“Reaffirming and strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation is essential to meeting the challenges of this century,” said President Obama. “That’s why I am committed to making the improvement of STEM education over the next decade a national priority.”

The administration has identified three overarching priorities for STEM education:

• Increase STEM literacy so all students can think critically in science, math, engineering and technology.
• Improve the quality of math and science teaching so American students are no longer outperformed by those in other nationsI.
• Expand STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and minorities.

Speaking to key STEM leaders and local students, President Obama announced a series of high-powered partnerships totaling over $260 million in support from leading companies, foundations, non-profits, and science and engineering societies dedicated to motivating and inspiring young people across America to excel in science and math.

Supporters include the MacArthur Foundation, Time Warner Cable, and Discovery Communications. With an investment of $7.5 million in mathematics and science education for preschoolers, Sesame Street, in partnership with PNC Bank, shows students are never to young to engage in STEM. Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, explains,”Ensuring today’s children are prepared with the mathematics and science skills they need to compete in a global world must be a national priority.”

Prevent math fright by gaining perspective:

• Think of math as a foreign language that requires daily practice to master.
• Spend time working on math. Don’t just memorize or follow examples blindly.
• Be stubborn and tenacious about solving math “puzzles” correctly.
• Stay positive about your ability. Avoid negative self-talk. You can do math.
• Math is cumulative, so make sure you’re in the right level class for your experience.

Reduce math anxiety by improving your study habits:

• Don’t rush through math homework. Slow down and work at your own pace.
• When you get stuck, read your math textbook and refer to example problems.
• Ask for help from a teacher or tutor as soon as you need it.
• Practice math every day, even if no homework is assigned.
• Check each answer and try again if you make mistakes.
• Math is cumulative, so don’t avoid the work or fall behind.

Don’t fall for these age-old math myths. See how they are soundly debunked in this Platonic Realms MiniText.

Myth #1: Aptitude for math is inborn.
Myth #2: To be good at math you have to be good at calculating.
Myth #3: Math requires logic, not creativity.
Myth #4: In math, what’s important is getting the right answer.
Myth #5: Men are naturally better than women at mathematical thinking.

Mastering math is not about having a natural gift. Instead, learning math takes time and effort along with trial and error. As your knowledge and ability increase, so too will your confidence and test performance.

He is the world’s best-known recreational mathematician, and has probably introduced more people to the joys of math than anyone in history.

Sometimes, complicated information is difficult to understand and needs an illustration. Graphs or charts can help impress people by getting your point across quickly and visually.

From 3-dimensional bar graphs to pie charts and area graphs, it’s a breeze to input data at Kids’ Zone, and the output is as impressive as any chart ever produced by the father-of-charts himself, Ross Perot.

The most difficult step for students may be figuring out which style or format will best communicate their data. But never fear, the NCES has thought of this as well, offering a brief tutorial that explains when to use:

Line graphs: Line graphs are used to track changes over short and long periods of time. When smaller changes exist, line graphs are better to use than bar graphs. Line graphs can also be sued to compare changes over the same period of time for more than one group.
Pie Charts: Pie charts are best to use when you are trying to compare parts of a whole. They do not show changes over time.
Bar Graphs: Bar graphs are used to compare things between different groups or to track changes over time. However, when trying to measure change over time, bar graphs are best when the changes are larger.
Area Graphs: Area graphs are very similar to line graphs. They can be used to track changes over time for one or more groups. Area graphs are good to use when you are tracking the changes in two or more related groups that make up one whole category (for example public and private groups).
X-Y Plots: X-Y plots are used to determine relationships between the two different things. The x-axis is used to measure one event (or variable) and the y-axis is used to measure the other. If both variables increase at the same time, they have a positive relationship. If one variable decreases while the other increases, they have a negative relationship. Sometimes the variables don’t follow any pattern and have no relationship.

The NCES graphing tool also gives students a chance to control the look of their graph, including labels; font size and style, headers; and font, grid, and background color. A preview tab lets users check their creation prior to printing, downloading, or emailing. Graphs are saved on the site for 30-days from the last time viewed or edited.

“The equation is simple: No matter what their background, students who take challenging math courses in high school get better jobs and earn more money throughout their entire lives.”

Do you have a reluctant math student living under your roof? The Math Works advocacy kit from Achieve.org is written for every student who has uttered the famous words: “I won’t use math in my job, so no sense suffering through more than I need to graduate.”

