during the 4 years and taking a single pencil and paper test at the end. But I believe there should be strong entrance requirements, many tests given during the rigorous course work, and evaluation all the way along so there was a profile to look at, rather than a single test at the end that said, you are in; you are out. I do not think that that is nearly as fair as a strong profile over the entire period. Mr. SHANKER. Senator, I would strongly disagree with that. I think that your grades in college are an indication of something. Sometimes they are an indication that the college gives easy grades. They are not an indication, very much-I do not know how we monitor whether a person has been in rigorous or tough courses and done well without some very extensive system, which I do not think this country wants to get into or ever will get into. I do not see what is wrong-if prospective lawyers can take bar exams and doctors after going to medical school take examinations; actuaries take examinations. Everybody in our society takes examinations, not because we do not trust somebody, but because we do not have a system that absolutely will guarantee that the institutions are making proper certifications. Now, if everyone else in our society can take a test and that test plays not the only role, but a very important role in determining whether that person moves into an occupation or a profession, I do not see why we cannot provide the same protection for our children that we provide for everybody else. Senator PELL. I think you are right: from birth to death, the doctor has to do it and the undertaker has to do it. And you-I would agree with you. I have no further questions. Senator STAFFORD. Thank you very much, Senator Pell. And for the subcommittee, I want to express our appreciation to all three of you for being here. There will be some questions in writing, I can assure you, and we will look forward to your answers to those, as we have enjoyed your answers this morning here in person. Thank you very much. Mr. SHANKER. Thank you. Senator STAFFORD. The next panel will consist of Dr. E. K. Fretwell, chancellor of North Carolina University at Charlotte; Dr. Howard D. Mehlinger, dean, School of Education, University of Indiana at Bloomington, Ind.; the Reverend William J. Byron, president of Catholic University; Dr. Richard Brod, director, Association of Departments of Foreign Languages, Modern Language Association; and Dr. Joshua Smith, president, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, N.Y. Welcome to all of you and our appreciation for your willingness to come here and assist this subcommittee in the job we have embarked upon on behalf of education. Again, I apologize for the lack of time we always seem to run into here. And I guess I explained to the earlier panel that stop and go system we have been forced to resort to, it gives you 4 minutes on the green, 1 minute on the yellow, and then the red. And since we have your statements in full, we will place them in the record as if read and encourage you to summarize them within the timeframe, if you possibly can. Having said that, it would be the Chair's intent to go in the order in which we introduced the panel, if that is agreeable to members, which means Dr. Fretwell, you would proceed to be followed by Dr. Mehlinger, the Reverend Byron, Mr. Brod, and finally, Dr. Smith. If that is agreeable, Dr. Fretwell, we will start with you. STATEMENTS OF E. K. FRETWELL, JR., CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE, ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES; HOWARD D. MEHLINGER, DEAN, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, AND PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AND HISTORY, INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON, IND.; REV. WILLIAM J. BYRON, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA; RICHARD BROD, DIRECTOR, FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS, MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION, AND SECRETARY-TREASURER, JOINT NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR LANGUAGES, WASHINGTON, D.C.; AND JOSHUA SMITH, PRESIDENT, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, NEW YORK, N.Y., ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES, AND THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES Mr. FRETWELL. Thank you, Senator. I am E. K. Fretwell, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and I am speaking today for those of us in North Carolina and also for 20 organizations listed on the cover of the testimony, which I am glad to present for the record. I might say, incidentally, I am a former elementary and secondary schoolteacher. The current nature of the problem in science and mathematics education, I think, is so well known that I am not going to spend time this morning viewing with alarm. I think we are aware of the problem and that my colleagues on this panel and the earlier panel have made that very clear indeed. I would like to suggest, however, that there may be some hope for the society as far as we are concerned, and one of the things that I find useful-and I hope it goes somewhere-is what appears to be a bipartisan recognition of the growing crisis. President Reagan, in a message to the 1982 National Academy of Sciences convocation on sciences and math in the schools declared, "The problems today in elementary and secondary school science and mathematics education are serious, serious enough to compromise American's future ability to develop and advance our traditional industrial base to compete in international marketplaces." A special task force on long-term economic policy in the House Democratic Caucus observed in a report called "Rebuilding the Road to Opportunity," and I quote from that source: In the future a well educated, well trained work force will be essential to sustained economic growth. The future will be won with brainpower. The research we must undertake to produce new technologies requires that, yet we are not graduating sufficient numbers of scientists, engineers, and technicians. Now, there seems to be general agreement on the dimensions of the problem, but not yet consensus on the solution. And my view is that constructive actions are not needed at just one level, but si multaneously at the institutional, local, State, and