It appears that the math, science, and technology folks may be able to cash in on the vague connection between the competitiveness of the U.S. economy and education (see Washington Post article). I would ask the same question of this initiative that I would ask of the focus of NCLB – why the narrow focus? Why not just take as a starting point that K-12 is probably grossly underfunded or is functioning poorly no matter what the content area? What not give increased attention to reading, writing, general health, languages, etc.
As a college prof, I do not actually have a dog in this fight (or whatever the expression is), but I am interested the preparation of K-12 educators and I also have some thoughts on claims made regarding an emphasis on math, science, and technology. In part, I am reacting to claims made by supporters (e.g., Eduflack) that to me seem over the top.
Just a couple of comments rather than a full analysis:
1) I would suggest that while the concern that all students develop problem-solving skills is certainly valid, the notion that a given content area offers the best area for developing such skills is unsubstantiated and likely rejected. My understanding of the position of cognitive psychology is that problem-solving is fairly domain specific. For example, if high school physics or calculus does develop problem-solving skills, these skills do not necessarily matter in other areas of human endeavor.
2) I am of the opinion that the skills that actually place a country in a more economically competitive position come out of the college setting rather than the high school setting. This is a derivative of my more general concern that economic development is only one of many goals of K-12 education. For those going on to college, the question of what best prepares students for college may be quite different than how can we improve STEM.
3) I have little perspective on international economics, but if I were to increase the emphasis in any given area at the K-12 level with regard to this focus it would likely be language skills – both reading and writing in English because of the feed-forward advantage moving into higher education and a PROFICIENCY in some other language. We tend to envy the emphasis on math and science we see in other countries. My wife who has a great deal of international experience makes another point. I think she would suggest that what we miss in this focus is that these same kids in these same countries are Skyping with kids in our classroom. In her most recent experience, the Russian kids are speaking English. Do you think any of the U.S. kids are speaking Russian?
