Mathematica Policy Research was awarded a contract this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study the effectiveness of sex education programs in preventing teenage pregnancy.

The topic is timely because lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are in the midst of deciding how much money to authorize for sex education—and for what kinds of approaches—in health care reform legislation, which I just wrote about for Education Week. The health care legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives authorizes funding only for "comprehensive" sex education programs, which urge youngsters to delay sexual activity and aim to reduce the number of partners they have, but do not focus on abstinence. Such programs have a strong goal of increasing the use of contraceptives among teenagers.

The health care reform bill proposed by Democratic senators this week includes funding both for comprehensive sex education programs and for abstinence-based programs, which may discuss contraceptives but only in a context of how teenagers should abstain from sex.

The contract landed by Mathematica is an eight-year random assignment evaluation that is intended to document evidence on effective ways to reduce teen nonmarital sexual activity, pregnancy, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

A panel of health experts appointed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released an analysis of studies on different approaches to sex education. It found that comprehensive programs that teach about contraceptives and safer sexual practices help to reduce teenagers' risky sexual behavior and decrease the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The panel didn't find evidence that abstinence-based programs are effective in doing the same.

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Before he leaves office, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has ordered a study of the low minority representation in the state's programs for gifted students.

The governor points to data showing that while African-American students make up 26 percent of the state's student population, only 17 percent of students in gifted education programs are black. Latinos account for nine percent of the student population, but only five percent of gifted students, he noted.

"[I]t's critical we assess any disproportionate barriers to enrollment so we can ensure students of all backgrounds have the opportunity to participate," Kaine said in a statement.

The study will be conducted by the Regional Education Laboratory Appalachia, a federally funded research center, and should be complete by the Spring of next year. That's after Kaine, a Democrat who is term-limited, leaves office. He will be succeeded by Republican Bob McDonnell, who won the gubernatorial race this month.

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Paul Barton, the former director of the policy-information center at the Educational Testing Service, takes issue with the draft common standards in written comments on the document.

Barton says the draft standards for college and career readiness seem "to be an extension of the current conventional wisdom seen in a number of arenas that there is a one-size-fits-all approach to public education, particularly at the high school level, and that all students need to acquire the same kind and level of knowledge for life after high school." Barton, who now works as an education consultant, argues that this approach is "deaf to the differentiation of student interests, motivations, learning styles, and the greatly differentiated labor market they will enter, as well as the differentiated structure of postsecondary education, and the need to make a start on cutting the dropout rate."

His observations in some ways echo the concerns of Stanford University scholar Mike Kirst, whose work Barton cites in his paper. Overall, Barton questions the wisdom of starting the standards effort with a focus on the end of the K-12 pipeline—as opposed to elementary grades—an approach that he describes as an effort to "bring uniformity to a wildly differentiated secondary school system."

I'm offering just a brief synopsis. Once you've read the essay, let me know if you agree with Barton's analysis.

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Researchers evaluating New Mexico's preK program recommend that it be expanded because it has had a favorable impact on participants' learning. The preK classrooms in the program were particularly strong in "teaching and interactions," the researchers concluded, which takes into account general supervision, the use of language to develop reasoning, and interactions between staff and children and among children.

Children in the program improved significantly in language, literacy, and math compared with children who did not, according to data from the first three years of the program. The evaluation estimates that the rate of return to the state for every dollar invested is $5. It found that for each of the first three years of the program, participants scored significantly higher than their counterparts in early literacy and math skills. But children's language skills showed significant improvement only in the first two of the first three years of the program, which was established in 2005.

The researchers, who are from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, say that expanding the program is warranted. But they also made some recommendations for improvement. They said, for example, that support for early language and literacy is "fair" in the program, while support for early math skills is "poor." They recommended increasing opportunities for teacher training and ensuring that every lead teacher in the preK program have at least a bachelor's degree with specialized training in preschool education.

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A new book seeks to offer a "nuanced, balanced" examination of why women lag behind men in their representation in certain math and science fields. Yet by its very nature, the volume, The Science on Women and Science, is bound to ignite some impassioned chatter.

The book is a collection of essays by scholars who come at the topic in different ways and reach starkly different conclusions. Some argue that research suggests that gender biases are the overriding factor in males outnumbering females in physical science, engineering, and math. Others dispute that idea, quite strongly.

The volume is edited by Christina Hoff Sommers, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who's written for years about claims of gender bias in math/science. Noted social scientist Charles Murray contributes an essay, as do Harvard University scholars Elizabeth Spelke and Katherine Ellison, and many others. In her introduction, Sommers presents the book as a fairer look at the issue than what was presented in a 2007 report by the National Academy of Sciences, which found that bias, as opposed to intrinsic ability, was a strong factor in discouraging women to enter math and science fields. "There are sensible and fair-minded scientists on all sides," she writes. "They should be free to argue without being intimidated, silenced, or compared to racists."

Some of the essayists, like Spelke and Ellison, argue that research shows that men and women have the same intrinsic cognitive abilities and motivation for math and science careers. They say there's also no evidence that market forces are going to correct those imbalances, as some suggest, so higher education institutions would have to act for change to occur. The evidence shows that gender stereotypes are having an impact on leading women away from math and science fields, the authors explain.

