I just wanted to give a quick plug to an EdWeek story I wrapped up the other day about Math for America. It’s a small but growing initiative launched in 2004 that aims to improve secondary mathematics education by recruiting, training, and retaining outstanding math teachers. A core tenet is finding people who “know and love math,” the organization says.
I spent some time with Katherine Collins, a Math for America fellow who now teaches at a charter school in the District of Columbia, plus interviewed organizers at the national and local level, as well as a few outside observers.
The group’s work has drawn quite a bit of interest and support, including grants from the National Science Foundation and plaudits from people such as Eric Lander, who co-chairs the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.