Department of Education

GAO reviewed the Department of Education's Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education program, the largest federal effort for training elementary and secondary teachers in math and science. The ultimate goal is to make U.S. students first in the world in math and science achievement by the year 2000. The program is now authorized through fiscal year 1993. GAO discusses (1) how state grant funds are spent, (2) how experts view proposed improvements to the program, (3) how well Education collects and analyzes data on the program, and (4) how well various federal agencies sponsoring math and science education programs coordinate their efforts.

GAO found that: (1) Education used Eisenhower program funds for short-term in-service training seminars for elementary and secondary school teachers; (2) major changes in curricula, instructional methods, and teacher expertise in math and science will be needed to achieve national math and science goals; (3) the Eisenhower program was the sole source for math and science funding in many school districts; (4) the program's short-term training enhanced teachers' new knowledge and teaching methods awareness, and provided school districts the flexibility for various training programs; (5) proposed changes to create competitive funding and minimum training requirements are unnecessary; (6) 17 percent of school districts did not apply for program funds because the time and resources needed to apply outweighed the relatively low funding; (7) the program requires a majority of school districts which receive less than $6,000 to pool funds for more effective use; (8) current data are not available to properly assess the program's impact; and (9) Education did not satisfy congressional reporting requirements because of slow collection and analysis of state reports, reporting errors, format inconsistencies, and information quality variations.