Math and Science Education at a Crisis; Claremont Professor David Drew is Leading the Way to Improvement
	A recent study by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning indicated that nearly half of California's math and science teachers are not on pace to meet the NCLB's proficiency goal by 2014. Claremont's David Drew is directing several initiatives aimed at a solution. These include an effort at Claremont which are actively recruiting math and science teachers for urban districts and studying ways in which the U.S. can model its teaching methods in these categories overall. Links: David Drew's website///Video of David Drew talking about his research (2:00)
	Key Points 1. Claremont received a $460,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to recruit future math and science teachers into its program. So far, two students have been placed into urban districts in Southern California, and several more are in the program right now. 2. Prof. Drew chairman of the board of the Western Science Education Consortium, an organization of universities focused on mathematics and science education, especially curriculum reform and  evaluation. 3. He is principal investigator for a National Science Foundation Noyce grant, which provides fellowship support for graduate students who will become mathematics and science teachers. 4. Prof. Drew has published extensively in math and science education.
	Quotable -- Prof. Drew "Whether or not the goals of the NCLB are realistic, the fact remains that we are not educating our students for math and science mastery the way we should. We need to develop a new masters program in math and science education and train more teachers with expertise in math and science." "In the past, too few of the best undergraduate students have chosen to become teachers. This has been a persistent problem in mathematics and in science." Quotable-CA State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O'Connell "By developing top quality teacher programs and encouraging more math and science majors to consider teaching careers, we can better prepare students for the real-world demands of the 21st century." Media exclusives are available. Contact Nikolaos Johnson, CGU Media Relations at (909) 621-4761 (office)/(909) 913-2624 (cell).
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