But others, like authors Jerre Levy and Doreen Kimura, have a different take. They argue that the "fundamental claim" of the Academies report that men outnumber women in certain math and science fields because of social barriers against females has "no scientific foundation." They say research has shown a connection between genetic and hormonal differences between males and females, which affect behavior and choice of occupation. They write:

"Although the magnitude of average sex differences in certain cognitive abilities has declined in the last forty years, none of these differences has disappeared or is likely to disappear. However, even if there were no cognitive sex differences in average mathematical or spatial ability, there would still be more males than females at the upper end of intellectual talent due to greater male variance. In consequence, there would still be more males than females who meet even minimum standards to be academic engineers, physical scientists, or mathematicians, and many more men than women with exceptionally high levels of talent."

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The co-founder of Wikipedia has launched a Web site designed to offer free access to thousands of education-related videos for students ages 3-18.

Larry Sanger, who helped create Wikipedia and has since left the organization, says the new site, www.watchknow.org, will allow students and teachers to sort through a library of online videos by content, and pick out what they need. Topics range from math and science to history. The site is meant to house and organize videos that are free and available online, yet which most people don't know how to find.

The site was launched in October. So far it offers 11,000 videos in 2,000 categories. The contributions have come from National Geographic and Google Videos, among many other sources.

Sanger describes it as "YouTube meets Wikipedia." He adds in a statement: "WatchKnow.org links together content from traditional sites, and also allows users of the site to improve the organization of the video categories, which makes finding the video you need much easier."

I suppose there's no more appropriate way to sum up Sanger's background than by sending you to this page. His bio says he left Wikipedia seven years and has since been critical of the online encyclopedia. Wikis have become popular in K-12 classrooms over the years, despite educators' and others' worries about who is writing and controlling the content, and how it can be verified.

The project is funded the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, whose officials hope to have more than 50,000 videos on the site by the end of 2010. What will this site contribute, if anything, to the nation's classrooms?

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Over at School Law, Mark Walsh reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear appeals about the removal of a book from school library shelves in Miami-Dade County, Fla.

The school board's decision to remove the book was struck down by a federal court, but a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, ruled that the school board didn't violate the First Amendment by removing the book.

Mark writes that a father in the Miami-Dade County, Fla., school district protested that his daughter's elementary school had the book. He contended the book ignored the realities of the Communist regime under leader Fidel Castro.

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These are tough times to be looking for work as a teacher.

Unless, it seems, you're hoping to become a math teacher.

That's the conclusion of a recent report, which finds that nationwide demand for teachers has fallen in all 60 fields examined over the past year. Only one subject area—math teaching—was found to be in "considerable demand," according to the latest version of an annual report released by the American Association for Employment in Education (subscription required). In recent years, more than a dozen subjects have had serious shortages, but not this year. Interesting that the demand for math teachers outpaces even that of other, traditionally high-need subjects like special education.

Districts are struggling to avoid layoffs and cuts in the dismal economy. And teachers who have jobs, even those who are on the cusp of retirement, are staying put, the report suggests. The job losses have come despite the huge infusion of federal funds around the country. This story in the Associated Press gives the picture on the ground in school systems in Kansas and Texas, where one school district had 5,000 applicants for 300 teaching jobs. Many teachers who were thinking of getting certified in one subject may be going back for more training in others, hoping to bolster their credentials, the story notes.

The report sums up the hiring scene this way:

"In 2009, job opportunities for educators dwindled dramatically, reflecting the steepest one-year decline in the past 29 years. This .28 point decline in opportunities coincided with the sharp decline in the U.S. economy. It appears that even with the promise of government stimulus funds and what seems to be an ending of the current economic downturn, education employers have reduced staff and are hesitant to hire in this uncertain market. It also appears that educators nearing retirement are hesitant to retire because of the tenuous nature of future health-care benefits coupled with a significant decline in the value of their retirement nest eggs.

The job prospects for newly graduated and unemployed educators is more challenging and likely will remain in this status until well after an economic recovery. This being said, there are still educator positions available, but perhaps not in the geographic area or desired position type. The high-need areas in special education, math, and some science reflect a lessening demand, but jobs are still available. Significant regional variations are reflected in the data."

All this is not to say that the job market for math and science teachers is going gangbusters. As my colleague Stephen Sawchuk reported recently, there are a lot more applicants, some of them entering the field through alternative certification, and a limited number of positions. One thing that employment reports cannot tell us (at least I haven't seen it) is what happens to the quality of instruction in a tough economy? If districts can afford to be choosy, and the best candidates are in demand, do test scores and student learning improve? Or would there always too many other factors in play to make a conclusion about that?

What's the hiring situation like in your state or district, and how are schools of education, and job candidates, responding?

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The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has formed a committee to revise its standards for what an ideal library media specialist should know and be able to do. Already, more than 2,100 teachers nationwide have gotten National Board certification in the field of library media.

I'm familiar with the National Board, but it is news to me that the board applies its outstanding educator label to librarians as well as classroom teachers.

The committee to revise the existing standards includes a librarian from a private school, Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore., and from a university "ischool," the iSchool at Drexel University in Philadelphia, as well as from a number of public schools or districts.

The National Board expects to have a draft of the standards ready for public comment in late January, and the final standards are expected to be implemented later in 2010.

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Can vocational education be revamped to boost literacy among struggling readers? The Association for Career and Technical Education believes that it can, and the organization highlights state efforts in Florida, Kentucky, and Maine as examples.

The programs serve students of different ages, but all of them attempt to build literacy skills within the context of hands-on classroom activities and job-related skills. One example cited in the association's issue brief is Florida's effort to combine remedial reading lessons with different types of academic content and workforce training. In the case of one high school, that means blending reading lessons within digital design.

Have a look. Could these approaches help struggling readers in your district?

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