Fear of Science and Math Drive State Reform
To prepare Georgia's children for the global workplace, the state wants students to embrace science and mathematics — not shy away from the subjects.
To that end, Georgia State will play a key role in Georgia's Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics, a National Science Foundation-funded project to close achievement gaps among diverse populations at all levels of education across the state.
Georgia State provost Ron Henry is co-principal investigator of the $34.6-million, five-year project with Jan Kettlewell, associate vice chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Henry says it's imperative to improve students' grasp of science and math to remain relevant in the global economy.
"The U.S. will become a second-rate economic power unless it can match the educational performance of its rivals abroad," he says. "Georgia is near the bottom of U.S. states [in student performance], so the situation is even direr for the Georgia economy."
Kathryn Kozaitis, chair and associate professor of anthropology, will study the process by which PRISM establishes a reward structure in universities to encourage faculty to sustain involvement in improving science and math education in Pre-K-12 schools.
"We want thinkers, critical thinkers, citizens — and then, if out of this group we have scientists and mathematicians, wonderful," Kozaitis says. "Particularly among women, the poor, rural populations and immigrants, we have an obligation to make these disciplines accessible and appealing."