Majority of Parents Do Not Believe Higher Costs of Higher Education Are Leading to More Learning

According to a new survey—Squeeze Play: How Parents and the Public Look at Higher Education Today—conducted by Public Agenda and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Americans believe that higher education is key to a successful future, and the vast majority also say that costs should not prevent qualified students from attending college. However, the survey also reveals widespread concern that the opportunity to go to college may not be available to all qualified students.

Findings include:

• Nearly two-thirds of parents of high school students do not believe that rapidly escalating costs are leading to more learning on campus.
• More than four in 10 believe that waste and mismanagement are a major factor in growing college costs, and over half say that colleges and universities could spend less money yet still maintain quality.
• Americans are generally positive toward higher education, but this optimism is clouded by concerns over cost and access.
• A majority of Americans agree that students borrow too much, and adds that African American and Hispanic parents—even those from middle- and upper-class families—are most likely to believe that qualified students will not have access to college.
• A large majority of Americans feel that anyone who really wants to get a college education can if they are willing to make sacrifices.
• Nearly three-quarters of Americans also believe a student can learn just as much in the first two years at a community college as at the first two years at a four-year institution.

Overall, the public is drawn to reforms that seem to them to make college more affordable or accessible. For example, a majority say that qualified students could take college classes in high school. Additionally, more than two-thirds support the idea of holding down costs by making greater use of community colleges and making more efficient use of college facilities by having classes on nights and weekends, and utilizing the Internet.

A copy of the full report can be downloaded here.

Report Finds a Lack of Evidence of Effective Practices and Activities in STEM Education

In May, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings released the findings of the Academic Competitiveness Council (ACC) and its recommendations to integrate and coordinate federal STEM education programs. The Deficit Reduction Act, signed into law by President Bush in February 2006, established the Academic Competitiveness Council, led by Secretary Spellings, to review all federal programs with a focus on science and math education and to report its findings to Congress.

Based on the 115 evaluations, the ACC's review revealed that, despite decades of significant federal investment in science and math education, there is a general dearth of evidence of effective practices and activities in STEM education. Even the 10 well-designed studies would require additional replication and validation to be used as the basis for decisions about education policy or classroom practice.

The executive summary and full report are available here.

NASSMC Editorial: No Junk Children

More than two decades ago we were warned of a coming crisis in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. That crisis is here now and clearly we have not yet stepped up to the challenge. Not only do we face a shortage of qualified workers in industry and teaching but an alarming percentage of our citizenry lacks the basic scientific understanding necessary to constitute an informed electorate. This is very dangerous.

Over the past 20 years there have been dozens of reports by blue ribbon panels and hundreds of urgent recommendations for change. Over and over we have seen recommendations for repairs and patches to the present system. We have been counseled that if we align curriculum, instruction, and assessment, the system will work better. Perhaps this is so, but is that really what we want? General Systems Theory tells us that systems are perfectly designed and operated to produce the results they get. When the present system operates perfectly it does not meet the needs of our nation and our people. 

A system has evolved that removes children from the science, technology, engineering and mathematics pipeline. They are sorted very early into those who will receive advanced instruction and those who will not, those who will go on to college and those who will terminate their education with a high school diploma or before. Perhaps there was a time when it served our purposes to “weed out” students who showed less promise in these areas, to filter out all but the best students, and send on to college only those we found to be academically most fit. That time has passed and that practice has become horribly inappropriate for our circumstances. Our system throws away perfectly good children.  How this came about is of no consequence. Knowing how it got this way does not tell us what to do now.

There has been a great deal of research representing itself as “discovering how children learn.”  Most of it, naturally, has been limited to discovering how children may learn best in the schools we have. Very little attention has been given to determining what kind of schools we need for today’s world and today’s children.

We have allowed ourselves to graduate large numbers who have very little understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is a huge liability. These individuals quickly discover that they have less education than they need to obtain the jobs they want.  They discover also that it has become very difficult to get back into the pipeline. Because they don’t have what they need, they are at an even greater disadvantage in seeking to attain more.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has reported that 50 % of high school dropouts pursue some form of post-secondary education. Statistically, they do not do very well, but they recognize that they must try. American business spends over 60 billion dollars a year retraining workers in basic skills. Business leaders have been frustrated in attempts to help schools because our systems can not effectively accommodate change.

