The Technological Literacy and Workforce Imperative

Introduction

Few issues evoke more passionate conversation than the education of children. While there has been much attention and debate over how to address school violence, drugs, and vouchers, there has been a tremendous lack of understanding and appreciation by many policymakers about the importance of strengthening scientific, mathematical, engineering, and technological (SMET) concepts and skills in the pre-college (K-12) education curriculum. As the economy becomes increasingly more global and technologically complex, it is essential that K-12 SMET education be strengthened to prepare today's students to be tomorrow's productive workers and citizens.

In addition to creating a technologically literate citizenry, there is an urgent need to develop a technologically capable workforce that can compete in the global economy. Employers are increasingly concerned about the lack of technically skilled workers. Much more emphasis must be placed on pre-college SMET education if this skill deficit is to be overcome.

Following a survey of its members, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME International), a professional society of more than 125,000 members, has included K-12 science, math, engineering, and technology education among its priorities for action by public policy makers. The Society's Board on Pre-College Education (BPC) has developed a variety of activities and resources for its members, educators, and students interested in K-12 SMET studies (visit www.asme.org/educate/k12).

Recommendations

Parents, educators, governments at all levels, and the private sector have important roles in ensuring that future generations will possess the skills and critical competencies necessary to be successful in a highly competitive, global, and technologically sophisticated economy. Together, these stakeholders must work cooperatively to ensure that children receive the science, mathematics, engineering, and technology training essential for future success.

ASME International offers the following recommendations for improving K-12 SMET educational performance:

• Increase federally funded research focused on SMET teaching and learning to cultivate the most effective teaching methods.
• Recruit, train, and retain qualified SMET teachers to meet demand.
• Foster partnerships among educational institutions, industry, and non-profit organizations.
• Encourage the adoption of curriculum standards that cultivate high student performance; the development of curricula that foster creativity, experiential problem-solving and critical thinking; and, the development of assessments aligned with these standards and curricula.
• Encourage women and minorities to pursue SMET coursework and careers.

Increase federally funded research focused on SMET teaching and learning to cultivate the most effective teaching methods.

Policy makers should dedicate significant funds for education research, with an emphasis on how to improve teaching and learning of K-12 SMET concepts and critical thinking skills. New research must be supported and the findings applied to the development of curricula, materials, and standards. Research should focus on "how" (inquiry-based versus memorization) and "when" (at developmentally appropriate stages) students learn rather than on "what" students should learn in the areas of science, math, engineering, and technology. A long-term commitment to the application of these research results is necessary to bring about real systemic changes.

Recruit, train, and retain qualified SMET teachers to meet demand.

Experts agree that one key to improving student performance is the recruitment, training and retention of qualified teachers. Recent studies suggest that, in the U.S. alone, 2.2 million new teachers will be needed in the next decade; yet, statistics indicate that U.S. colleges of education will not produce nearly enough graduates with degrees in education to meet the expected demand. Furthermore, graduates with degrees in science, mathematics, or engineering are unlikely pursue teaching careers. The lure of higher salaries in the private sector is further depleting the supply of qualified K-12 science and mathematics teachers, while the pursuit of reduced class sizes and other demographic factors increase the demand for more qualified teachers. A related concern is the number of teachers who are currently teaching out of their respective fields of expertise. In 1998, 28 percent of seventh and eighth grade math teachers in the U.S. were not certified to teach that subject, and 27 percent of science teachers at those grade levels were not certified to teach science. Policy makers should enhance the recruitment, training, and retention of qualified SMET teachers by creating programs which:

• improve in-service professional development (e.g., Eisenhower grants) focusing on SMET curricula;
• facilitate alternative certification and transition-to-teaching programs for engineers and other technical professionals;
• institute mentoring programs for SMET personnel in schools;
• implement what is already known regarding how students learn in teacher professional development programs;
• attract SMET teachers via scholarships, student loan forgiveness, bonuses, and tax incentives;
• allow for differential pay scales to help attract and retain qualified SMET educators; and,
• include/increase SMET coursework in pre-service/university teacher training.

Foster partnerships among educational institutions, industry, and non-profit organizations.

ASME International and other organizations currently partner with non-profit organizations and educational entities (e.g., FIRST Robotics Competition, the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS), and the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts) to further K-12 SMET learning. Policy makers should support the development of partnerships among educational institutions, industry, and non-profit organizations which:

• foster adopt-a-school programs;
• create incentives for SMET professionals to work with teachers and students;
• promote relevant corporate summer externships for teachers in SMET positions;\
• develop recognition awards for private sector SMET involvement;
• produce, evaluate, and disseminate the best practices in SMET programs, on-line curricula, and funding opportunities to educators via a well-publicized, centralized web site;
• create and fund the publication and dissemination of materials for public outreach and parental education on the importance of a quality K-12 SMET education; and,
• address school infrastructure needs for SMET education, including the implementation of current technology and provision of material resources.

Encourage the adoption of curriculum standards that cultivate high student performance; the development of curricula that foster creativity, experiential problem-solving and critical thinking; and, the development of assessments aligned with these standards and curricula.

Experience has shown that lack of high standards for student performance results in poor mastery of SMET subject matter by many students. Development of effective SMET curriculum and assessment tools must be based on high standards of achievement. These standards should extend well beyond requiring knowledge of fundamental SMET facts, processes, and techniques. They should support curricula that cultivate creative, critical thinking skills and encourage interdisciplinary approaches to issues and problems. Policy makers and other stakeholders should:

• 
  promote and endorse private sector standard-setting projects;
• support the development of hands-on, open-ended problem-solving curricula and modules of engineering problems, grouped by discipline and level of difficulty, for the K-12 classroom;
• pursue the development of better assessment mechanisms aligned with state and local standards;
• advocate the inclusion of both curriculum and assessment standards in SMET by boards of education, where they are not currently adopted; and,
• resist the tendency to "push back" standards when assessment results are less than satisfactory.

Encourage women and minorities to pursue SMET coursework and careers.

Remaining competitive in the global economy will require the cultivation of technological literacy, talent, and expertise across all sectors of society. Efforts should be made to attract greater participation of women and minorities into SMET fields of study and careers. Minorities and women are significantly underrepresented in the SMET workforce. Policy makers should:

• provide incentives and mentoring for women and minorities to pursue K-12 SMET teaching careers;
• foster outreach and SMET career materials to K-12 guidance counselors, teachers, and parents;
• support SMET magnet schools in school districts with large minority enrollments; and,
• foster public-private partnerships to ensure those schools serving large minority enrollments have computer labs and other technologies to support the delivery of high-quality SMET education.