource development component to help graduate students learn how to teach, and should require a teaching practicum as part of the doctoral requirements. o Universities must devise ways to empower student leadership, encourage entrepreneurial skills, and eliminate the emphasis on Graduate Record Examination scores for graduate school admission. All attendees agreed that the presentations and audience comments warranted further consideration by NSF in their programs, policies, and outreach to students and institutions. HEARING VII: SYSTEMIC AND COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMS FOR ADDRESSING EQUITY ISSUES Joseph G. Danek, Co-Chair Director, Office of Systemic Reform (OSR) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) Eve Bither, Co-Chair Director Programs for Improvement of Practice U.S. Department of Education Paula Duckett, Recorder Associate Program Director Urban Systemic Initiatives EHR, NSF OPENING REMARKS Joseph G. Danek Over the past three years, EHR has grown considerably; there have been major increases in all divisions and offices. The primary growth, however, has been in the Human Resource Development (HRD) Division, which operates targeted programs for minorities, women, and persons with disabilities, as well as in the broad-scale systemic reform programs located in OSR. OSR efforts have grown between 1992 to 1994 by more than 100 percent; HRD programs have grown by more than 50 percent in the last two years and more than 100 percent since fiscal year 1991. The programs of HRD and OSR require the educational community to deliver a new educational system and clearly defined outcomes. Through these programs, we expect to stimulate fundamental change in the current system in financing, governance, management, science and mathematics content, and the skills and attitudes that students are expected to acquire. In all these programs, we are concerned deeply about providing all students with access to high-quality instruction and the opportunity to achieve at high levels in science and mathematics. We realized that we had to abandon many of the things we were doing. In so doing, we have raised the standards that we set for all students, and we require that all educators raise the standards that they set for themselves. All children can and must learn the powerful skills of critical thinking and problem solving in an increasingly technological society. I would like, therefore, to open this hearing with Dr. Luther Williams' challenge to us yesterday "to assess what we are now doing that affects the system, determine what we need to do that creates a new system, and act now to reform the system so that we dramatically reduce the current gap in performance in science and mathematics that exists between minority students and non-minority students." We do not have time to discuss all the OSR and HRD programs. Therefore, this hearing will focus on the large-scale precollege programs. These are (1) the Comprehensive Regional Centers for Minorities (CRCM), which are major precollege centers aimed at significantly increasing the number of minority students adequately prepared in science and mathematics upon graduating from high school; (2) the Kentucky and South Dakota projects under the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSI) program; and (3) the new Urban Systemic Initiative (USI) program, that is designed to bring about systemic reform in the K-12 science and mathematics instructional programs in the 25 U.S. cities with the largest numbers of school-age children living in poverty. Eve Bither I think the most important development relative to our topic this morning is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It is the Department of Education's largest program at more than $6 billion, and this budget will increase by about 10 percent by 1995. The reauthorization is based on the notion that all children can learn and that we have to expect all children to achieve at a much higher level. The new focus of this program will be to target the poorest schools in the country and to integrate Chapter I, bilingual education, and other programs into state and community education reform efforts to ensure that all children have access to high-quality standards-based educational experiences. The department believes that equity concerns and adherence to evolving national standards should form the basis of all our programs. The change in Chapter I will not come easily. Almost every school system in the country receives Chapter I funds, and this new proposal envisions drastic shifts in funding that would provide an increase of 15 percent to the highest poverty counties and a decrease of 34 percent to those with the fewest poor students. Most of the states with the highest child poverty rates are found in the South, while states with the largest decreases in rates are in the Northeast. As for student achievement, our research has found that the gap between the lowest 10 percent achievers and the highest 10 percent achievers is wider in the United States than in 14 out of 15 countries. We think it's necessary that we pay attention to this in our programs. Thus, our national Eisenhower Program, in its grants for curriculum development, seeks connections to existing systemic change efforts--as does the state Eisenhower program, which is closely linked to the NSF SSI program. In all of our efforts we're pleased to be working in partnership with NSF. TESTIMONY Alfredo G. de los Santos, Jr. Vice Chancellor for Educational Development Maricopa County Community College I am going to discuss six concepts that have governed our work in the Maricopa County Community College Comprehensive Regional Center for Minorities (CRCM) as we have moved toward involvement in the USI program. Collaboration: The CRCM has established collaborative relationships with nine USI target school districts within the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The CRCM was initiated in 1988 through our participation in the Phoenix Think Tank. In 1990, the CRCM fostered and strengthened collaborative efforts by providing a variety of successful measures focused on enhancing the mathematics and science programs of each district. Articulation: Articulation concerning systemic change in mathematics and science has been established and maintained through a series of scheduled meetings involving key representatives from the nine school districts, the CRCM, and others. Intervention: The articulation has resulted in four categories of intervention activities: student programs, student-parent programs, teacher training, and one-on-one interventions. We have implemented 39 programs over the last three years. These programs have been implemented in 60 K-12 schools representing 18 school districts, three community colleges, and Arizona State University. More than 4,500 K-12 students, 600 teachers, and 700 parents, representing approximately 240 schools from the Phoenix metropolitan area, have participated in our programs since the spring of 1991. Available data on programmatic efforts indicate that our activities have had a positive effect on participants. For example, 83 percent of the students report that information learned in CRCM programs has helped them in school, 94 percent of the teachers who have received training are implementing CRCM methodologies in the classroom, and 97 percent of the teachers report that student learning has been increased because of those methodologies. Monitoring: A monitoring system was established at the onset of the CRCM program. Students are monitored on three levels: academic progress, CRCM participation, and geographic location. Student achievement data are used to make decisions about the programs that we offer. Continuum: It is our intent that students move from Family Mathematics and Science in the kindergarten and elementary grades to year-long activities at the high school level, so that when they graduate from high school they are ready for calculus. We work with 26 elementary schools that feed into 20 middle schools, that feed into 15 high schools, that feed into six community colleges or the two campuses of Arizona State University. Transition: The transition from CRCM activities to an effective citywide effort under USI is a natural progression of the successful systemic change process begun in the CRCM. Even though there will be fewer school districts involved, more schools per district will be involved in the expansion of current CRCM services under USI. Charles Merideth President New York City Technical College The USI program is NSF's fulfillment of last year's pledge by Dr. Williams that NSF's goal was to "rebuild America" with respect to science education. The USI approach is the realization of that goal. Recently, the mayors and superintendents from the 25 cities eligible for USI grants met in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to develop implementation programs and what the cities should be doing under USI planning grants. The superintendent of the Cleveland