No need to complain about sending jobs offshore. We are recruiting skilled workers from other countries to fill the many science and technology jobs right here in our backyards and it doesn’t look as if this trend will end anytime soon.
According to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released by the U.S. Department only 22 percent of eighth-graders in California are proficient in science. Just 2 percent of eighth-graders in the nation have the advanced skills that could lead to careers in the field of science.
Some experts partially blame the federal No Child Left Behind law, which puts more emphasis on math and reading than it does on science, history, arts and other subjects. These critics contend that schools narrowed their focus to comply with the law and they are right. According to a 2008 report from the Center on Education Policy, average instructional time for science decreased by one-third (or 75 minutes per week) since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind.
We can complain about the quality of science teachers, but who can blame a college graduate majoring in science for skipping an undervalued and underpaid teaching career when they can demand six figures from a host of Silicon Valley technology companies. They will never see teaching America’s future scientists as prestigious or lucrative.
“This tells me that we need to work harder and faster to build capacity in schools and in districts across the country,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “We need to do things differently – that’s why education reform is so critical.”
This vague, political jargon may calm some water but does not specifically address the sea of educational troubles we face as a nation, particularly in Silicon Valley where science and technology is the core of future job prospects. Technological innovation accounted for almost half of U.S. economic growth over the past 50 years, and almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
"It's important to move the needle because every job that pays a living wage includes STEM literacy and science as a component," said Linda Rosen, who leads a group known as Change the Equation, www.changetheequation.org. In fact, even with the unemployment rate at 10.5% in California, across the STEM fields, job postings outnumbered unemployed people by almost two to one.
Perhaps this is why unemployment rates are less than the state average in Santa Clara County - 8.2 percent according to California Employment Development Department. Between March 2012 and April 2012, combined employment in the South Bay counties of San Benito and Santa Clara rose by 4,300 to reach 907,200 jobs.
What can we do to ensure our children have access and success in STEM curriculum? Start by encouraging communication among parents, teachers and school administrators.
Here are a few questions you may want to ask at the next school board meeting.
1. Do teachers and school administrators use national or state standards as guidelines?
2. Do teachers at different grade levels work together to clarify what standards will be learned when?
3. Are teachers given encouragement, time, and resources to update their own skills and knowledge.
To supplement at home this summer, check out Scientific American education website,www.scientificamerican.com/education.
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