Before I comment on "TIMSS-R," I want to talk for a few moments about education in general, because I think that a broad understanding of where we are in American education today can help us fully understand this report and its lessons.

For the past eight years, I’ve visited hundreds of communities across the nation and seen the historic changes taking place in our schools. There is a new mood about education in America, and we are working harder at it. Most important, we have raised expectations. We have gone from believing that only some children can learn to the firm conviction that all children can – and must– learn.

In addition to these historic changes, we are facing historic challenges. America is trying to teach more -- to more students and to more different kinds of students -- than ever before. This is a daunting task, but everything I’ve seen tells me that the American people are rising to the challenge.

Every day, citizens are coming together to support teachers and principals and help children learn. I want to talk directly to these wonderful Americans, and I want to tell them this: America recognizes and deeply appreciates your work. You are making a great difference. I believe that if we all keep pulling together, we can reach our goal of giving every child a quality education. I have absolutely no doubt about that.

Now to "TIMSS-R." It shows us that U. S. eighth graders exceeded the international average score in math and science. Our students exceeded the average of their international peers in three of the five math subjects tested, and we were at the average in the other two. In science, we exceeded the average of our international peers of and in five of the six subjects tested, and we were at the average in the sixth.

This is encouraging news, but we can do much better. I believe that if we continue on the course that we have begun – higher expectations and standards and better teaching -- we will do better.

In math, I want to point out that we were above the international average in "numbers and fractions," which is considered a single subject area on the assessment. We were also above the international average score in the more challenging subject of algebra. This demonstrates that American students are for the most part learning the basics in math as well as the foundations for advanced study.

TIMSS-R tells us that our average raw score in math was nine points higher in 1999 than it was in 1995. This approaches statistical significance, and corresponds to the very measurable progress that we have already seen in math on "NAEP" -- the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is often called the "nation’s report card." Math scores on NAEP rose steadily for eighth graders, as well as for fourth and twelfth graders, between 1992 and 1996, the last year for which we have complete data. The NAEP trend analysis for 1994-1999 also indicates improvement.

I am especially encouraged that African-American students showed statistically significant gains in math on TIMSS-R, and gains in their raw score in science. Raw scores for Hispanics in both math and science were up as well, but were not statistically significant.

TIMSS also tells us that the rank of the U. S. relative to other nations was lower for eighth graders than it was for the same cohort of fourth graders four years earlier. This does not mean that the more American students go to school, the less they know. What it does mean is that American students continue to learn, but their peers in some other nations have been learning at a faster rate.

I want to emphasize a critically important point here. We need to be realistic about how much change we can reasonably expect in four years. Education research tells us that we shouldn’t expect to see dramatic improvement over that period of time. Our goal should be steady improvement, and TIMSS-R will help us to continue on that path.

We must also ask ourselves what we can learn from TIMSS-R. We learn that raising standards is the start, but it is only the start. As I indicated earlier, we must also put a quality teacher into every classroom.

According to TIMSS-R, 71 percent of students in other countries have math teachers who hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in math, or who made math their main area of study. But only 41 percent of American math students are being taught by teachers whose main area of study was math.

American teachers are more likely to have majored in education than their international peers, and that is important. But knowledge of subject matter is essential as well. In addition, we are simply putting too many out-of-field teachers into our classrooms. We cannot expect to lead the world in math and science if our geometry students are being taught by history teachers and our chemistry students are being taught by physical education teachers.

To help meet this challenge, I asked former U.S. Senator and space hero John Glenn to chair a commission that would recommend ways to prepare more qualified math and science teachers. The Glenn Commission report, released earlier this fall, said that America must make greater investments in the teaching profession, particularly in math and science teaching. I couldn’t agree more.

The Commission described some very significant, bold acts that we must pursue to improve the quality of math and science instruction in elementary, middle and high school. These include providing regular opportunities to deepen content knowledge and improve teacher skills; widening the pipeline of talented people going into math and science teaching; and improving the teaching and learning conditions so that excellent teachers choose to stay in the classroom.

My view is that we have shortchanged our teachers. We have shortchanged them when it comes to preparation, when it comes to opportunities for professional development and we have shortchanged them when it comes to pay.

On the issue of preparation, I have asked every college and university to make teacher education a central part of its mission. Our schools of education have languished in the backwaters of higher education for too long.

On the issue of pay, I have asked schools to offer teachers 11-month contracts and pay them more accordingly. We can’t get math and science teachers on the cheap anymore.

Congress has a role to play in this as well. President Clinton, Vice President Gore and I have asked Congress to make the first federal investment in teacher recruitment and preparation in 30 years, and to enhance our investment in professional development. We have asked Congress to proceed with our proposal to hire 100,000 good new teachers and reduce class size in the early grades -- that’s the best way to give children a strong start on learning math, science, and everything else.

We have also asked Congress to strengthen our GEAR UP initiative that provides middle-school students with tutors and mentors. And we need to expand after-school programs to give students more learning time. I’d rather have our seventh-graders in the schoolhouse after 3 p.m. practicing their math, than wandering the streets or the mall until their parents get home.

Members of Congress returned to work yesterday, and I stand ready to work with them to produce a pro-education budget.

TIMSS-R has much to teach us, now and in the future. Next year, it will give us results on how students in 13 states and 14 school districts performed in comparison to their international peers. We will also see videotapes of classroom instruction in seven nations, including our own. This will give us a rich load of information about curriculum and instructional methods that can inform our efforts here in the United States. In the meantime, I ask all American middle schools to challenge their students to learn the fundamentals of algebra and geometry by the end of eighth grade.

I said at the beginning that there are over 54 million children in our nation’s schools. That means over 54 million chances to produce the next generation of scientists who will rid us of disease … and over 54 million chances to produce the mathematicians who will solve the riddles of time and space and take us to the farthest corners of the universe.

This is what is at stake. This is why we must introduce every young American to the wonders of math and science. Thank you all very much.

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