public school system raised the question, "What would a teacher look like, walk like, talk like, who really believed that all students could learn?" I thought about that, and I remembered that I had two such teachers in my career. One is the chairman of the mathematics department at Atlanta University, who has the distinction of having trained the largest number of black Ph.D.s in America. I had another teacher who didn't talk very well; he stuttered. How did he walk? He limped, but he could really teach mathematics. He would tell us that if an improper fraction came through his door, he would not even speak to it until he reduced it to its lowest terms. The systemic approach suggests permanent, positive change in the effectiveness of teaching and the enhancement of learning. This is a comprehensive approach that requires strong leadership, effective planning and management, successful educational practices and participatory partnerships, resource allocation, and resource reallocation. In New York we are approaching USI as a partnership between the City University of New York (CUNY) and other key organizations in the city, including the private colleges and universities, the city of New York, the New York public school system, and business and industry. The program has been endorsed by the mayor, the chancellor of the CUNY, and the chancellor of the public school system, who is going to be my Co-Principal Investigator. So we have commitment at the highest levels, which is one of the requirements of the USI. Partnerships are also a requirement. We identified 97 groups and agencies that we needed as part of our partnership and have devised an effective mechanism to involve them. The program is designed to begin in the Brooklyn borough. It will expand into two other boroughs each year thereafter and will be operating in all five boroughs in the third year. The initial idea is to pair an institution of higher education with one of the school districts. My school will be paired with school district 13. We plan to fully engage the faculty, teachers, students, parents, and community leaders. The systemic approach involves everybody in the community to bring about change in the teaching of science and math. The USI program has provided a process that includes funding and conferences to allow member cities to meet to exchange information. But it is important to note that NSF is not telling us how to design the programs to bring about change. We do not know what form these programs will take. We will try to determine the most effective way to provide instruction K-12 and to involve all the resources. Bessie Guerrant Coordinator of the Access and Participation Component Kentucky SSI/Partnerships for Reform Initiatives in Science and Mathematics (PRISM) University of Kentucky In 1987-88, 66 of our 176 school districts, most of which were in the rural Appalachian region of our state, filed suit against our education system. In 1989, the Supreme Court declared the system unconstitutional. Kentucky assembled a task force to reconstruct the system. As a result, in 1990, the Kentucky Education Reform Act was enacted. It states that all schools must expect high levels of achievement from all students. Now, that's rather significant in Kentucky because we have a sizable Appalachian rural poor population but small numbers of African American students. We have a very diverse topography in the state and a group of people who don't feel they are unified as Kentuckians. That was our challenge. The act states that students must develop basic communications and math skills and that the curriculum must have a practical application for situations that students would encounter. The act urges self-sufficiency for students--that they be prepared to become responsible members of a family, of a work group, and of a community. The act encourages students to think. Schools were challenged to improve their students' rates of attendance. The act stresses lowering the dropout rate and improving the retention rate. No longer can we allow African American students in Louisville and Lexington to overcrowd the remedial classes. The act directs that schools be measured on the proportion of students making a successful transition to work, postsecondary education, or the military. In 1990, Kentucky changed everything. No longer did we have a grading system from A to F; it was novice, proficient, or apprentice, and, at the very top, distinguished. We started with the primary level. We threw out kindergarten, first, second, and third grade because that's where the poor instruction began. African American students, for example, were falling behind by one and two years. By the time they were in the fourth grade, they were in remedial classes. If all students can learn and all students can learn at high levels, that means that some may need a little more time, so we instituted primary school. Now we're P through P-4. Professional development was key because now that the entire system was changed, everyone had to be retrained. Instead of three professional development days, we now have five, with an additional three for those in the primary school system. Schools are doing very creative things. We have site-based management as part of the structure. We now have curriculum frameworks that enable teachers to better decide what fits their students' needs. Our assessment system is now based on outcomes. In 1992, Kentucky began its NSF SSI. It is a partnership between the Kentucky Department of Education, state colleges and universities, a private entity--the Kentucky Science and Technology Council, and NSF. The act, while legislating the various components of the education system, also mandated family youth care centers, acknowledging that the problems our students come to school with today are too many and too varied to be handled solely by a classroom teacher. These centers exist within the schools themselves. They are controversial, but we're working it out. While the act was ambitious, it was not very specific on science and math education. We felt we had to add more in this area. So one of our goals was to challenge Kentuckians to increase the numbers of minorities, the economically disadvantaged, women, and persons with disabilities who pursue math and science careers. Another goal, although not specifically found in the act, was to inform Kentuckians. We realized that to sustain our reform efforts, we needed a major public awareness campaign. We need to not only talk to our state politicians and political leaders, but also to teach the entire state to value education and to increase general math and science literacy. That's a major task in Kentucky. Robert Caldwell Program Director SSI-South Dakota South Dakota is entering the third year of a five-year SSI program award. We were one of the first states to be selected in the SSI program, and our initiative grew out of a select committee that was convened by the late governor, George Mickelson. The committee had a number of collaborative partners, including school districts, postsecondary institutions, community groups, parents, businesses, and state agencies. Since American Indians represent a large portion of our population, there were many American Indian voices there as well--not only the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but representatives of various American Indian committees in South Dakota. The study forced us to look at what we were doing well and where we needed improvement. The things we were doing well, we were doing very, very well. For example, South Dakota students regularly score in the 60th percentile on the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT). For the last 20 years, our students have been 100 points above the national average on the SAT. USA Today recently reported that South Dakota was one of the top five states in academic achievement. However, American Indian students are usually in the lower 20th percentile of those same tests, and those on reservations are in the fourth percentile. Also, South Dakota has the smallest number of engineers and scientists in the United States, so our students have few role models in those areas. The study also showed that teachers and administrators in South Dakota had very low expectations for American Indians. The SSI committee focused on six goals: (1) integration of mathematics and science technology; (2) creating the curriculum changes that would bring about that integration; (3) effective and appropriate use of technology; (4) development of interactive teaching and learning environments, which include cooperative learning, hands-on activities, increased communication, and partnership support; (5) addressing the needs of the underserved; and (6) development of appropriate alternative assessment strategies. These are the six goals that are guiding our project. We now have 26 sites across the state. In the western part of the state we have three major reservations, and at least six of the project sites are located near or on those