US STUDENTS LAG IN MATH, SCIENCE: LOCAL EXPERTS CONVENE TO PROMOTE SOLUTIONS PDF Print E-mail
MARCH 28, 2007 PRESS INVITATION:

State Sen. Torlakson to Moderate Forum Sponsored by East Bay Community Foundation
With introductory comments by cosmologist George Smoot, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics.

WHAT: Forum on Solutions to Math & Science Education lag -- reporters invited. With research showing U.S. 12th graders are significantly behind other countries in the rest of the industrialized world in terms of math and science competency, this forum co-sponsored by the East Bay Community Foundation and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute focuses on “Sharing Solutions: Promising Practices in Teaching Math and Science.” Featured is a panel discussion on best practices to advance the skills of US students in math and science.

WHO: State Senator Tom Torlakson (D-Contra Costa) Moderator.
A force in state education funding, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, member of the Education Committee and of the Transportation & Housing Committee. Holder of an M.A. degree in Education from University of California, Berkeley.
Panelists:
Paul Zeitz, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of San Francisco. Author of “The Art and Craft of Problem Solving” & a co-author of “Statistical Explorations with Excel.” Director of the San Francisco Math Circle, designed to increase quantity & quality of math educators and researchers. As a high school student, member of first American team to participate in the International Math Olympiad.
Irwin Kra, Executive Director of Math for America, which operates programs in New York City that recruit and train and award fellowships to secondary-school math teachers.
Joshua Zucker, teacher, Castilleja School in Palo Alto. Established in 1907 to provide rigorous college preparatory education for young women grades 6-12, Castilleja is the only non-sectarian all girls middle & high school in the Bay Area.
Maureen Nixon-Holtan, Director of the Oakland Technical High School Health Academy. The nationally recognized Academy operates as a“school within a school” for students interested in health, medicine, biology or biotechnology. Students in grades 10 to 12 combine academic classes with hands-on laboratory and hospital/clinical experiences.
Debbra Lindo, Chief Executive Officer of College Track, East Palo Alto.
College Track provides academic support and counseling for low-income, high-potential students in East Palo Alto and Oakland. Every student graduated from the program has gone on to attend college, the vast majority of who are the first in their family to do so. And with special appearance by Jerry Fiddler, co-founder of Wind River Systems, whose software is used in leading consumer electronics devices worldwide. Fiddler is currently interim Executive Director of the Chabot Space and Science Center.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 5:00 pm.
WHERE: Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, 17 Gauss Way, Berkeley.
WHY: Improving Math and Science Education begins with sharing solutions that work. A number of community foundations across the country like the East Bay Community Foundation – including those in San Diego, Texas, New York, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania -- are part of a growing response to the math/science lag. This response features a variety of programs – some nationwide, some statewide, some local -- aiming to increase interest and skills in math and science among students in middle and high school through scholarship grants, improved academic programs, and hands-on experience at scientific institutions as well as through skills and leadership training for teachers.