Bush to Push for Math and Science Upgrade

By David J. Hoff

Washington

The Bush administration is preparing a campaign to highlight math and science education and improve the way schools teach the subjects, entering the fray on an issue that has split advocates of a basic-skills focus and educators of a more progressive bent.

Officials at the White House and the Department of Education are planning a one- day kickoff summit early next year, during which President Bush would call attention to the need to raise student performance in mathematics and science. And the president, according to an administration official, would use the gathering to launch a search for research-based ways of teaching the subjects and improve teachers' knowledge of them.

The project marks the logical next step, the official said, after the administration established its $5 billion Reading First program. But the math and science project isn't as well defined at the start because the research on effective math and science practice isn't as conclusive, according to the official, who asked...