SciDev.net (All Africa) – Linda Nordling and Nourou Dia

“Senegal hopes to begin producing world-class African mathematicians with the first of three Africa-based mathematics training centres, which is due to open in September next year.”(more)

The Washington Post – Michael Bimbaum

“Math and reading scores for Maryland elementary and middle school students who were already meeting basic expectations improved this year, but the worst-performing students posted smaller gains than in previous years, according to test results released Tuesday.”(more)

The Seattle Times – Jerry Large

“At the University of Washington, the summertime Mathematics Academy is trying to broaden the appeal of engineering. The College of Engineering hopes to close the gap between what students learn in high school and where they need to be to succeed in college math. All kinds of students fall into the gap, but it is more marked with students from some minority groups or from low-income families.”(more)

San Jose Mercury News – Sharon Noguchi

“At a time when districts throughout the state have cut summer school, a class to boost algebra readiness in Silicon Valley has more than doubled enrollment. Stepping Up to Algebra is conducting a mathematics boot camp for about 1,000 seventh and eighth graders in nine school districts. A vigorous fund-raising campaign by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation enabled the program to expand.”(more)

The Guardian – Harriet Swain

“Roll up, roll up. Be astounded at binary numbers, marvel at the wonders of mathematical topography. Pale at the possibilities of probability. Sounds unlikely? Not according to Sara Santos and Matt Parker, the brains behind the new phenomenon of maths busking.”(more)

The Wall Street Journal – Barbara Martinez

“”To me, financial literacy is the fourth ‘R’,” said Ramon Gonzalez, 38, the school’s principal and one of its founders. The attention to business principles may be a contributor to the school’s progress on math. In 2003, only 10% of the entering sixth-grade class was proficient in math, Mr. Gonzalez said; today that number is 80%.”(more)

The Guardian – Tom Whyntie

“The astronauts’ message was simple: they were “ordinary people doing extraordinary things”. With hard work you could achieve anything, and science, engineering and “math” could lead to some particularly exciting careers. The aim of their post-mission European tour, of which Portsmouth was the first stop, was to take this message to as many young people as possible.”(more)

The Guardian – Staff Writer

“The economic crisis has delivered a boost to secondary schools crying out for maths and science teachers: a huge rise in the number of graduates applying for training.”(more)

The Hechinger Report – Elizabeth Redden

“Ms. Halvorsen is determined to work through it. “Even though the material is for little kiddies, as some students in the class have said, I don’t care. I’m getting it,’’ she says. Her upbeat attitude isn’t shared by thousands of students who enter community college unprepared for college-level work and find math a major stumbling block. As a result, remedial math is also where, for many of them, their community-college experience ends.”(more)

The Tennessean- Jennifer Brooks

“Tennessee Tech University has received a $957,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to boost student achievement in math.”(more)