PTEC National Task Force

There is a well-established and documented need for major improvements in physics and physical science education in the U.S., in order to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s increasingly technical workplace. To lead the physics community in a response to national and international pressure for a drastic improvement in pre-college science education, and to the national debate on accountability in pre-college education, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Physical Society, and the American Institute of Physics have formed a National Task Force on the Professional Preparation of Teachers of Physics. The Task Force will investigate the following questions:

Increasing the number of qualified teachers – Are there generalizable, yet flexible, strategies that institutions (and in particular, physics departments and schools or colleges of education) can employ?
Identifying best practice – Are there effective (a) strategies in recruitment, (b) models of professional preparation, and (c) higher education systems of support during the first three years of teaching?
Research, Policy, Funding Implications – Are there characteristics of physics departments, special partnerships, and types of institutional support and extramural funding that foster effective programs? Are there important new research agenda in teacher professional education and development in physics, which can be identified and promoted? What new measures of discipline-based teaching effectiveness need to be developed? What new funding avenues and policy changes need to be in place to support these cutting-edge research and development efforts?

The Task Force will author a report of its findings, which it will distribute to all physics departments in the U.S., and disseminate through presentations, workshops, and other mechanisms, under the auspices of the sponsoring professional organizations.

Task Force Members

Stamatis Vokos, Chair (Seattle Pacific University)
Eugenia Etkina (Rutgers University)
David Haase (North Carolina State University)
Drew Isola (Allegan Public Schools)
Eugene Levy (Rice University)
Jorge Lopez (The University of Texas at El Paso)
George "Pinky" Nelson (Western Washington University)
Valerie Otero (University of Colorado at Boulder)
Mary Ann Rankin (University of Texas at Austin)

Society liaisons:

Jack Hehn (American Institute of Physics)
Warren Hein (American Association of Physics Teachers)
Ted Hodapp (American Physical Society)
Charlie Holbrow (American Association of Physics Teachers)
Monica Plisch (American Physical Society)
Jim Stith (American Institute of Physics)

Consultants:

David Meltzer, Senior Consultant

Contact the Task Force

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