    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 24, 1991]
    [Pages 423-425]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the National Summit on Mathematics Assessment
    April 24, 1991

        Thank you, Lamar. Thank you all. And let me just say how pleased I
    am to be here. I'd like to thank Dr. Frank Press for inviting me once
    again to this wonderful place. I know we're all grateful for the chance
    to have this meeting held here.
        I salute Dr. Bromley, who is at my right hand in terms of science.
    He's doing an outstanding job coordinating the science work for the
    White House and taking a leadership role in many of the most important
    issues of our day. And, of course, Lamar Alexander. The only problem
    I've got with Lamar is he has the propensity for working people to
    death. [Laughter] And we've announced this Education 2000 just last
    week. He's been grinding away ever since he got in this job. And I have
    this ugly feeling that he's going to kill me. [Laughter]
        But we were yesterday down in Annapolis together and a couple of
    days ago up where we saluted the Teacher of the Year, incidentally, up
    in West Virginia. But it's going to be like that because this is a team
    effort. And we don't want any of you to escape without at least letting
    you know we want your support, your ideas in terms of fulfilling our
    objectives for the Education 2000 program.
        When I first heard that I was invited to a math summit, I kind of
    had images of Gorby and I going head on head, you know, in long
    division, something like that. [Laughter] That's not to be, so let me
    just make some comments on the--[laughter]--maybe never, I don't know,
    but--[laughter]----
        I like what Lamar said about Tom Romberg's challenge assumptions.
    That's a lot of what our program is about. ``Think anew,'' as Abraham
    Lincoln called it. Your purpose here transcends public figures, talking
    about Bush and Gorbachev. It concerns our nation's future. Of the six
    national education goals that we established with the Nation's Governors
    down in Charlottesville, you're helping to realize one of the most
    ambitious: that American students be first in the world in math and
    science achievement by the year 2000.
        This challenging goal, worthy of a great nation and its future
    ambitions, plays an important role in our America 2000 Strategy to
    reinvent the American school. We can't expect kids to meet the test of
    worldwide competition unless we first establish world-class standards,
    standards that define the knowledge and skills we expect students to
    learn and master.
        Once we've set standards we must assess our progress in meeting
    them. I salute the Mathematical Sciences Education Board for hosting
    this conference, the National Edu-

    [[Page 424]]