reservations. More than 80 school districts are represented, as are universities, including state, private, and tribal colleges. Some activities focus specifically on American Indians. For example, we have a program called 3,000 by 2000, that has as its goal getting 3,000 American Indians in the Great Plains into medical school or into the health professions by the year 2000. We are also teaching teachers about American Indians customs, particularly Lakota Sioux culture and learning styles. We also provide American Indian teacher aides with the encouragement and resources to become teachers. The bottom line is, we're trying extraordinarily hard to include American Indians as well as other underserved minorities. We encourage NSF to extend its initiative into the rural areas and other underserved minorities. Floretta McKenzie President McKenzie Group One of the most encouraging developments in public education has been NSF's emphasis on K-12 mathematics and science. This movement by NSF to serve as a catalyst for real change in the way that we deliver mathematics and science education in our schools at the state, rural, and urban level is exceedingly important to the Nation. I was impressed by the USI meeting sponsored by NSF in mid-October, where a comprehensive approach to changing the system was discussed. City and education leaders at this meeting focused on revising the curriculum and providing professional development, along with the following: collaboration among all stakeholders, assessment of the current program, documentation of student achievement and program effectiveness, collecting baseline data, linking with state policies, creating science improvement plans, and identifying measurable outcomes. I will focus on collaboration and documentation. Collaboration: In many cities, large and small businesses and professional organizations have traditionally offered support to schools through scholarships and mentoring programs. There is now a need for these organizations to work together with the schools and city agencies to identify specific goals. For example, if a specific goal is to increase student achievement in science and mathematics, then all of us have to come together to make sure that we've got the person power to achieve that goal. If the goal is to double the number of students in advanced levels of science and math, then we have to find professionals who are skilled in these subjects to provide the support needed. Accountability/Documentation: We have to deal with accountability in a different way. We have too often made evaluation and documentation threatening when it need not be. We have to ask what works and why. As I visit programs across the country, I ask, "Why is this program successful?" Too often the answer is, "It's because of the people who make it work." To replicate it, we have to ask the questions, "How do they make it work, what are the resources, and where are the gains?" We must help school districts look at themselves in a constructive fashion. Success stories should become the basis for developing training vehicles for other professionals. HEARING VIII: ESTABLISHMENT OF EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS Elmima C. Johnson, Co-Chair Staff Associate, Division of Human Resource Development Directorate for Education and Human Resources National Science Foundation (NSF) Charles A. Miller, Co-Chair Director Cellular and Molecular Bases of Disease Program National Institutes of Health Resource Persons Lloyd Cook President LMC Associates Diana Garcia Prichard Research Scientist Eastman Kodak Company Howard Adams Executive Director Graduate Education for Minorities OPENING REMARKS Elmima Johnson This hearing is scheduled as a follow-up to the strategies and goals outlined in the action plan that was the major outcome of the First National Conference on Diversity in the Scientific and Technological Workforce, held in September 1992. It focuses on the issues and questions surrounding collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors in the education of minority students, faculty, and teachers. The key word is "partnerships," with clearly defined goals, focused on strengthening the quality of the educational experience and expanding participation of underrepresented minorities in science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM). TESTIMONY Anita A. Summers Professor of Public Policy, Management, and Real Estate Wharton School University of Pennsylvania I plan to address three questions: o Why is the private-sector business community so deeply involved in public school reform? o What are the alternative ways the business community can interact with public education? o What are the most promising paths for this interaction? Why is virtually every major corporate leader in America involved directly--or through corporate giving--in our public education system? There are two major reasons. First, there is concern that if the quality of education continues to decline, the personal returns that education provides to individuals will decline. More educated persons not only have a higher income--they are healthier, give better care to their children, participate more in democracy (vote more), and commit fewer crimes. Second, there is concern about the role of educational quality in the productivity growth of the Nation--and its bearing on our global competitiveness. The evidence here is that the substance of the education--the development of technical skills--is the factor that is most influential in productivity. It is our technical progress, rather than length of schooling, that is most significant. What are the alternative ways the business community can interact with public education? There are several ways: o Business can run the educational systems, or parts of them. It can convert a public function into a more marketlike operation. Allowances can be given to parents so that they can shop for the best schools for their children. However, it is the higher-income students who get the good information about the choice of schools, and who can handle the travel arrangements. The current evaluation results suggest that the lower-income students stay in their neighborhood schools and these schools deteriorate. o Business can vote to give more resources to schools. I am part of a national panel of economists looking at the relationship between education expenditures and the educational performance of students. The results are rather startling. Performance has declined, while over the last 50 years, real expenditures (adjusted for inflation) for education quintupled. Most of that increase was attributable to increases in the salaries of the instructional staff and to declines in the pupil-teacher ratio. What we are rewarding is not producing greater achievement. Dollars will not change performance without structural reform. o Business can engage in individualized incentive schemes such as the Sponsor-a-Scholar and I Have a Dream programs. These schemes do not, however, attack the structural problems. o Business can use its political power to enforce structural reform. First, we must provide strong incentives and disincentives for those who provide educational services. Teachers who teach well should get clear monetary signals. Second, schools should be recognized so that there is a clear focus not just on college-bound students, but also on students who take jobs right after high school. Third, principals should be given considerable managerial discretion, but with that should go accountability. Great principals should get paid much more; poor principals should no longer be in the lead position. o Finally, if business feels requisite skills are now missing from their employees, they need to make their needs known to the schools. It should be noted that schools are significantly limited in what they can do to counter the dominating and destructive effects of low-income and welfare families and homes in chaos. It may well be that the greatest benefits to education would come from putting more dollars into social work activities that "wrap around" a family, rather than by putting them directly into education. The literature on child development clearly establishes that changing the set of expectations of students is crucial to their educational and job performance. Patricia B. Mitchell Executive Director Center for Excellence in Education National Alliance of Business Business is committed to the goal of world-class mathematics, science, and engineering education at all levels and for all students. They also want to ensure that many more minorities are successfully prepared for careers in mathematics, science, and engineering. Many corporations are investing significant resources to achieve these goals. At the National Alliance of Business, we know that business is very serious about achieving a second-to-none education system that ensures that all students, including women and minorities, master complex knowledge and skills in mathematics and science. Why is business committed to