The report of the Commission on Education and the Economy is titled “Tough Choices or Tough Times.”  I think that says it quite well. We must make some hard choices or face some hard realities. We don’t need to try harder; we need to try something else. 

The bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act attempts to address the problem. Public education should serve all our children. In order to do that however, many now believe that we are going to need a very different system. The one we have practically requires failure so that we can measure success. If we want different results, will have to change the way our schools are structured, managed, funded and evaluated.  We will have to place more value on what is learned and less on time served. And perhaps it is time to drop the use of age-grade norms as a means of measuring achievement. 

In some countries, science literacy and basic facility with mathematics are considered obligations of citizenship. In America, they have been reserved for a small portion of the population. We cannot afford the dropout rates we now have. In the present global economy, we cannot afford to throw away any more children or adults. We must develop systems that provide for everyone to learn the mathematics and science they will need, and we must do that no matter what it takes. 

Business has supported patching and repair operations in education for decades. The results have been disappointing. Established institutions do not respond by reordering themselves. To any complex system, substantive change is indistinguishable from catastrophic damage. Systems automatically correct anomalies and restore equilibrium.

In the long term, we must unambiguously define what we want from our schools today, and then begin to design and develop a system that does exactly that. What we must do immediately I think is direct our attention and support to things that are working; to programs that break the cycle and frustrate the sorting process.  America has many gifted and dedicated teachers who have found ways to buck the trends and reduce the human losses. They have been fighting this battle for a long time. They could use some help. 

If we lack the courage and the will to take assertive action now, we will, as a nation no doubt be “sorted out” of the global economy. To compete successfully in the world we must be better informed about how the world works. Moreover, an understanding of the natural world and our place in it should be the birthright of every child.

James McMurtray is Executive Director of the National Alliance of State Science & Mathematics Coalitions (NASSMC). NASSMC is the network of 42 state-based coalitions of business, education and public policy working individually and collectively for substantive systemic change in education. The organization has received funding from NASA, NSA, the US Department of Education, NSF and private foundations since 1994.

Reports from the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology

Recent publications from the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST) include the following, which provide insight into Standard Occupational Category Classifications and STEM employment forecasts:

Effects of Recent Revisions in Federal Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Categories on Counts of the Employment of STEM Professionals:
This paper includes detailed information on changes in the federal Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) categories for 61 professions. With this information, observers such as policy analysts, professional and technical societies, and media can make informed adjustments of data on trends, creating more consistent information across the years when these changes in occupational assignments were made.

STEM Employment Forecasts and Distributions Among Employment Sectors:
Among other things, this preport projects that the STEM professions with high projected growth rates (20 percent or better) will be forensic science technicians, medical scientists and epidemiologists, hydrologists, biomedical engineer, computer specialists, network systems and data communications analysts, computer software engineers, network and computer systems administrators, database administrators, computer systems analysts, computer and information scientists (research), computer support specialists, computer specialists (all other), environmental engineers, computer and information systems managers, environmental engineering technicians, actuaries, life scientists (summary), market and survey researchers (summary), and other life, physical, and social science technicians.

More white papers and reports will be produced in 2007, and a national conference (on the present and future status of the U.S. STEM workforce) will be held in Washington, DC on November 1-2, 2007.

Access the reports and white papers here.

The National Center for Technological Literacy at the Museum of Science, Boston

With the importance of technological literacy and the need for trained scientists and engineers, the Museum of Science’s National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL®), based in Boston, strives to enhance knowledge of engineering and technology for people of all ages and to inspire the next generation of engineers, inventors, and scientists.

“The key to educating students to thrive in today’s competitive global economy is introducing them to the engineering design skills and concepts that engage them in applying their math and science knowledge to solve real problems, often fueling innovation of new technologies,” says Ioannis (Yannis) N. Miaoulis, Museum of Science president and director. “Until now, school curricula focused more on the natural world, not the technological one. But it is the technological, or human-made, world that facilitates 95% of our daily experience.”

