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As word problems go, this was a no-brainer: A wave of retirements nationwide will aggravate the already desperate shortage of math and science teachers; colleges of education are not producing enough qualified replacements; urban areas will be hit the hardest. Name an urban university with particular strengths in science and technology and the desire, ability and capacity to train the next generation of math and science teachers.

When this problem began gaining increased attention a few years ago, the answer was obvious not only to IIT faculty, but to President Lew Collens, to executives of the Chicago Public Schools, civic leaders, the state Board of Higher Education and principals of the public schools that ring IIT like bearings on a hub.

In fact, says David Baker, vice president for external affairs, 'no program that I've been associated with at IIT has had higher outside support than this one.'

The program, or programs, are the doctorate and master's degree tracks to be offered by the new Department of Math and Science Education, as well as a cluster of 21 credit hours for those undergraduates who want to specialize in the subject while completing a BS in a science, mathematics or engineering area. Master's classes began in fall, 2002. Bachelor's classes will start in the fall of 2002 pending state certification, which is expected this spring.

Leading the department is Norman Lederman, a nationally renowned expert in scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Previously a professor of math and science education at Oregon State University, Lederman learned of IIT's plans from a search committee and soon arrived at the same answer as everyone else involved in the project.

His reasons went beyond the obvious ones. Lederman was intrigued by IIT's interprofessional program (IPRO), which requires every undergraduate to participate in two interdisciplinary research projects. As a longtime believer that science is learned through personal inquiry, Lederman decided that IIT offered unusually fertile ground. 'There's something in place here that's not in place anywhere else,' he says.

IIT's relative lack of history in education made the university more attractive (the university trained some of Chicago's best teachers in the '60s and '70s, but the program faded along with the Sputnik panic).

One of the dreams I've always had would be to have total freedom,' he says. 'Because IIT doesn't have a program, doesn't have a school of education, doesn't have six or seven faculty that have been there for 100 years… the playing field is totally open.'

With a background that includes 10 years of teaching high school biology, Lederman also brings with him a $1.4 million professional development grant for working teachers. At OSU, Lederman struggled to find teachers willing to participate in the program. Providing the final push to leave Corvallis, Ore., was the diversity in Chicago's student body and in the city as a whole. Diversity is not only healthy for society, Lederman argues, but healthy for learning. 'The street sense and the everyday wiseness of kids growing up in a city brings a lot to the educational environment,' he says.

Some of those kids are learning right on IIT's campus, at the Young Women's Leadership Charter School (YWLCS). Lederman's spouse and colleague, Judith Sweeney Lederman, will split her time between the new department and a half-time position as science director at the school. Before coming to IIT, Judith Sweeney taught high school science in Providence, R.I., for 20 years and served as curator of education at the city's museum of natural history. She also was a science educator at Providence College, the University of Rhode Island, and Oregon State University. The Ledermans have trained educators in international settings all over the globe, including a trip this spring when they conduct workshops and meetings at the University of the North in South Africa.

Building a math and science education department at an institute of technology 'is something that is very special, very different and exciting, and appropriate,' Judith Lederman says, describing IIT's new department as being 'unlike any other education department on any other campus' due to the close links with science departments and the opportunity for aspiring teachers to participate in IPROs.

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