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When x Equals U

With President Bush calling for 70,000 new teachers to lead Advanced Placement courses in math and science, the numbers are pretty clear.

It’s that high-level math teacher, specifically the one who understands the limit of a function as it approaches a constant, who will be our next American Idol. As more students take algebra in middle school, more are signing up for college-level math in high school.

Mary Lappan, who teaches “both flavors of calculus”—that’s regular and multivariable for you English majors—at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, has seen “enormous growth in AP classes.”

Part of it may be the middle school algebra phenomenon, but Lappan also points to “more equity in terms of girls. You used to see girls funneled out of, or choosing not to take, high-level math. Now it’s encouraged.”

Lappan also predicts a need for more elementary math and science specialists. If the United States wants to be competitive, it’s not good enough to have an elementary teacher who loves reading but muddles through math. Of course, the problem is, most college math or science majors can make a lot more money in private industry. And those numbers just don’t add up.

Cultural Ties That Bind

Miriam Medina calls herself a “go-between”—the link between non-English-speaking families and their schools—but she might as well call herself the Go-To Queen, considering just how frequently she’s called on to serve the growing Latino community in her New Jersey district.

With Latinos accounting for 40 percent of U.S. population growth between 1990 and 2000 and immigrant families making up the fastest-growing segment of the school population nationwide, Medina’s work as an education support professional is highly coveted. “We need language translators at all levels—teacher, secretary, security, custodial,” she says.

Medina, who is the only bilingual program and parent coordinator in Lakewood, helps translate student evaluation reports, report cards, and health reports in the district’s six schools. She also helps parents communicate with housing contractors and landlords. As a recent PTA president, who conducted meetings in English and Spanish, she boosted parent involvement there, too. “As a Latina, parents are less shy with me.”

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