National levels, and I would direct our attention to that for a few moments. I would like to draw a little bit on the experience of North Carolina, not because we are unique, but because I know it best. Our experience serves as an important example of how a range of government and private resources have been used to build a high-technology base. Our State has been successful in attracting high-technology industry because we have substantially invested in the State and local level in quality education from preschool through graduate and professional education, and we intend to do more. Gov. Jim Hunt, the recently named chairman of the National Task Force on Education for Economic Growth, acknowledged the importance of the relationships when he spoke of productivity, profits, and progress. They go forward together. One of that task force's major goals will be to forge an alliance between government at various levels and business. And I point out again that business, as well as national defense, has a heavy need to have well-prepared people from all segments of society. Turning to the local scene, in one particular community, Charlotte, N.C., we have recently put together but not yet fully funded a cooperative arrangement in which all of these elements are working toward the common goal: improvement of science, mathematics, and technology education. In brief, a campuswide approach to the preparation of teachers and getting away from some of the turf problems which have plagued teacher education in the past; a really superb working arrangement with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg countywide public school systems in a variety of ways. For example, we held a large mathematics contest for kids who are doing well in math on our campus yesterday; we have an arrangement with Discovery Place, a hands-on-science museum, in which our university is sharing a staff person with them. We have instituted a broad-based community advisory committee to be chaired by a scientist from a major technology corporation in the university research park at Charlotte. We maintain close working relations with the State department of public instruction, Governor Hunt's office of science and technology, the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, and various others. And I might mention that Operation Pipeline, which is being funded by industry through our engineering school, is seeking out talent at the junior high level among all students with heavy emphasis on minorities and female students so that we do not get into the problem which Dean Graham indicated earlier of science being, up to now, largely a field of white males. Now, we recognize that teaching and learning take place in a local context, but we focus attention on the vital role which the Federal Government must play, for reasons, I think, that are abundantly clear. And we are proposing on behalf of our constituency, the 20 organizations mentioned, three programs: A $100 million program providing opportunities for teachers, young scholars, and researchers through expanded graduate fellowships. This would be under the Department of Education. A program to strengthen educational research in mathematics, science, and technology education, involving the National Institute of Education in cooperation with the National Science Foundation. A program of opportunities for teachers, young scholars, and researchers through expanded fellowships, traineeships, and so forth, through the National Science Foundation. The amounts are indicated in the prepared testimony which I have submitted for all of these. A program to upgrade and improve instructional programs in mathematics, science, and technology, all levels, through NSF. And finally, a program to upgrade undergraduate instructional equipment and its utilization-$200 million through NSF. Summarizing these-and again, I point out that the details are in the document-we are proposing a $575 million project, an approach which will enable the Federal Government to spend as much money on this as it spends perhaps on two or three aircraft. And I present the idea that this, a commitment to math and science education, is another form of, a very vital form of, national defense. Thank you, gentlemen. [The prepared statement of Mr. Fretwell follows:] Amencan Association of State Colleges and Universites One Dupont Circle/Suite 700/Washington, DC 20036 (202) 293-7070 Statement by E. K. Fretwell, Jr. Chancellor University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Legislation On Behalf of American Association of State Colleges and Universities and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education American Council on Education American Educational Research Association Association of Affiliated College and University Offices Association of American Universities Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Association of Urban Universities Council of Graduate Schools in the United States Council of Independent Colleges National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education National Association of College and University Business Officers National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church State University of New York Chairman, James W. Cleary, President California State University, Northridge. Chairman-Elect Joseph J Orze, President Northwestern State University. LA. Past-Chairman, John J. Kamerick, President, University of Northern lowa. Secretary/Treasurer Janet Gorman Murphy, President, Lyndon State College VT President Allan W. Ostar. Directors Harold Abel, President, Central Michigan University Warren J Baker, President, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, Myron L. Coulter, President. Idaho State University, H. Douglas Covington, Chancellor Winston Salem State University, NC. Janet Greenwood, President, Longwood College VA. Eugene Hughes, President Northern Arizona University: Aubrey K. Lucas, President, University of Southern Mississippi, Walter Smith, President Florida A & M University Lloyd Watkins, President, Illinois State University, Albert A. Watrel, President, Dickinson State College ND. Gregory Wolfe President. Florida International University. James H. Young, Chancellor University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Cable Address AASCU Washington DC |