One Nation Under-Taught
Page 1
One Nation Under-Taught
Solving America’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Crisis
Dr. Vince M. Bertram
Copyright © 2014 by Dr. Vince M. Bertram
FIRST EDITION
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ISBN: 9780825307447
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Interior design by Vally Sharpe
Educate and inform the whole masses…They are the only sure reliance of the preservation of our liberty.
—Thomas Jefferson—
Contents
Foreword by Steve Forbes
Author’s Note
1 Failing Ourselves
2 The American Economy of Today and Tomorrow—Still the Last Best Hope?
3 Why We Fail & How To Fix It
4 I Am Convinced We Can Do This
World-Class Curriculum
High-Quality Teacher Training
Engaged Partners Network
Results
5 Conclusion
Endnotes
Acknowledgments
Index
Foreword
by Steve Forbes
As a nation, we have known for decades that our K-12 education system is in serious trouble, that our students routinely lag their counterparts in numerous other countries in language and mathematical skills. This is especially worrisome in an era in which high tech is becoming more and more critically important for advancing economically. That millions of our children are not being taught effectively—or at all—in the crucial areas of science, technology, engineering and math, popularized by the acronym STEM, is a moral outrage. Their opportunities to get ahead, to “improve their lot in life,” as Abraham Lincoln put it, are being seriously harmed and our future well-being as a nation is being jeopardized.
Thankfully, America has a tradition dating back to Colonial times of not being passive when serious challenges arise. Vince Bertram is a splendid example of this can-do, let’s-roll-up-our-sleeves-and-do-something-about-it characteristic. His organization, Project Lead The Way (PLTW), has been tackling the STEM deficiencies in our primary and secondary schools for a decade and a half. PLTW has become the leading provider in the U.S. of STEM programs for kids in grades K-12. In addition to coming up with world-class curriculums Dr. Bertram and his colleagues have created superb professional development programs for teachers. More than 6,000 schools around the country have benefitted from PLTW’s crucial work.
Dr. Bertram understands that it’s not enough to come up with solutions, that you must also actively work with students, parents, teachers, administrators, parents, universities, businesses and foundations, as well as community and government leaders to affect lasting, positive change. Interacting with all parties—brainstorming, if you will—can also generate new ideas on how to move forward.
While PLTW has made powerful contributions, so much more remains to be done throughout the nation. Hence, the crying need for Vince Bertram’s new book. It couldn’t be more timely, as recognition of our STEM educational deficits is growing. Dr. Bertram brings immense knowledge and expertise to the subject and speaks from frontline experience.
Dr. Bertram lays out the irrefutable evidence of the crisis: of how, since the mid-1960s, American students have been slipping in what they actually learn in our schools, especially in the STEM fields. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, only 26 percent of American high school seniors in 2010 scored at or above the proficiency level in math. More ominously, a staggering 36 percent had failing scores. Worse, only 3 percent scored at an advanced level in math, and a pitiful 1percent in science.
No wonder so few U.S.-educated high school students go on to pursue STEM courses in college. No wonder our high-tech centers, epitomized by Silicon Valley, must recruit literally hundreds of thousands of foreign-educated people to try to fulfill their needs for skill-based workforces. Even with that, huge gaps remain, which is why companies have to set up facilities overseas to meet their requirements.
All of which, of course, begs the question: Why don’t our schools do a better job?
It’s not as if we don’t know we have an enormous problem. Back in 1983, the state of education had gotten so bad that the then relatively new Department of Education released a report titled “A Nation at Risk.” The ominous opening words from that report were powerful and tough and are worth re-quoting at length:
Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. This report is concerned with only one of the many causes and dimensions of the problem, but it is the one that undergirds American prosperity, security, and civility. We report to the American people that … the educational foundations of our society are being presently eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur—others are matching and surpassing our educational attainments.
If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. We have even squandered the gains in student achievement made in the wake of the Sputnik challenge. Moreover, we have dismantled essential support systems which helped make those gains possible. We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.
Our society and its educational institutions seem to have lost sight of the basic purposes of schooling, and of the high expectations and disciplined effort needed to attain them.
Alas, while we have poured immense sums into our education bureaucracies, these increased resources have had little or no effect. We experimented with reforms that were as bad in conception as they were in reality. And we continued to adjust down to mediocrity—or worse. As those numbers from the National Assessment of Education Progress attest, our students’ scores over the past generations have been, as education expert Chester Finn Jr. put it, “Flat, flat, flat.”