minority participation in mathematics and science? Quite simply, we believe that innovation has a better chance of success when tackled by a group of scientists and engineers with diverse backgrounds than by a homogeneous group. Besides needing creativity and diverse viewpoints to design and produce better products and services, business also understands that our Nation's democratic form of government and our economic health depend on increasing the skills of our citizens, especially those who have traditionally experienced barriers to better-wage jobs. Are businesses part of community partnerships to improve education? Business is already actively involved in partnerships with schools in the K-12 system, with community colleges and technical training institutions, and with institutions of higher education. The issue is not creating more of the same type of partnerships, but creating partnerships that are more effective. How can we better engage business expertise, resources, and influence to build effective partnerships to improve mathematics and science education and to increase minority achievement of complex knowledge and skills in these areas? Step 1: Build mutual understanding among the partners about their various perspectives, language, and motivations Step 2: Develop a broadly shared, well-understood vision to guide the effort. This vision should be collaboratively developed, communicated widely, and supported by leadership Step 3: Develop a strategic plan that aligns the shared vision with existing conditions and uses data from a community needs assessment and analysis of community resources to set practical long- and short-range goals for improvement. This plan should provide the various partners in the community with a clear mission to guide their own initiatives and activities Step 4: Base all action on fact, data, and analysis. All partners must be provided with the information and tools to monitor their progress against the goals of the strategic plan Step 5: Maximize each partner's capacity to act. Organize the partnership to build on the strengths of partners and provide sufficient resources to keep all moving together. The people involved should know what to do, know how to do it, and be provided with resources to do what they have to do Step 6: Make sure that all partners--the education system, parents, individual businesses, government, and professional and community organizations--are committed to institutional change within their own organizations to reflect their commitment to education Step 7: Develop the capacity to make continuous improvement. Evaluate progress in the overall education system, in the partnership itself, and in the activities of each of the partners. Then reflect on and use the evaluation data to ensure that the partnership is adapting to change and local concerns and continuously improving what it does and how it does it to effect real change Fitzgerald B. Bramwell Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Brooklyn College and Project Director, Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP) program, City University of New York (CUNY) Steps for establishing partnerships (based on the experiences of the CUNY AMP project): Step 1: Determine what type of partners are desired Step 2: Implement a planning process between the business community and educational institutions to identify areas of mutual benefit, i.e., the need to educate and diversify the workforce. Step 3: Plan where the operation will take place. CUNY AMP utilized university and nonuniversity sites for summer and academic year research programs, and research management programs. Step 4: Set up long term and short term goals. Make sure students are included in the process. Step 5: Evaluate the relationship. Academic measures include papers, citations, grants, and contracts. Capitol resource measures focus on improvements in buildings and equipment. Human resource measures identify student and faculty participation and faculty development. Raymond A. Morris Director of Education and SAE Foundation Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) In 1988, SAE determined that to increase the pool of talent available to pursue careers in science and engineering, as well as to help ensure that the U.S. population as a whole was more technically literate, there was a need to reach out to a greater segment of the population--that is, women and minorities. This is not a problem you can fix at the college level. For this reason SAE chose to direct major attention through the VISION 2000 Program, A World in Motion, to grades 4, 5, and 6. VISION 2000 is defined as an educational partnership today for assuring tomorrow's mobility engineers. We recognize that it is not our role to change the educational system. However, we are trying to help redefine excellence in education. We feel this can be partially done through collaboration between industry, government, and the academic community. The product we have developed is not a new curriculum. It is a new way to teach and to learn the existing, already mandated curriculum, and it meets state and local curriculum needs. A World in Motion involves three spheres of interest that we are addressing here today: educational partnerships, relationship building, and curriculum content. First, I address educational partnerships. Strong business involvement has, in many instances, supported sound program implementation and required or demanded multiyear planning. We train our local member section liaisons in promoting careful program implementation. As a relationship builder, the program demands whatever the volunteers can comfortably give within the constraints of their work. From this point on, time is the key variable. Fortunately, this plugs into a strong penchant among engineers and scientists. They enjoy sharing their expertise and interests. In matching engineers with teachers, engineers we have contacted from our database have consistently accepted our request to be involved. Teachers, too, work within constraints. They share this with the engineers, and occasionally the relationships have resulted in innovative ways of approaching old problems. In terms of curriculum, A World in Motion offers two significant departures from the fundamental science curriculum experience. First of all, the first component offers students an experience that lasts more than two weeks. Second, it combines science concept and theory with application. Where our program has failed to penetrate has been where these elements have been perceived as competitive with either the current curricular offering, the current methodologies, or the time and energy constraints on the teachers. Collaboration and A World in Motion: More than 1,200 company locations nationwide have linked up with schools. We believe we have materials being used in more than 17.5 percent of the Nation's school districts. The SAE Foundation plans in its next program, aimed at grades 6 through 8, to leverage the collaborations and partnerships started by A World in Motion. Lessons Learned: After distributing 20,000 A World in Motion kits to elementary schools, spending more than $3 million, and involving more than 12,000 engineers and scientists and 1,200 companies, we learned the following lessons: o Even if the program is "free," the cost of doing hands-on science is very high for teachers and administrators in terms of time, space, and personal energy. o The experience must place the volunteer in a position of maximum comfort while still meeting the needs of the teachers and students. o Some large partnerships appear to have too many other priorities to participate fully in our initiative. o When teachers remain teachers and engineer or scientist volunteers serve as consultants, both can share the concept of problem solving and are remarkably compatible in a high percentage of cases. The Future of Our Programs: As we begin to develop our middle school program in cooperation with NSF and industry, we will capitalize on what we have learned from our experience with A World in Motion. Partnerships will be the key ingredient, and we will expand the existing industry-school partnership base to involve the whole community. HEARING IX: ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF SEM REFORM EFFORTS Conrad Katzenmeyer, Co-Chair Senior Program Director for Evaluation Division of Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination Directorate for Education and Human Resources National Science Foundation (NSF) Cora B. Marrett, Co-Chair Assistant Director, Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) NSF Carolyn Arena, Recorder Science Resources Analyst, Division of Science Resources Studies, SBE NSF OPENING REMARKS Conrad Katzenmeyer This session looks at the problems associated with evaluating and assessing the progress of science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) education reform efforts for minorities and women. While a variety of efforts have been made to solve the problem of underrepresentation, the