August/September 1999 THIS ISSUE: Education Mathematics Pharmacy Ethics Briefs INDEX: |
America
Counts in Missoula UM faculty members are rising to the challenge made by Vice President Al Gore last year in America Counts, an initiative designed to improve children’s skills in math. Like the America Reads program, America Counts, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, will send college work-study students and volunteers into schools this fall to tutor children nationwide. Eight UM faculty members have worked this summer organizing and designing the Missoula program, which they hope will lead to improvement in local student test scores — and attitudes. “We are one of the few countries in the world where it is acceptable to say ‘I can’t do math,’” UM math Research Professor Johnny Lott says. “Kids hear that from their parents.” The UM America Counts effort hopes to recruit 10 college students into a few pilot elementary, middle and high school classrooms this fall to work with younger students individually and in small groups. “One of the important things is to have a role model — someone who likes math
— in the classroom,” Lott says. |