We largely failed in fighting back against this “rising tide of mediocrity.” Mediocrity does not sustain itself: One is either advancing or sliding backward. It’s been said that what goes on in a nation’s classrooms will eventually work its way up to a nation’s governance and economy. We see that, we live with that today.
Of course, we have pockets of excellence in some of our nation’s schools—Dr. Bertram and his team have been immensely helpful here. But they are pockets, not the norm. Too many of our students drop out of STEM fields, seeing them as boring or too difficult, and this aversion starts in the early elementary grades.
It’s here that we get to what makes Dr. Bertram’s book such a timely gem and an exciting contribution. Vince Bertram does far more than lament our predicament. He provides a blueprint for enabling students to fall in love with STEM subjects—subjects that don’t have to be dreary or intimidating. He s
hows how teachers can break away from the rut of traditional teaching and kindle in kids that inspiring curiosity that will lead them to becoming passionate about learning.
Dr. Bertram is no armchair reformer. He’s been in the trenches as a teacher, principal and superintendent. Through PLTW he has implemented programs that actually work. And, very importantly, his programs have equipped teachers with the intellectual and practical tools necessary to teach STEM subjects well. Students quickly come to see the true relevance of these subjects in today’s world. They become inspired.
This is why we, as a nation, must “ramp up” the kinds of reforms Dr. Bertram and his colleagues have so successfully put into practice. The time for talk and ineffectual actions is long, long past. Vince Bertram shows us the way.
Author’s Note
When problems arise, many people are inclined to blame someone or something. This book is not about assigning blame. It is about clearly articulating the problem and taking responsibility to solve it.
We have many highly effective educators who are doing extraordinary work with students; local, state, and federal policymakers who care deeply about their communities, states, and country; mission-driven non-profit organizations working to enhance the lives of those they serve; and businesses striving to win in a highly competitive global marketplace. But, despite all these efforts, we are falling behind in educating our youth and our future workforce and we must do something about it.
This is a different kind of business and education book than most may be used to, and it is not just about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Those subjects are a series of courses or disciplines. This book is about the importance of those subjects, yes, but, more: it is a book about how we integrate and use STEM knowledge. It is about how we inspire a thirst for STEM education. It is also a book about American greatness and our economy. This book is a call to action: asking teachers, principals, counselors, parents, business and community leaders to impart knowledge and experiences they may very well not have had themselves.
This is a call to nurture our children’s natural curiosity, inspire them, and insist they use their minds to solve problems. This book asks us to rethink the way we think about school. It asks that we abandon the mindset that second grade is a preparation for third grade or of teaching content merely to prepare for a test. Instead, I am asking for a new mindset about school, a mindset that our schools can be places of confidence, places that inspire a love of learning, promote curiosity, and convince students that skills and knowledge matter—not because they are on a test or necessary for the next year, but because they matter for a lifetime.
I wrote this book because I believe if we do not change our present course, we are preparing too many of our children—and too many in our country—for a lifetime of poverty. That is why we must be realistic and tell our children, and our graduating high school and college seniors, the truth. Commencement addresses at these graduations are rife with advice telling students to “follow your dreams”—this is often misguided advice, often very bad advice. For us to live in a world where this advice were applicable or led to success, there would need to be a lot more jobs for professional athletes and Broadway performers. The reality is, dreams may be incongruous with real job prospects, with simple reality. For example, throughout school, many children spend their evenings at sports practice, and even more nights dreaming of being a professional athlete. However, ninety-nine percent don’t make it.
It sounds harsh, but it is the reality. Only a very small percentage of students will ever play in the NFL. In fact, according to Business Insider and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), only 1.7 percent of college football players will play in the NFL, and only 1.2 percent and 0.9 percent of basketball players go on to play in the NBA and WNBA, respectively. This is of those who make it to the NCAA in the first place. The best opportunity is baseball, which Business Insider/NCAA reports offers an 11.6 percent chance for college athletes to go pro (for many, that means playing years in the farm system, hoping to be called up to the major league). And it’s not just athletics. The same small percentages apply to music and the arts—Adele and J.K. Rowling are exceedingly rare talents, and so were Pablo Picasso and Frédéric Chopin.