If this sounds even a little familiar, it’s worth your time to download Math Works, a series of one-page fact sheets written for high school students to explain the lifetime advantages of taking advanced math:

• Advanced Math Equals Career Readiness
• All Students Need Advanced Math
• Advanced Math: Closing the Equity Gap
• Americans Need Advanced Math to Stay Globally Competitive
• The Value of the Fourth Year of Mathematics
• Math’s Double Standard and Exposing the Myth: Advanced Math Does Not Increase Drop Out Rates

If your student is still not convinced that, regardless of post-graduation plans, engaging in rigorous math will lead to greater opportunities, the Mathematics at Work brochures may offer enlightenment. Drawn from leading industries nationwide, these case studies illustrate the advanced math knowledge and abstract thinking skills necessary to advance in today’s workplace.

For more in-depth reading, download The Building Blocks of Success: Higher-Level Math for All Students [pdf], a policy paper which synthesizes current research on why math is so important to all students and how it serves as a foundation for higher-order thinking and improves access and success in college and careers.

Created in 1996 by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders to help raise academic standards, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, non-profit education reform organization based in Washington, D.C. The intent of the Math Works materials is to help policymakers, advocates, educators, parents, and students understand the connection between higher-level math courses and college access and success, workplace and career readiness, and personal and U.S. competitiveness.

Claiming added educational value, the cellphone industry is making a case for smartphones in the classroom. To opponents, they argue these phones are basically smarter, cheaper versions of laptop computers. Project K-Nect, a two-year pilot program in North Carolina, showed that at-risk students given high-end cellphones running Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software and special programs “performed 25 percent better on the end-of-the-year algebra exam than did students without the devices in similar classes.”

Cell phones an educational tool? Not likely, according to a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Teachers who calls these devices a distraction and the idea of using them for education laughable. The math teacher I observed might agree.

On the other hand, smartphones could serve as a cost-effective solution to help close the digital divide. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study [pdf], while 81 percent of kids ages 2-18 in higher-income communities ($40,000 or more) have a computer at home, and more than half (58 percent) have Internet access, only 49 percent of kids in lower-income communities (less than $25,000 per year) have a computer at home, and just a quarter (23 percent) have Internet access.

Sponsored by Qualcomm, North Carolina’s Project K-Nect explores whether smartphones can improve math skills among at-risk ninth-grade students. To be eligible for the program, students had to have limited at-home Internet access, qualify for the free or reduced lunch program, and have below average math proficiency levels. In Pockets of Potential [pdf], a Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop report, Project K-Nect director Shawn Gross explains that, in addition to improved algebra test results, smartphone use led to increased student study time and greater parent involvement.

Project K-Nect participant Damon Jones-Way, 15, said he likes the after-hours homework help. “If we can’t figure out what we have to do, we can talk to our teachers or our friends,” he said. Damon also used his smartphone to post an audio blog of a rap song he wrote to help him memorize the laws of exponents.

Suzette Kliewer, a math teacher involved in Project K-Nect said her students are more motivated and frequently text each other or her with homework questions. “The amount of discussion that goes on in the evening is tremendous,” she said.

“Mobile devices are part of the fabric of children’s lives today: they are here to stay,” said Dr. Michael Levine, Executive Director of The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. It is no longer a question of whether we should use these devices to support learning, but how and when to use them.

A study led by Jennifer Kaminski, research scientist at The Ohio State University’s Center for Cognitive Science, found that abstract math concepts do not become more relevant or easier to learn when educators incorporate examples from the real world. In fact, such examples may hinder student understanding.

“College students who learned a mathematical concept with concrete examples couldn’t apply that knowledge to new situations,” says Kaminski. Getting back to the train example, “The danger [is] that many students only learn how to solve the problem with the trains. If students are later given a problem using the same mathematical principles, but about rising water levels instead of trains, that knowledge just doesn’t seem to transfer.”

Concrete examples can still be used to help test that math concepts were learned. However, results from the Ohio State study demonstrate that students are best prepared to apply math concepts to a variety of situations when abstract symbols, such as variables, are presented instead.

Despite opposition from California’s School Superintendent, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the State Board of Education endorsed a plan to require Algebra 1 testing for all eighth-graders beginning in 2011. Opposition groups sued, questioning whether the state had enough money or trained staff to comply with the state’s decision.

Judge Shelleyanne Chang issued a preliminary injunction, ruling that the State Board of Education acted outside its jurisdiction and without public input. She added that the plaintiffs would likely win if the lawsuit went to trial. The state Board of Education intends to appeal.