The Museum of Science, Boston is the only science museum in the country with a comprehensive strategy and infrastructure to foster technological literacy in both science museums and schools nationwide. Through the NCTL, the Museum is 1) developing technology exhibits and programs and 2) integrating engineering as a new discipline in schools via standards-based K-12 curricular reform.

Recognizing that a 21st century curriculum must include today’s human-made world, the NCTL aims to introduce engineering as early as elementary school. The NCTL has worked with parties in 39 states and the District of Columbia in various ways, such as responding to educators ordering course materials, working with states on standards, field-testing curricula, providing teacher professional development, delivering key note speeches, and other outreach.  The NCTL offers services that may be of interest to your state:

Educator Resource Center (ERC): The ERC is an online catalog and searchable database that features science, technology, and engineering K-12 resources linked with state and national standards.  The NCTL can also help teachers in other states evaluate their technology and engineering materials and establish their own educator resource center.

Curricular Materials: A key NCTL activity is to create curricular resources that represent the 21st century human-made world and feature diverse populations. Among these resources:

• Engineering is Elementary: Engineering and Technology Lessons for Children (EiE) integrates engineering and technology with science, language arts, social studies, and mathematics via engaging storybooks and open-ended, hands-on design activities. Research findings indicate that the engineering, technology, and science understandings of students participating in EiE significantly increased as a result of participation in the curriculum.

• Building Mathematics provides innovative practices for integrating engineering with math to help middle school students develop algebraic thinking. The NCTL is also creating Engineering Today, a middle school curriculum that will meet both national and Massachusetts state technology and engineering standards.

• Engineering the Future: Science, Technology and the Design Process (EtF) is a standards-based curriculum that engages high school students in hands-on design and building challenges reflecting real engineering problems and encourages them to explore what engineering and technology are and how they influence our society.  The textbook is narrated by practicing engineers from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Professional Development: The NCTL offers train-the trainer workshops to help elementary school teachers and curriculum coordinators integrate engineering into the classroom using Engineering is Elementary.  Hub sites have been established in seven other states. In addition, an online Engineering the Future workshop is now available.

More information is available here.

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching 2006 Announced

President George W. Bush announced that 93 educators will receive the annual Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for 2006. President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush recognized the best of the nation's kindergarten through sixth grade math and science teachers in an awards ceremony.    

The award was established in 1983 by the Education for Economic Security Act and is given annually to math and science teachers across the United States who make outstanding contributions to their students and schools.  

Awardees are selected from mathematics and science teachers in all 50 States and the District of Columbia, with the competition alternating each year between kindergarten through sixth grade teachers and seventh through twelfth grade teachers. After an initial selection process at the state level, a national panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators recommend teachers to receive the Presidential Awards. The awards are administered by the National Science Foundation.

Upcoming Events

• The AMATYC Teacher Preparation Summer Institute “Mathematical Preparation for Teachers of Future Elementary Teachers” wil be held June 26–30, in Grand Rapids, MI.
• The NSRC National LASER K–8 Science Education Strategic Planning Institute will be held July 15-20, in Arlington, VA.
• The 31st Annual SECME Summer Institute will be hosted by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, June 23-July 1, in Daytona Beach, FL.
• The NASA Explorer Schools Sustainability Conference (for 2005 Teams) will be held July 21 - August 2, at the US Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL.
• The MODSIM World 2007 Conference and Expo takes place September 11-13, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
• NSTA 2007 regional conferences: Detroit, October 18–20; Denver, November 8–10; and Birmingham: December 6–8.

Of Interest...

Tiktaalik was described as a missing link

+ Genes shed light on fish fingers: A genetic study has shed light on the mystery of how fish made the move from water to land millions of years ago. Previous research had suggested that fish had made an abrupt genetic jump to acquire land-friendly limbs. But a US team has now shown this event was not an evolutionary novelty and the transition was far more gradual.

+ NASA finds vast regions of West Antarctica melted in recent past: A team of NASA and university scientists has found clear evidence that extensive areas of snow melted in west Antarctica in January 2005 in response to warm temperatures. This was the first widespread Antarctic melting ever detected with NASA's QuikScat satellite and the most significant melt observed using satellites during the past three decades. Combined, the affected regions encompassed an area as big as California.

