By Sarah Flanders-DawsonThis week, the Obama administration rolled out a curriculum vitæ to kindergarteners.
What’s more, the new guidance from the Department of Education and the Department for the Arts is part of a larger effort to make it easier for students to get into STEM-related courses and careers.
The guidelines aim to increase the likelihood that students are taking the most relevant science and technology courses in the schools that best suit their interests and abilities.
Some experts are skeptical that the new guidelines will have much of an impact.
“I don’t think there is any real reason why it’s so helpful,” said Christopher Hartwell, an associate professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was a member of the National Science Board for many years.
But, he added, “I think there’s a reason that these guidelines have been released.”
A lot of people will look at these new guidelines and say, ‘Well, you know, the schools will probably improve, but I don’t really know how they’ll actually do that, so I’ll stick with my current classes,'” Hartwell said.
Hartwell said the guidance is “an opportunity to help parents and students understand how to better prepare students for college and career, and to help ensure that students with a broad array of interests and capabilities are taught in the best way.”
This new guidance will be available for teachers, principals, administrators, and school board members to see.
It will also be available to students, parents, and teachers who want to learn more about the program.
In a blog post published on Thursday, the Department says that teachers and principals can take advantage of the new curriculum vitá to teach science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and mathematics to students in kindergarten through third grade.
This is a very important step, said Michael Schmitt, a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of The New Math: A New Generation of Math Teachers and Teacher-Educators.
While the new program will help prepare teachers and school staff for the 21st century, Schmitt said, it will not help students prepare for the future.
So, if you are a kindergarten teacher, and you have a kindergartener who needs to take calculus or physics, the best thing you can do is to use the new math curriculum vité,” Schmitt told National Review.
(RELATED: The New Science Of The Math: The Math Behind The New Curriculum Vitá) “But if you have someone who is a science teacher, you can use the curriculum vitù and say ‘you need to take these courses,'” he said.
Schmitt says he doesn’t think the new curricula vitá will be useful for students who have an interest in mathematics.
And he said that teachers are already in the process of reviewing the new science curricula that they will be implementing in the next few years.
“There are so many things to consider about whether or not the students are ready for math,” he said, adding that he expects to hear from teachers, administrators and other stakeholders soon.
If you or anyone you know needs help with math, you may contact a math tutor, an online math tutor or the National Center for Education Statistics.
(RELATED: How to Become A Math Tutor, A Math Teacher or The Best Math Tutors In America)