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CORVALLIS, Ore. - An Oregon State University program that allows undergraduates to earn a double bachelor's degree - one in their chosen field of study, the other in teacher preparation - has been recognized for its innovation and efficacy by TechNet, a bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy.

Recommendations for improving the preparation of mathematics and science teachers figure prominently in the National Academy of Sciences' October 2006 report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." In Congress, a number of recent innovation proposals include support for strengthening math and science teacher preparation.

"To remain globally competitive in an economy increasingly reliant on the applied sciences, the United States must develop an instructional workforce that can inspire student success in these subjects," said Gretchen Beyer, vice president for public policy at TechNet.

The OSU Double Degree Program was one of three efforts showcased at TechNet's Palo Alto, Calif., education forum last month. The forum focused on programs that can serve as models to recruit and prepare mathematics and science teachers in keeping with recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences report.

The Double Degree Program was created in 2003 in response to the difficulty that nearly half of Oregon's public school principals report in recruiting enough candidates for teaching positions and in response to the enormous national need for secondary science, math and technology teachers.

According to Sam Stern, dean of the OSU College of Education, the paucity of teaching candidates can be addressed in large part by creating new pathways to teaching instruction and degrees.

"Through a perspective of abundance, rather than scarcity, we can reach the hundreds of thousands of undergraduate applied science students who would like to teach science and mathematics in our classrooms," Stern said. "The real problem is that most teacher preparation models create self-imposed structural limitations on who can access the field.

"Our innovative programs take advantage of the existing talent, knowledge and interests of our current undergraduate applied science students and target them to the hardest to fill teaching jobs where we need them the most."

Other programs recognized at the TechNet forum included the University of California Science and Mathematics Initiative and UTeach at the University of Texas at Austin.

For more information on the OSU Double Degree Program, visit http://oregonstate.edu/education/programs/aboutdd2.html.