    cation Goals Panel for this forum, this afternoon's forum. And above all
    I thank the educators and policymakers assembled here. You've labored
    for years to reach consensus on standards for mathematical skills and
    performance, and I commend you for your commitment and for your
    achievement. We can't blaze a trail to the future until we know where we
    stand, where we're at, if you will. If you'll excuse my ending a
    sentence with a preposition. [Laughter]
        The voluntary American Achievement Tests, a cornerstone of the
    America 2000 strategy, will measure achievement in five core subjects
    including, obviously, mathematics. I've challenged the Nation to have a
    test ready for the 4th graders of 1993 and to produce tests for 8th and
    12th graders soon after.
        I ask each of you to help the public understand the purposes of
    standards and assessments and to make sure that our achievement tests
    motivate and inspire students. Let's also see that these tests motivate
    and inspire the schools, that they make schools more accountable to the
    people they serve, that they restore the kind of competition and pride
    that's essential for educational excellence, that they tell us where we
    stand, so we may start the journey to wherever we want to go.
        We in the Federal Government are partners, we're partners with you
    in advancing the cause of educational excellence. Secretary of Energy
    Admiral Jim Watkins--James Watkins--has chaired a committee that's
    produced the first inventory of Federal activities that directly
    influence science, math, engineering, and technical education.
        As you know, we must improve training for precollege math and
    science teachers. We need to attract more women and minorities into
    science and technology. The budget that we sent to Congress this year
    calls for a 13-percent increase for math and science education, for a
    total of nearly $2 billion. But you understand that the Federal
    Government--and it's right that the Federal Government can only play a
    limited role in making America's students the first in math and science.
    Dollars alone won't get the job done. Real excellence demands a
    commitment from us all. Everyone's got to declare, everyone must
    declare, we will reinvent the American school. We will achieve our
    ambitious national education goals.
        And it can be done in many, many ways. Yesterday Lamar and I were
    down, as I mentioned, down in Annapolis. And it's inspiring to go there
    anyway. It was a beautiful spring day and all the midshipmen were lined
    up. And we had Colin Powell with us, and they gave him a wonderful, warm
    reception. But the thing that struck me the most was a program going on
    right there in Annapolis where some of these midshipmen go take their
    Saturdays and they go and get some kids out of the minority community
    down there--most of the students in this program are black--and they
    bring them to the laboratories on the campus and they teach them
    elementary physics. They begin to give them some hope and some
    inspiration, if you will. And it was wonderful.
        In the first place, I didn't understand anything the kids said
    because I don't know anything about physics. But it was really inspiring
    to see these young midshipmen who have a rigorous program, as we all
    know, giving of their time to help others. And that's some of what we're
    talking about here. It's not invented in Washington. These kids were
    doing it on their own down there in what we call a Points of Light
    program, the ability--propensity of one American to help another. And
    so, it was very inspiring.
        Another thing I want to report on our program: part of it is that
    you're never too old to stop learning. And so Lamar had my arm twisted
    up behind my elbow--my shoulder blade once again, and I announced that I
    would learn to use a computer. I am computer illiterate. Everybody in
    this room, obviously, knows how to run a computer. But I would like to
    report to you that I intend to undertake and fulfill that commitment,
    and today I learned to turn one on--[laughter]--push the button down
    here and one up here with a green thing on it--[laughter]--and out came
    a command to somebody that I had written out on the--I pushed a button;
    I was worried what might happen up there. [Laughter] But it was fun. And
    I will keep it up, and I plan to.

    [[Page 425]]

        Enough frivolity. But, look, as you consider your principles, goals,
    and actions for math assessment, let me just ask you to keep a few
    questions in mind. Consider what it means to be the best in the world
    and the kind of balance our students will need between theoretical math
    and practical applied skills for life. How can we create tests to ensure
    not just that our best students are as good as any in the world but that
    our average students achieve world-class status? How can we emphasize
    testing that encourages better teaching, that doesn't weed kids out but
    develops better math skills for all?
        Every student, everyone, needs goals and challenges. Every school
    needs goals and challenges. I hope your work will help every single
    American student and every American teacher reach our national education
    goals.
        Many of you, Lamar tells me, have already led the way. Consider one
    member of today's audience. Larry Williams, a math teacher of Utah High
    School in rural Alabama, and a member of the Mathematical Sciences
    Education Board, has lit a fire under his students, many of whom come
    from poor or disadvantaged homes. His math teams can compete with any
    other teams in Alabama and throughout the southeast. When people ask how
    America can become first in the world in math and science by the year
    2000 I point to teachers like Larry Williams, dedicated professionals
    who help all our children reach their potential.
        All of you help set off an American educational renaissance, and I
    thank you for what you've done and for what you will achieve. And I came
    over to tell you and, once again, to pledge to our Secretary of
    Education that we at the White House will do our level-best to back you
    up every inch of the way.
        Thank you all, and may God bless you.

                        Note: The President spoke at 1:47 p.m. in the
                            auditorium of the National Academy of Sciences.
                            In his remarks, he referred to Secretary of
                            Education Lamar Alexander; Frank Press,
                            president of the National Academy of Sciences;
                            D. Allan Bromley, Assistant to the President for
                            Science and Technology; President Mikhail
                            Gorbachev of the Soviet Union; Thomas A.
                            Romberg, member of the assessment steering
                            committee of the Mathematical Sciences Education
                            Board; Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins;
                            Gen. Colin L. Powell, Chairman of the Joint
                            Chiefs of Staff; and Larry Williams, member of
                            the Mathematical Sciences Education Board.