evidence of effectiveness is still spotty. There is no single way to look at this issue; therefore, the session draws on a variety of approaches and perspectives. This session is particularly timely in light of what is currently occurring at the federal level. The Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology (which has subsequently been absorbed into the National Science and Technology Council) has set out through its Committee on Education and Training Evaluation Working Group to evaluate all its science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) education programs, including those specifically aimed at addressing underrepresentation. The first step in this process was the formation of an Expert Review Panel to review all existing SMET education programs and their evaluations. This panel has completed its work and has concluded that the existing configuration of programs does not meet current needs, with gaps in areas such as K-12 and undergraduate teaching preparation and a continuing problem of underrepresentation of minorities and women in science. Evaluation also needs to be improved, since most federal programs have been inadequately evaluated. This session will inform the direction of evaluation for the federal programs, with special interest in underrepresentation. The evaluation plans now being developed will benefit from the advice the presenters provide on addressing the major issues in underrepresentation of minorities and women in SMET education. TESTIMONY Gail Thomas Visiting Professor Graduate School of Education Harvard University This presentation sets out to look at some of the myths and realities for underrepresented minorities and to identify gaps and suggestions for useful alternatives. While there are some ongoing policy and programmatic efforts to expand the competency of our scientific and technological workforce, the reality is that these efforts have not had adequate or far-reaching effects on the major underrepresented minority populations, particularly the inner-city urban minorities. The fundamental issue is to examine our societal beliefs about the basic aptitude and characteristics of those who become scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. Either these characteristics are fairly equally distributed and we want a truly racially and culturally diverse professional pool, or they are and will remain disproportionately concentrated within the middle- and upper-class, majority, predominantly male population. If we believe the former, positive steps must be taken to alter the well-documented lack of preparation among minority students. I assert that while money for interventions is a major concern, appropriate targeting of programs with contextual and cultural specificity--and participation of minority communities in the planning and implementation of interventions--is also a major issue. One concern is the use of one-shot workshops for teacher upgrading in mathematics and science in urban cities. These workshops do not adequately prepare teachers to deal with issues of minority students. Only a small proportion of these teachers are themselves minorities, yet the programs are not adaptable to an array of cultural, socioeconomic, educational, and political contexts. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has developed curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics calling for the development of mathematics literacy and power for all U.S. K-12 students. Included are conceptual and procedural understanding of numbers; conjecturing, problem-solving, and reasoning skills; communicating mathematically; appreciating the value of math; and having self-confidence regarding the use of spatial and quantitative information to solve problems. Integral to these content standards are assessments that reflect these standards, that rely on multiple sources of information, that are appropriate to the use being made, and that provide information that will contribute to the improvement of instructions and reflect the overall goals of the program. But these are not the characteristics found in current assessment efforts, which commonly use multiple-choice items that do not include evidence on program composition, operation, and effectiveness. The assessments do not reflect what minority students know. This is not to say that there aren't some promising programs. Romberg, Fennama, and Carpenter's Individually Guided Instruction is one that uses a variety of assessment approaches. The approach being used in the Netherlands is another that takes a broad picture of how students learn through a variety of techniques. But more good programs and good program evaluations are needed. In summary, what is needed are o More holistic and broad-based programs o Multiethnic and multidisciplinary program and assessment teams o Assessment of programs beyond student learning o Assessments done by external and independent evaluators o An integrated set of standards o A variety of multidimensional evaluation instruments o More information on who current programs reach o Knowledge of how nontraditional students learn and of the contexts in which their learning takes place o More minority teachers, researchers, and administrators o More funds targeted to sustain a few excellent programs Shirley Vining Brown Senior Research Scientist Educational Testing Service It has been well documented that the aspirations of undergraduate and graduate students, particularly non-Asian minorities and women, do not match their attainment of advanced degrees. Two major factors to be addressed are (1) field switching between the undergraduate and Ph.D. levels and (2) persistence. For black women, switching is particularly common in the physical sciences, with almost three-quarters switching to other majors as opposed to less than half of all other women. Among all minority students, those who switch are more likely to be native-born minority citizens, to be women, to have more dependents, to be married, to take longer to complete the doctorate, to have significantly higher dropout rates, to come from less well-educated families, and not to receive outside funding for their graduate education. There were few differences in factors such as the institutions they attended. A notable pattern in switches among minority students from the life sciences and physical sciences is that they switch not to closely related fields, but to education. And within education, it is not to mathematics or science education but to the traditional education fields, such as supervision and administration. With regard to persistence in a science field, factors that were found to be important in improving persistence were having received an NSF award, being a man, majoring in the life sciences, and having an above-average undergraduate grade point average (GPA). Those who did not persist more likely did not receive an NSF award, were women, and majored in the physical sciences or engineering. Interestingly, minorities who had a high GPA but did not receive an NSF award were less likely to persist than minority students who had below-average GPAs and who did not receive an award. We still do not know the explanations for many of these findings, which require further research. There is also evidence that there is a faster growth of minority men and white and Asian women in science and engineering that needs to be explored. Rolf Blank Director, Science/Math Indicators Council of Chief State School Officers The Council of Chief State School Officers has been concentrating on identifying mathematics and science educational indicators to provide trend data on the health of our educational system. Broad state and national indicators take on greater importance as our programs, such as NSF's State Systemic Initiative, become more comprehensive. These findings indicate that enrollment in mathematics and science courses has been increasing at the K-12 level. Nationally, 55 percent of students have completed Algebra 2 by graduation, and 49 percent have completed Chemistry. Differences between males and females in course enrollments have been declining, with only slight differences in Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics as of 1992. There have also been improvements in the percentage of minorities completing mathematics and science courses, although gaps still exist between minority and majority students. Regarding student achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, there has been a general improvement by all students. However, minority performance has not improved as rapidly. Trends in supply and preparation of teachers indicate a greater number of mathematics teachers (up 7 percent), while the number of science teachers remained constant from 1990 to 1992. On the other hand, the percentage of mathematics teachers with a major in mathematics remained constant, while science teachers with a science major increased by 6 percent. The majority of teachers in mathematics and science are male, with the greatest