+ Hungry fungi chomp on radiation: From plastic to asbestos, cardboard to jet fuel, fungi will eat just about anything. Now researchers have found another dish in the fungal diet: radiation. Not radioactive compounds, which have long been known to be on the menu — radiation itself. Ekaterina Dadachova and her colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have discovered that some fungi can use a molecule called melanin, a pigment also found in human skin, to harvest the energy from radiation and use it for growth.

+ Nanotube textile could make super-light armour: A lightweight material made from carbon nanotubes that is stronger than steel, and conducts almost as well as aluminium, has been unveiled by a start-up company in the US. The material could lead to lighter bulletproof clothing, wiring for aircraft and more efficient power-transmission lines, the company claims. Researchers have long known that carbon nanotubes have extraordinary strength, transmit heat well and can act as semiconductors, depending on the method of construction. But these properties are of limited value in individual tubes and making bulk material with the same properties has not proved easy.

+ Fly Moves: Insects buzz about in organized abandon: Flies aren't deep thinkers. Yet these humble creatures display a penchant for spontaneous behavior that represents an evolutionary building block of voluntary choice, also known as free will, a controversial new study suggests. By mathematically analyzing flight maneuvers, a team of scientists showed for the first time that fruit flies move in a way that is neither wholly random nor predetermined. An evolved brain mechanism in the fly must generate spontaneous, unpredictable flight shifts to aid in vital tasks such as avoiding predators and tracking potential mates, conclude neuroscientist Björn Brembs of the Free University of Berlin and his colleagues.

+ Probiotics could save frogs from extinction: "Probiotics" could be used to tackle a disease which is decimating amphibian populations around the world. The idea, now tested in the lab, is to use naturally occurring bacteria that kill the fungus which causes the condition. Chytridiomycosis, as the disease is known, has been identified as one of the main threats to the survival of up to a third of the world's amphibian species. Reid Harris, at James Madison University, Virginia, US, and his team have identified over 20 probiotics that kill the fungus, in a Petri dish. Harris, who describes the frogs' backs as mini-ecosystems, home to dozens of bacteria, says there could be many more.

This false-color image of Saturn's main rings was made by combining data from multiple star occultations using the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado

+ Cassini 'cat scan' maps clumps in Saturn's rings: Saturn's largest and most densely packed ring is composed of tightly packed clumps of particles separated by nearly empty gaps, according to new findings from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. These clumps in Saturn's B ring are neatly organized and constantly colliding, which surprised scientists.

+ Finger length predicts SAT performance: A quick look at the lengths of children's index and ring fingers can be used to predict how well students will perform on SATs, new research claims. Kids with longer ring fingers compared to index fingers are likely to have higher math scores than literacy or verbal scores on the college entrance exam, while children with the reverse finger-length ratio are likely to have higher reading and writing, or verbal, scores versus math scores. Scientists have known that different levels of the hormones testosterone and estrogen in the womb account for the different finger lengths, which are a reflection of areas of the brain that are more highly developed than others, said psychologist Mark Brosnan of the University of Bath, who led the study.

+ Bendable, razor-thin TV unveiled: In the race for ever-thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all — a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video. Sony Corp. released video of the new 2.5-inch display Friday. In it, a hand squeezes a display that is 0.3 millimeters, or 0.01 inch, thick. The display shows color images of a bicyclist stuntman and a picturesque lake. Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough.

+ Spintronic logic gate promises computing advance: Faster and more flexible computers that utilise electron spin, as well as charge, appear feasible based on a novel design by a US research group. Conventional microprocessors are rapidly approaching their physical limits, as researchers scramble to pack more and more computational power into smaller and smaller areas. Spintronic circuitry, which utilises the quantum spin of electrons as well as their charge, promise a way around this impasse, but so far that promise has not been realised using conventional semiconductor materials.

+ Launch success! AIM heads for orbit: NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft began its two-year mission April 25, 2007 after a flawless ride to Earth orbit aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. Launch took place at 1:26 PDT. Launch operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California ran smoothly, with no technical or weather issues causing concern. The AIM mission is the first dedicated to exploring mysterious ice clouds that dot the edge of space in Earth's polar regions. These clouds have grown brighter and more prevalent in recent years and some scientists suggest that changes in these clouds may be the result of climate change.