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California State University,
Fresno President John D. Welty joined leaders of 106 other public
campuses today (February 5, 2009) in formally committing to take action
to eliminate the lack of highly qualified science and mathematics
teachers in middle and high school classrooms across America.
The presidents have signed on to the Science and Mathematics Teacher
Imperative (SMTI) developed by the National Association of State
Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC).
SMTI institutions commit to increase substantially the diverse pool of
highly qualified science and mathematics teachers in their states.
Institutions will work with appropriate state agencies to identify their
immediate and longer term needs for high school teachers. They will
bolster partnerships among universities, school systems, state
governments and other entities to address statewide needs and share best
practices for the preparation of teachers.
“Fresno State has been a leader in preparing a diverse group of science
and math teachers” said Welty. “We are prepared to re-double our efforts
to address this critical issue and help lead the way. This is an issue
of national security which is more important than the effort our nation
made after Sputnik was launched in 1957.”
Kremen School of Education and Human Development professor Carol Fry
Bohlin, who is Fresno State’s SMTI liaison and director of the campus's
Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI), added, "Over the past
two years, our campus has made great progress in recruiting and
preparing mathematics and science teachers for the Central Valley
through the systemwide effort funded by the CSU Chancellor's Office.
“The Science and Mathematics Education Center in the College of Science
and Mathematics has been an important partner in these efforts, as have
local community colleges, regional Subject Matter Projects, Fresno
County Office of Education and local school district mathematics and
science educators,” Bohlin said.
“SMTI provides an outstanding opportunity for Fresno State to join
forces with universities throughout the nation to address collectively
the challenge of increasing the production of well-prepared mathematics
and science teachers," she said.
If the U.S. is to remain a leader in engineering, technology and
innovation in the global market place, the state of science and
mathematics education must be greatly strengthened.
“For too long, institutions like mine have stood aside on this important
issue. We cannot continue on the sidelines,” said Richard Herman,
chancellor of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and chair of
the SMTI Commission. “One of the best paths for meeting the need for
more science and mathematics teachers is to commit ourselves to this
important initiative and inspire more of the nation’s top mathematics,
science and engineering students to become our top teachers.”
“It is essential that our public universities produce highly qualified
and diverse science and mathematics teachers to ensure our country stays
competitive,” said Peter McPherson, president of NASULGC.
NASULGC-member institutions, the leading public and land-grant
universities in each state, educate the largest cohort of undergraduate
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students on
research-intensive campuses with influential colleges of education. By
committing to this effort, NASULGC-member institutions are responding to
the call for 10,000 new science and mathematics teachers in the National
Academies report, “Rising Above The Gathering Storm. “
The teacher imperative has been supported by grants from the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASULGC,
and in-kind contributions of faculty from several universities.
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