ABSTRACT
The reform of mathematics and science education in the United States has become a national priority, but teaching improved content in these subjects successfully to the majority of students is in jeopardy. As federal, state, and local agencies commit to improving the performance of our students in mathematics and science, they must come to terms with the extent of the problems first. The situation resembles this one. Imagine cranking the handle of a well and finding a very leaky bucket. Along comes an official who asks, “Who is responsible for this intolerably leaky bucket?” The subsequent questions are: Will the responsibility for the condition of the bucket be placed with those who left it too long without attention and care? Those who actively poked holes in it? Those who used it and ignored the leak? Or those who lifted the bucket up and let the state of disorder and neglect become evident to the public? A short-sighted Congress demanding immediate accountability is unlikely to be particularly circumspect, and any agency or political group advocating educational reform aggressively is in the precarious position of being left “holding the bucket,” as it were. Added to this is a skeptical scientific community whose funding cuts in research leave some inclined to jettison the unruly and expensive efforts entailed in reforming science and mathematics education. Sadly, too, public debate and controversy are increasing as reformers make it clear that their goal is to educate all children better, not solely the narrower, albeit important, objective of preparing an elite few to become mathematicians or scientists.
