It’s official. President Obama has recruited the most universally cute and fuzzy spokesperson.  Elmo (of Sesame Street fame) is on board to help recruit more students into the fields of math and science: White House Begins Campaign to Promote Science and Math Education (New York Times, 11/24/2009). 

The Discovery Channel is also on board, adjusting their programming lineup to include a two-hour block of commercial free programming from three to five in the afternoon, targeting students who are getting home from school.  There are mentions of corporate sponsors and awards associated with a variety of programs to be implemented.
Once concern raised challenged that by providing resources and programs without improving teaching will have a limited impact.  I disagree.  If more students came into the classroom with an internal desire to learn more math and science, and then spent time at home working to increase their learning, teachers would be able to take off in the classroom.  I would love for all of my students to come in talking about math and asking questions about how to solve problems in their science classes using data and statistics.  Presently, we spend quite a bit of time encouraging and motivating students to learn a subject that has gotten a bad rap in the past.  I even have parents tell me in front of their students that they did not do well in math so any passing grade is fine with them.

My worry about a program approach is that students want even more “entertainment” value from their math and science classrooms.  But the optimist in me is hoping that funding for programs will help advance resources available to teachers while at the same time motivating students’ interests in the subject areas.  In the end, it comes down to the teacher in the classroom making the most of learning for her students.  It might help though, if on occasion, Elmo came to lend a hand.

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