A National Imperative
In his book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, Thomas Friedman adds to the cacophony of voices warning that America is in the midst of a “quiet” crisis.
“We are not producing, in this country, in America, enough young people going into science, technology, and engineering— the fields that are going to be essential for entrepreneurship and innovation in the 21st century.”
The National Science Board stated in its August 9, 2007 draft report, National Action Plan for Addressing the Critical Need of the U.S. STEM Education System, that “[t]he United States possesses the most innovative, technologically capable economy in the world, and yet its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education system is failing to ensure that all American students receive the skills and knowledge required for success in the 21st century workforce.” The report identified a critical need for many more highly qualified STEM teachers.
Observations of the performance of U.S. students on tests comparing them with non-U.S. students indicate that our competitive edge may be slipping. Stemming the tide of this “quiet” crisis, and to begin to change our course, will require resolution of educational pipeline problems in each state in the nation.
There are two natural pipeline problems:
From schools to college: Too few students are taking rigorous science and mathematics courses in high school; too few are succeeding in introductory science and mathematics courses in college; too few are majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in college; and too few are graduating college in STEM fields; and
From college to schools: Too few of the traditional-aged college students who major in STEM fields choose to prepare for teaching mathematics, biology, chemistry, earth science, and especially physics, in the public schools; too few recent college graduates, mid-career professionals, and recent retirees in STEM fields choose to redirect their careers toward science and mathematics teaching in the public schools; and, nationally, of those who begin teaching in the public schools, science and mathematics teachers have the highest teacher attrition rates.
The goals of the Accepting the STEM Challenge conference are to disseminate projects, strategies, programs, research, and other efforts that provide evidence of:
Positively influencing K-12 student interest in STEM; Increasing the number of college students majoring in STEM and graduating with STEM degrees; and
Increasing the number and quality of science and mathematics teachers in K-12 schools.