So what do we tell our kids? We tell them to pursue their passions, whatever those passions might be—the arts, music, sports—because you never know who might be talented and lucky enough to make it to the big leagues. We also need to be honest with our children and tell them that while they can choose which path to take, others will likely decide whether they will get paid to do it. Life will be easier—much easier—if they have the appropriate skills aligned with the greatest opportunities.
So in what fields will students find the greatest potential for success? Forbes highlights the most in-demand college majors—the fields that will present our graduates with the most job prospects and highest earnings. Engineering and math fields dominated the list, with engineering concentrations making up one-third of the most valuable majors. Biomedical engineering ranked #1; software engineering was #4, followed by environmental engineering (#5), civil engineering (#6), and petroleum engineering (#7).
These findings are nothing new, however. I’ve written often about the issues the STEM skills gap is creating and how they greatly threaten America’s economic competitiveness. By 2018, STEM jobs are expected to grow at a rate nearly double that of other fields—17 percent versus 9.8 percent. An estimated 1.2 million STEM jobs will go unfilled because the workforce will not possess the skills to fill them. And, as the world continues to innovate and as new technologies emerge every day, the jobs gap will widen. So what can we do?
The answer is clear. We must reach our students earlier, introduce them to math and science, and show them the engaging, exciting, and practical applications of those subjects. We must continue to foster curiosity and collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and stress to our students that the purpose of education is to prepare for the global economy, an economy that is demanding more graduates with STEM knowledge and skills. We must counsel our students from an early age, introduce them to available career options, and guide them on the path to pursue those careers with the appropriate course work and activities. We must encourage our students to begin thinking about their careers long before they finish high school.
The bottom line is this. Students should continue to pursue their passions and the dream of becoming the next Peyton Manning or LeBron James. But let’s also set them up with a solid foundation for a successful and stable life just in case the scouts don’t call. And if your child or student does end up within that rare .08 percent of athletes who go pro, a strong academic foundation will give them security. Studies show that within two years of retirement, seventy-eight percent of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress. We must help our children have a brighter future through a career they can pursue once their dream career ends. And for the other group—the majority 99.02 percent—opening their eyes to the career possibilities of their future will excite them and inspire them, and give them a new dream to pursue. A dream that leads to a successful life.
Like many of my colleagues, I was attracted to education because of influential people in my life who inspired me to be more than I thought I possibly could be. Now, we need to be that inspiration for millions of children across our great nation.
This book is about the problem and the solution. Let’s go to work.
One Nation Under-Taught
1
Failing Ourselves
In 2013, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (or NAEP, known as “The Nation’s Report Card”) revealed that only twenty-six percent of our nation’s twelfth graders were scoring at or above proficient in math while thirty-five percent were failing.1 To put it another way, almost forty percent of Americans about to enter the workforce, military, college, and achieving voting age do so unable to perform basic mathematics.
That is, they cannot, among other things, “compute, approximate, and estimate with real numbers” or “order and compare real numbers and perform routine arithmetic calculations with and without a scientific calculator or spreadsheet.”2
Here, astoundingly to me, is a sample question from a recent NAEP math test for high school seniors, a sample question nearly forty percent of our nation’s seniors got wrong:
360 x .03=
a) 10.8
b) 108
c) 120
d) 980
e) 1,0803
Almost fifteen percent of the respondents selected answer “d” or “e,” which is to say almost fifteen percent of our nation’s high school students thought three percent of 360 was a number greater than 360.
The larger point here is that the state of American STEM education is not good. Indeed, it is terrible. As a result, we are depriving millions of children the opportunity for productive and great careers, and depriving our country the workforce and brain-power we need. We are in crisis—a crisis that it is imperiling our future economy and position in the world.
This is not to say that good STEM teachers, students, or programs do not exist. They do. What I am saying is that, as a general matter, our country is failing our students and itself. Consider a few more statistics.
In measuring our fifteen-year-olds against their peers in other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in the field of science in 2012, our students came in twenty-first, below such countries as Estonia, Poland, and Ireland.4 In measuring our fifteen-year-olds against peers in other OECD countries in the field of math, our students came in twenty-sixth, below such countries as Liechtenstein, Iceland, and the Czech Republic.5 Over and over again, the places that come in at the top? Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. Upon the release of these rankings and scores, the Wall Street Journal editorialized: “Perhaps most depressingly, the data show no statistically significant U.S. achievement improvement over time. None. In an era when it pays to be thankful for small mercies, at least we’re not getting worse, but America’s relative standing is falling as other countries improve.”6