difference in physics and biology. There are large differences in the percentages of male and female teachers by state. The overall proportions of minority teachers are 11 percent for mathematics and 8 percent for science; the student body is 31 percent minority. Minority teachers are also less experienced, particularly in the inner cities. These findings indicate some overall improvements in mathematics and science education indicators. However, there are still substantial challenges to be faced in minority course enrollments, achievement, and preparation of minority teachers. Valerie Nelkin President Bear Enterprises, Ltd. This presentation speaks to the realities of doing evaluations in culturally diverse settings. Understanding the culture must be part of an evaluator's preparation if such evaluations are to be successful. True Story: Evaluators went to a Navajo reservation to evaluate a program that distributed baby car seats to pregnant women. None of the women who were given car seats were using them. Just before the program was terminated, someone asked a Navajo official why. In Navajo tradition, it seems, it is bad luck to give baby gifts before the baby is born. When the program was changed to give baby seats after the baby was born, usage increased to 60 percent. The moral is that if you don't understand the culture you are dealing with, you can really mess up an evaluation. The evaluation process needs to incorporate cultural differences of attitude and behavior. Evaluators should look for interviewers who are interested and friendly and treat people with respect. Introductions and small talk can be important. Food can be important to breaking the ice. Interviewers should dress formally for the principal of the school, casually for outreach time. Interviewers should be respectful of differences in concepts of time, work hours, family obligations, and spiritual obligations. Interviewers should know that eye contact among some groups is good, while in others it is seen as disrespectful. Use the following tips on specific evaluation methods: o Visit the program site, become familiar with the people, and tailor your methods to the situation o Know that better mail response rates are achieved when community leaders are involved o Have people familiar with the culture help interpret findings and outcome Evaluations are more accurate and meaningful when evaluation is culturally responsive. The following factors can help: o Maintain ongoing contact in day-to-day situations with participants o Get training o Talk to other evaluators o Gain trust o Be flexible and creative o Have minorities on advisory committee There are six key steps to achieving your goals: o Fix in your mind what you want to do o Determine exactly what you will do in return for your goal o Establish a date o Create a plan for carrying out your goal o Begin right now o Say your goal aloud 500 times a day For every defeat there is the opportunity for equal or greater benefit. CLOSING SESSION--REPORT CARD ON ACTIONS TO DATE PRESIDING Clifton A. Poodry Acting Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Biology University of California at Santa Cruz OPENING STATEMENT Luther S. Williams Assistant Director, Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation (NSF) Co-Chair, Hearing I At the inaugural National Diversity Conference held last year, we initiated a process of broad consideration of program strategies that bear on developing an action plan. As previously indicated, we will make provisions in this conference for more focused attention on the broad objectives identified last year, with the goal of enhancing those objectives and enumerating explicit components of an action plan. What is the objective of the National Action Plan? In conformance with the notion of a national gathering, one per year, we come together at this Second National Conference on Diversity in the Scientific and Technological Workforce to assess progress made during the past year and to increase our understanding of what needs to be done in the future. That is, as informed practitioners or scholars we will employ what is learned to redesign programs to deliver an outcome that has a larger return. Why must the plan be national? Because we recognize the need to have an action plan (implementation plan) focused on the broad issues of minorities underrepresented in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology that encompasses "the educational universe"--that is, pre-K through all the educational sequence as an organized continuum and then into the workforce at various levels. The action plan should be explicit about the actions to be taken, the milestones formulated, and a time frame whose feasibility has been assessed with respect to delivery. It is our intent that this action plan will inform the efforts of the national leadership in the broad issues of science, engineering, mathematics, and technology education. It will be of equal utility to states, cities, and local governments that have responsibility for education, as well as the efforts undertaken by community-based organizations. It is also targeted for the higher education sector, particularly the undergraduate sector whose efforts are fundamental to progress in this arena. We hope to engage the participation of the science and engineering community, business and industrial sectors, private foundations, the national media and others in the activities that will be undertaken under this action plan. There are several guiding principles for the plan. First, emphasis will be given both to increasing the numbers of minorities who are either participants in education or members of the workforce in this arena, and to academic achievement. That speaks to the need for national standards with high expectations that lead to exemplary products. The second guiding principle is comprehensiveness or systemic and integrated activities: comprehensiveness because activities must be equal to the domain of the problem, systemic to engage all activities and all players, and integrated to get out of the business of making an art form of a series of noteworthy but otherwise marginal activities. The third fundamental principle is the establishment of accountability measures. Obviously, if one has explicit goals with attendant milestones and one is committed to deliver on those in a finite time, one must put in place benchmarks and measures to assess progress toward such goals. The fourth principle is commitment to all who join us in this educational reform effort and acknowledgment that an annual report of progress toward the goals enumerated in the action plan is essential. And now, my colleagues who have served as co-chairs or recorders of this effort will present the categorical objectives and the recommended actions generated from your participation. The background and context-setting information addressed in Hearing I will serve as the framework for the recommendations and explicit actions cited below. HEARING II: MINORITY PRECOLLEGE STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT Daryl Chubin, Co-Chair Director Division of Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination, EHR NSF Elizabeth Stage, Co-Chair Co-Director, Science Initiatives, New Standards Project Office of the President University of California at Oakland GOAL By the year 2000, racial and ethnic differentials in student achievement in elementary science and in middle and high school science and mathematics will be reduced by half. RECOMMENDATIONS A dominant view expressed at the hearing was the inadequacy of national standardized multiple-choice tests (e.g., the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)) for measuring minority student academic performance. While no one denies that a gap exists between minority and majority students in K-12 science and math achievement, there is uncertainty about the size and validity of publicized gaps. The concern is that differentials are due more to denying minority students the opportunity to learn (through few course offerings, limited access to appropriate preparatory courses, and schools lacking in resources) than to a deficiency in their mastery of content. In short, neither performance nor capability is being measured. To remedy this, the following strategies (milestones are implied but not specified) are proposed: o Incorporate the features of community-based intervention programs (that feature hands-on experiences, high expectations, role models, mentoring, etc.) into schools. Such programs provide both access and preparation unavailable in the formal system of schooling. Experiences in these programs have demonstrable effects on minority student achievement in math and science using conventional measures. o Encourage partnerships among schools, parents, and business. Mobilize the community to augment the resources to enhance the opportunity for minority students to learn. Demand that assessment of student achievement reflect environmental conditions (physical as well as intellectual) and