The Rising Demand For More Concentration On Stem Education

Since 2001, the American school system has been using STEM. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), has become a major focal point in today’s schools in the United States. STEM originated from the idea that today’s employees lack the skills and talent that was needed in order to succeed in the 21st century economy (Cox, 2017). A major goal for STEM is to be able to expand the amount of students who decide to pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields and to broaden the participation of women and minorities working in those specific fields (The National Academies Press, 2011).

If schools would substitute mathematics for a skill that you use in the real world every day then you would see more successful young people. In the United states alone one in four ninth graders will not finish high school. Researchers say that algebra is one of the leading causes on this huge problem our nation is facing. Shirley Bagwell, a longtime Tennessee teacher, warns that “to expect all students to master algebra will cause more students to drop out”(Hacker).

The importance of transforming STEM teacher’s professional development (PD) for the middle school is central to the standard-based transformation of STEM education and knowledge-based competition of the global economy. