What
do parents need to know to educate and encourage their children
to consider careers in mathematics, the sciences or engineering,
as well as to gain lifelong essential skills? How can higher
education help parents and students think more strategically
about the K-12 preparation needed to keep science career options
open?
The
University of Kentucky’s Appalachian Mathematics and Science
Partnership (AMSP), in collaboration with the Kentucky nonprofit
Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, has developed and is
coordinating "College Reality Stores" at four of its
partner university sites. The stores engage parents and students
in simulations intended to educate them about the realities of
and essentials for, career preparation in science and
mathematics. For many parents and students, learning about how to
finance a college education; what types of courses the student
should take in high school; the array of academic programs in
mathematics and the sciences available in college; and
personal/cultural adjustments needed for college can make a real
difference in having the confidence needed to seriously consider
going to college and pursuing studies in these fields. More than
600 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors signaled their
interest in the program by registering at their high school
counseling offices in Eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia.
The first College Reality Store "set up shop" --just
like a mall--on the campus of the University of Virginia at Wise
in February 2006. Ten colleges and an array of local businesses,
including hospitals and engineering firms that employ people with
strong mathematics and science skills, engaged the students,
answering questions and providing information about career
options and the education required to pursue them.
The
AMSP research agenda includes a component to study the
mathematics and science postsecondary aspirations of seniors
graduating from a small cohort of central Appalachian high
schools. In this study, the researchers are investigating the
final stages of the decision-making process that propels
Appalachian high school students to go on to college and select
careers in which mathematics and science are important. The
research also examines the critically necessary engagement of
parents and the rural community context as factors in student
achievement in mathematics, science and technology.
In
Georgia, the Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics
(PRISM), a Comprehensive Partnership funded by the Math and
Science Partnership (MSP) program, is getting the message out to
parents and students through the first wave of a major Public
Awareness Campaign from January through March 2006. A basic tenet
of this public awareness campaign is that a simple equation--
"math + science = success"--repeated many times and in
many contexts, just might make a difference in the life of a K-12
student who is being nudged to think seriously about the
possibility of a better future, a satisfying career, and life
success.
After a year of research and a thorough review
of the qualitative and quantitative results obtained from parents
and students, market researchers and an Atlanta advertising
agency developed the campaign in collaboration with the PRISM
Leadership Team of science and mathematics educators from the
University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of
Education. "Before we could determine how to help Georgia
communities best aid our students, we had to understand the
existing parent and student attitudes and behaviors around
science and mathematics," said Jan Kettlewell, principal
investigator of PRISM and University System of Georgia associate
vice chancellor for P-16 Initiatives. In an important finding
from Phase I of the baseline research, researchers found that
high school students surveyed in four diverse regions of Georgia
overwhelmingly agreed that it is their parents--not
their teachers, not their coaches or religious leaders, not their
peers, not the celebrities with whom they are enamored at the
moment--who exert the greatest influence on how they do in
school. Surprisingly, many parents underestimate the significance
of their own influence. Those who took the parent survey were
split almost evenly in their perceptions of their own abilities
to help their children do well in school. Many parents perceived
themselves to be only as influential as teachers, but not
necessarily more influential.
An important aspect
of this public relations campaign is its coherence with PRISM's
other strategies: to advance the teaching and learning of high
quality mathematics and science; to attract and retain excellent
teachers; and to enhance professional development for teachers of
kindergarten through college. As part of the public awareness
campaign, PRISM has developed a Web site that includes a parent
resource guide, available at http://www.mathsciencesuccess.org.
Continuing research will identify outcomes from the campaign and
set the stage for further messages to students, parents and the
broader community.
AMSP
Partners: Kentucky
Science and Technology Corporation, Eastern Kentucky University,
Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Pikeville
College, Union College, University of Virginia college at Wise,
University of Tennessee, Prestonburg Community College, Somerset
community College, numerous school districts