not just raw scores without the context in which minority students are taught. o Use the Memorandum of Understanding between NSF and the Department of Education to redesign NAEP and other measuring tools. Act in the spirit of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards to measure content, assessment, and equity; that is, measure what is taught and ensure that every student has access to what is taught. Experiment with a more open-ended portfolio approach that assesses student performance relative to content standards and not to each other. o Increase resources and redistribute existing resources--by school, subject, and grade level, if necessary--to promote greater access by minority students to the requisite courses and experiences in mathematics and science. Exposure before the fourth grade is imperative, or the existing system will widen the performance gaps and label those denied the opportunity to learn "underachievers." o Challenge NSF, through its leadership and programs, to further perturb the education system. All students, minority and majority, must be ensured the opportunity to achieve in mathematics and science. NSF must figure out how this can happen--and make it happen. HEARING III: THE PREPARATION OF K-12 TEACHERS George Peterson, Co-Chair Executive Director Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Dorothy Strong, Co-Chair Manager of Mathematics Support Chicago Public Schools and Program Director, Urban Systemic Initiative, EHR NSF GOAL By the year 2000, the elementary- and secondary-level instructional workforce will be revised by a threefold increase in the number of minority science and mathematics teachers. The participants, who considered themselves agents of change, formed teams of five members and recommended seven actions and two overarching strategies to reach the goal. Recommended actions followed from the sobering statistics provided by Dr. Betty Vetter--as examples, a 27 percent minority K-12 school population taught by an 11 percent minority secondary mathematics workforce and an 8 percent minority secondary science workforce--and from two exemplary programs: o A mathematics program at Clark Atlanta University that uses a historical perspective to effect radical change in attitude and expectation concerning student abilities and that, as described by Dr. Abdulalim Shabazz, has resulted in a dramatic increase in minority mathematics majors o An integrative hands-on introductory science course being designed by teams of scientists, mathematicians, and education faculty from nine Maryland universities in cooperation with their K-12 master teacher counterparts, as presented by Dr. Thomas O'Haver RECOMMENDATIONS To improve recruiting efforts aimed at minority students o Encourage students to enter the teaching profession in order to excite others about science and mathematics by establishing an expanded mentoring program to include high school students as mentors for junior high students, junior high students as mentors for elementary students, and university students as program coordinators. o Expand efforts to inform parents and counselors of the opportunities available to minorities in the sciences, the fun students find when they engage in science and mathematics in positive ways, and the excellent opportunities for success when students are encouraged to take science and mathematics and are challenged in these classes. Invite parents and counselors to conferences to learn how to work with and inspire students. Emphasize interdisciplinary training for graduate students to include preparation for teaching. To improve the success rate in science and mathematics among students in teacher preparation programs o Redesign undergraduate science and mathematics classes to include more hands-on, cooperative learning experiences, with scientists, mathematicians, education faculty, and K-12 teachers collaborating in this endeavor. Break down departmental barriers to such efforts. o Establish task forces to include university faculty, K-12 teachers and administrators, and representatives of the community to find ways to increase the financial rewards and respect for teachers and for students preparing to enter the teaching profession. Methods could include scholarships, loan forgiveness, and a science and mathematics teacher service corps. o Redesign teacher preparation programs to use students' time more efficiently. Decrease nonessential requirements, and emphasize science and mathematics content-level classes, imaginatively taught. Break down institutional, departmental, and state certification barriers to such efforts. o Encourage programs that integrate a cultural perspective into science and mathematics classes, so that all students know and understand the contributions of various cultures to advances in the sciences and mathematics. Overriding strategies o Require NSF grantees and their departments or institutions to detail how they will satisfy a percentage of the recommended actions to qualify for funding through any NSF program. o Coordinate the efforts of related NSF systemic and minority-oriented programs such as Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP), Comprehensive Regional Centers for Minorities (CRCM), Research Improvement in Minority Institutions (RIMI), the State Systemic Initiative (SSI), the Urban Systemic Initiative (USI), the Comprehensive Employment and Training Plan (CETP), and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) in K-12 and undergraduate education. HEARING IV: THE TRANSITION FROM TWO- TO FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES Robert F. Watson, Co-Chair Director Division of Undergraduate Education, EHR NSF James M. Rosser, Co-Chair President California State University at Los Angeles GOAL By the year 2000, the number of minority students enrolled and interested in science and engineering in two-year institutions who successfully transfer to four-year institutions will increase fourfold. RECOMMENDATIONS o NSF should sponsor regional working sessions on enhancing the minority transfer rate. o Emphasis should be placed on closing the achievement gap between minority students and their peers before transfer or program completion. o Underrepresented students enrolled in two-year institutions should be provided more timely, accurate, and collaborative career and academic advising and counseling. o Institutions that enroll large numbers of lower-division students should develop means of quantifying and rewarding effective counseling, advising, and teaching. o Two-year and four-year college faculty should hold symposia addressing articulation issues pertaining to science, technology, engineering, and technology and the general education core. o NSF should increase support for joint ventures and cooperative agreements among two-year and four-year institutions. o In areas where there are high minority populations, two-year institutions tend to be technical colleges rather than institutions that provide significant transfer programs. This situation must be changed. o Finally, it is not enough to encourage minority students to be scientists; they also must be encouraged to be teachers of science. HEARING V: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BACHELOR DEGREE ATTAINMENT Roosevelt Calbert, Co-Chair Director Division of Human Resource Development, EHR NSF Diana S. Natalicio, Co-Chair President University of Texas at El Paso GOAL By the year 2000, the number of undergraduate degrees awarded annually to minorities in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology will increase tenfold. RECOMMENDATIONS o Increase partnerships between universities and K-12 institutions, and between universities and community colleges, to ensure a larger pool of students with interest in--and with the requisite background to pursue--undergraduate degrees in science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) disciplines. o Develop a strong and well-articulated institutional commitment--beginning with the President--to create a climate that fosters increased expectations of minority students, their academic achievement, and their self-esteem. o Increase the success of minority undergraduates by establishing faculty development and incentive programs that support the improvement of undergraduate curriculum and instructional strategies, with particular focus on the introductory or "gatekeeper" courses in SEM disciplines, and on the development of communication skills. o Develop real partnerships between universities and industries through comprehensive, long-term systemic relationships with well-defined goals and objectives. o Resolve to become even greater risk takers in serving as change agents on our own campuses to ensure that the undergraduate experience responds to our Nation's need for a large and well-trained SEM workforce. o Finally, actively seek mechanisms to share our knowledge and commitment with colleagues at institutions not represented at the Diversity Conference to build a national consensus on