While about half of California’s eighth-graders take algebra, only about a quarter score proficient or above on standardized tests. The rate is even lower for minority and poor students.

Using a simple blackboard format, each video walks the viewer through example problems. Available math topics include basic arithmetic, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus, probability, and differential equations.

Khan has also created videos on physics, SAT preparation, finance, and the credit crisis.  The SAT videos address all 432 problems in “The Official SAT Study Guide” by the College Board.

The Harvard- and MIT-educated Khan, an investment professional by day, started making math videos at night to help family and friends.  Word of his technique spread and now thousands of viewers from around the world depend on Khan’s one-man tutoring show.

According to Claremont Graduate University education professor and former school superintendent Barbara DeHart, “Recent studies have found that ninth-graders are dropping out of school because of pressures related to NCLB. The push for eighth-grade algebra proficiency is a big part of that pressure.”

With just half of California’s eighth-graders taking full algebra at this time, only about 23 percent score as proficient or above on standardized tests. The success rate is even lower for minority and poor students.

While some eighth-graders are ready for the algebra curriculum, thousands lack the solid foundation needed for algebraic problem solving. According to a Brown Center on Education Policy report [pdf], “One hundred twenty thousand students are misplaced in their eighth-grade math classes.” Students who don’t know how to multiply and divide are not learning algebra while, at the same time, well-prepared kids are being held back.

In a RAND study titled Mathematical Proficiency for All Students [pdf] a panel of researchers, mathematicians, and educators explain that,”Without proficiency in algebra, students cannot access a full range of educational and career options, and they have limited chances of success. Failure to learn algebra is widespread, and the consequences of this failure are that far too many students are disenfranchised.” The report recommends further research on how policy decisions can shape student learning and improve equity.

Algebra 1 should be taught to all students, but only once they have the basic skills required for algebraic proficiency. Before mandating that all students take Algebra 1 at a younger age, the Board of Education has a clear responsibility to provide every student with the basic foundation needed to succeed.

I used http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ where I could specify the scale, color and a few other attributes and then download my custom pdf file to print at home.

Studying probability & statistics? Or perhaps you’re wrestling with applications of the pythagorean theorem. If so, I believe you’ll find Better Explained helpful.

• What is the problem you’re working on?
• What do the directions say?
• What words or directions don’t you understand?
• Where do you think you should begin?
• What do you already know that can help you work through the problem?
• Tell me what you’ve done so far.
• Where can we find help in your textbook or notes?
• Are there similar problems to look at?
• Let’s try drawing a picture or making a diagram.
• What did the teacher ask you to do?
• Who can you call to get help?
• Should we tackle this when you’re not so tired?

Like many high schoolers, John Hagen’s algebra students worry about passing.

But they also worry about rushing. And receiving. And scoring.

They’ve become miniature NFL coaches, tracking the performance of key players in their own fantasy football league. In the process, Hagen’s previously math-resistant students have joined a growing number of kids who get a kick out of multiplying and dividing points and yards so they can see whose team came out on top.

The book Hagen uses is by Dan Flockhart, a former Bay Area math teacher. As described on amazon.com, “Fantasy Football and Mathematics is an innovative program that uses real-world sports data to capitalize on the fun and dynamic phenomenon of Fantasy Sports to teach kids math.” Additional books focus on baseball, basketball, and soccer.

California’s standards are excellent in every respect. The language is crystal clear, important topics are given priority, and key connections between different skills and tasks are explicitly addressed. Computational skills, problem-solving, and mathematical reasoning are unambiguously supported and integrated throughout the standards.

California’s Framework is not perfect. But it comes as close to perfection as any set of mathematics standards in the country, and should be a valuable model for other states.

In other words, when we tell our children that they’re not good at something, we’re setting them up for a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We Americans used to understand the concept of educational progression — of instilling fundamental skills early and completely so that they became natural extensions of children’s lives, thus equipping them for moving into higher realms of learning and reasoning. But somewhere and somehow, we lost our way and began embracing panaceas that promised educational gain without pain.

As Walters points out, “Innumeracy — a chronic inability to understand and apply mathematics to work and daily life — is rampant.” Our children have to invest the time to learn the basics. Then they can continue to build their knowledge. Not just knowledge of what’s in a text, but an understanding of the world around us. There are just no shortcuts to learning. It takes time, patience, and guiding hands – teachers, parents, tutors, and friends.