Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics

written by Stamatis Vokos

Preliminary results from the joint APS/AAPT/AIP National Task Force on the Professional Preparation of Physics Teachers.

http://www.ptec.org/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8868&DocID=1191

Physics Teacher Preparation: Problems, Perspectives, and Solutions

written by Theodore Hodapp

Currently, the production of certified high school physics teachers in the United States is about one third of the need. Although physics is the highest need in the sciences, need for high school chemistry teachers is also acute. States like Texas and Minnesota have recently passed legislation mandating additional science requirements for high school students, but produce only a fraction of the teachers needed to fill the legislated demand. In physics, the American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, and American Institute of Physics have been collaborating on a project called the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC / PTEC). PhysTEC has now tripled the production of teachers at a number of schools, and the Coalition, PTEC, has over 110 member institutions working collectively to improve teacher education in the sciences. This talk will describe the program and the possible parallel efforts that might be initiated in the chemistry community.

http://www.ptec.org/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=7914&DocID=680

Rising Above the Gathering Storm [PTEC 2007 Conference]

written by Cherry Murray

This presentation is a summary of the report of the National Academies' Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century, "Gathering Storm", and some of its subsequent response. The author was a member of this committee, which was created in 2005 to respond to the request by Senators Lamar Alexander and Jeff Bingaman, with endorsement of Representatives Sherwood Boehlert and Bart Gordon. The task of the committee was to delineate the top ten actions, in priority order, that federal policymakers could take to enhance the science and technology enterprise so that the US can successfully compete, prosper, and be secure in the global community of the 21st century.

http://www.ptec.org/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4958&DocID=237