meeting the NSF Action Plan goals relating to undergraduate education. HEARING VI: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DOCTORATE DEGREE ATTAINMENT Joseph Bordogna, Co-Chair Assistant Director Directorate for Engineering (ENG) NSF Clifton A. Poodry, Co-Chair Acting Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Biology University of California at Santa Cruz GOAL By the year 2000, the number of doctorate science and engineering degrees awarded annually to minorities will increase tenfold. RECOMMENDATIONS o Faculty systemic reform should be initiated by NSF funding of experimental models and demonstration projects. Successful examples of these models of faculty systemic reform could be replicated by universities. o A paradigm shift should be developed in which the Ph.D. reflects and rewards both teaching and research. A first step to this goal would be to include instruction in and a practicum on teaching as part of graduate research traineeships. o NSF proposals should include a statement addressing Ph.D. productivity by ethnicity and gender for consideration of institutional competence as part of the NSF review criteria. HEARING VII: SYSTEMIC AND COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMS FOR ADDRESSING EQUITY ISSUES Joseph G. Danek, Co-Chair Director Office of Systemic Reform, EHR NSF Eve Bither, Co-Chair Director Programs for Improvement of Practice U.S. Department of Education GOAL As an integral component of national efforts to "rebuild America," systemic and comprehensive science and mathematics education programs, designed to serve all students throughout the K-12 continuum, will be established in urban school systems that enroll nearly 50 percent of the Nation's minority students. This goal will be achieved by the year 1995. RECOMMENDATIONS o NSF is on the right track, but NSF and other agencies must significantly increase their efforts to bring about systemic change in SEM education. The public needs to be convinced of the need for SEM improvement and the possibility of achieving it. What is needed is a national campaign or a crusade. NSF should act as a catalyst to encourage parents to hold higher expectations. NSF should use systemic change efforts in math, science, and engineering as an example, as a lever for change, and as an exemplar for other fields. o There is a need for NSF to create an aggressive plan of action to ensure that broader-based initiatives--such as the State Systemic Initiative (SSI), Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI), and Teacher Collaboratives--make development of underrepresented groups an integral, primary, and systemic component of their effort from the beginning, as a base of planning, rather than as an add-on. This needs to be demonstrated through clear outcomes. o NSF must establish high standards of performance for its programs. These standards should be translated into clearly defined variables to measure progress toward systemic reform through interim benchmarks and tangible final results. Accountability needs to include statements about what works and why--how to go about implementing effective strategies. o Minority SEM professionals with strong academic records and backgrounds in systemic change must play major roles in local planning of all systemic change activities. o Change in institutions of higher education must become a higher priority. Systemic change efforts must include grades 13 through 16 and beyond. o Systemic reform, while focused on the schools, must address the entire community and requires an increasing contribution from other agencies, both federal and private. Strong collaboration and partnerships are required between business, community-based organizations, churches, and parent groups, and this collaboration must be discussed in a social as well as an academic context. The result should be a community of learners. o Sound, rigorous, high-quality, standards-based science and mathematics curriculum plans to ensure that all children can learn, must form the basis of all systemic change planning. The focus must be on the need for hard work and high expectations, especially for girls and minorities. Science should be the subject matter for reading. Tracking of students should disappear. We must "uncreate" the monster of General Math 1, 2, 3, and 4. HEARING VIII: ESTABLISHMENT OF EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS Elmima C. Johnson, Co-Chair Staff Associate Division of Human Resource Development, EHR NSF Charles A. Miller, Co-Chair Director, Cellular and Molecular Bases of Disease Program National Institutes of Health GOAL Achievement of the aforementioned goals will require a substantial increase in financial and human resources devoted to the enterprise. It will also require appropriate and effective partnerships for engagement of the educational establishment and various sectors (e.g., communities, schools, industry, government, foundations, parents, and professional organizations). RECOMMENDATIONS o Successful school reform requires more than additional financial resources. There must be more effective use of all resources (people, equipment, etc.). o The economic well-being of the Nation is directly correlated with the existence of a diverse workforce because such diversity enhances creativity. Therefore, SEM employers have a responsibility to examine and constructively criticize school outcomes. o Cyclical industry economics as well as SEM industry staffing needs and criteria must be a part of long-range planning for educational reform. o More attention must be given to non-B.S. degree programs (i.e., two-year technical degrees). Jobs at this level will predominate in the future. o K-12 personnel must have a substantive role in the development of educational change strategies. o Evaluation mechanisms must be built into the planning of partnerships. o From an economic point of view, we must terminate those programs that don't work, and evaluation will help us to identify such efforts. Further, we must recognize and reward effective teachers, schools, and administrators if we are to retain them in the system. o Colleges and universities have a valuable resource in their alumni based in industry and should elicit their assistance to form effective partnerships with the private sector. o The potential use of television programs as a means of motivating and attracting students into science/technology careers should be investigated. HEARING IX: ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF SEM REFORM EFFORTS Conrad Katzenmeyer, Co-Chair Senior Program Director for Evaluation Division of Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination, EHR NSF Cora B. Marrett, Co-Chair Assistant Director Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences NSF GOAL There are both comprehensive national programs and local projects for SEM education of minorities who are underrepresented in science and technology fields. Program evaluations in the past were sparse and inconclusive. New efforts, to be discussed, are underway to provide better information. RECOMMENDATIONS o Clear indicators of success should be developed for science education evaluation. We should identify what works and devote money to those efforts. We should identify uniform data to be collected so that trend data can be tracked and programs (whether local or national) can be compared for effectiveness. It is essential that only the effective programs, as identified through evaluation, continue to receive support. o Data must be in a form that can be appropriately desegregated for effective policy development. For example, data that reveal a certain success pattern for all minorities may look very different when these data are desegregated and male versus female trends are studied. o Evaluations must include contextual information. Evaluation designs must encompass the specific cultural setting in which the project occurs to ensure accuracy of interpretations. Without adequate information on the nature of programs and the circumstances under which they are implemented, incorrect conclusions about the effect of programs will often be reached. Individual evaluators in the field must also be sensitive to the culture in which they are working. o To reach the greatest numbers of students, there should be special emphasis on the urban minority student. The needs of minority students in many settings must be addressed. However, urban minority students represent a significant percentage of the population, and education needs in many urban schools have reached crisis levels. o As greater interest in evaluation is generated, it is essential that information be made available on how and where to obtain resources for evaluation. As evaluation requirements are increasingly being written into projects and programs, many people recognize the need for carrying out quality evaluation but lack the background to conduct an effective evaluation program. Information on effective evaluation criteria, and on effective evaluators, must be disseminated.