[CSPS] CS Response

Sarah Bednarz s-bednarz at tamu.edu
Wed Dec 13 11:15:08 CST 2006 

Arvind:

I don't think we can afford to have a system which allows students to  
have proclivities and not achieve at least a fairly high degree of  
competence in all subjects. And I mean all students.  Luckily, the  
addition of an additional year of math and science will not affect  
the already-required four years of language arts and social studies,  
hence this is not a zero sum game in that regard. It may affect  
student access to health science technology, but what good is that  
without math and science?

I work in the schools with teachers on a weekly basis. I can't be  
negative about our CSISD teachers; they are a great group. But there  
are a lot of things going on which are disconcerting. We have very  
low expectations for student achievement. And the potential problems  
that you hint at, well, I can't help but be optimistic that they  
could all be dealt with in a positive fashion if teachers and  
administrators greeted this change with a positive attitude instead  
of the negative remarks that appeared in the paper.

It is like the old values proposition. What is the value of knowing  
more math and science? What is the harm? I can't see any harm in the  
growth of  knowledge and skills.

Ok, I will stop.

Sarah Bednarz

On Dec 13, 2006, at 10:55 AM, Mahajan, Arvind wrote:

> When I initially heard opposition to the four-year math and science  
> requirement, my response was similar to yours, Sarah. Jonathan and  
> I had a lengthy chat with Steve Ogden a few weeks ago about this  
> issue and it seemed the legislation was well intentioned--American  
> students were lagging those from other industrialized countries and  
> this requirement would make them more competitive in the global  
> market place. However, I am now ambivalent about this requirement  
> and actually leaning against it.
>
> Clearly, students with math-science proclivity will not be affected  
> by this requirement.  However, being a zero-sum game, this  
> requirement will take away from courses in language arts, social  
> studies and everything else. It can be argued that America's  
> success is rooted in it's citizens' competitive advantage in  
> creativity, initiative and risk-taking--traits which may have more  
> to do with courses which the math-science requirement will deprive  
> them of. Susan's email captures other concerns. My conversations  
> with CSISD and BISD superintendents, teachers and my own high  
> school junior (who will take four years of math-science) reveal  
> other potential problems with this requirement.
>
> The new rule deals with a very important issue deserving of a  
> serious philosophical discussion. I wish it had occurred before the  
> passage of the legislation but I am pleased that we have at least  
> initiated this conversation.
>
> Arvind
>
> Arvind Mahajan
> Lamar Savings Professor of Finance
> Mays Business School
> Texas A&M University
> College Station, TX 77843-4218
>
> 979 845 4876 tel
> 979 845 3884 fax
>
> From: csps-bounces at csps.tamu.edu on behalf of Susan Scott
> Sent: Wed 12/13/2006 10:07 AM
> To: Sarah Bednarz
> Cc: csps at PHILEBUS.tamu.edu
> Subject: Re: [CSPS] CS Response
>
> Sarah,
> I have heard some interesting perspectives on this from Linda Stearns,
> Bryan ISD math teacher, at recent CSPS events.  She can explain this
> better than I can but it is my understanding that when the  
> requirements
> jumped from 2 years of math to 3 several years ago, teachers found  
> that
> they had to water down the curriculum for the upper level courses in
> order to have a reasonable percentage of the students (at least 60%, I
> believe) pass the classes.  Linda stated that the college-bound  
> students
> are no longer adequately prepared for first-year college math classes.
> She was strongly opposed to adding the 4-year requirement for all
> students, both for the sake of the college-bound kids and for the
> students who want classes with vocational emphases.  She and other
> teachers expressed concern about increased drop-out rates with  
> these new
> requirements.
> Susan
>
>
> Susan G. Scott
> Instructor and Internship Coordinator
> Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences
> Texas A&M University
> College Station, TX  77843-2261
> Phone:  (979) 845-5350
> FAX:  (979) 845-0446
> susan-g-scott at tamu.edu
> www.rpts.tamu.edu
>
> >>> Sarah Bednarz <s-bednarz at tamu.edu> 12/13/2006 8:11 am >>>
> Am I alone in being upset with the response of some school board
> members and administrators as reported in today's Eagle about the new
>
> curriculum? It makes me question the collective dedication to
> preparing ALL students for life-long success if they do not support
> the idea of four years of math, science, language arts and social
> studies.
>
> Just wondering if I have become too elitist or if standards are
> slipping.
>
> Sarah Bednarz
> *******************************************
> Sarah Witham Bednarz
> Associate Professor of Geography
> Department of Geography
> Texas A&M University
> College Station, Texas 77843-3147
> s-bednarz at tamu.edu
> 979/845-1579
> FAX: 979/862-4487
> CELL: 979/229-7247
> http://agsss.tamu.edu
> *******************************************
> The death-knell of the republic had rung as soon as the active power
> became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to
> all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class
>
> and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others.
> Theodore Roosevelt, Labor Day speech at Syracuse, NY, Sept 7, 1903
>
>
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*******************************************
Sarah Witham Bednarz
Associate Professor of Geography
Department of Geography
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-3147
s-bednarz at tamu.edu
979/845-1579
FAX: 979/862-4487
CELL: 979/229-7247
http://agsss.tamu.edu
*******************************************
The death-knell of the republic had rung as soon as the active power  
became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to  
all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class  
and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others.
Theodore Roosevelt, Labor Day speech at Syracuse, NY, Sept 7, 1903

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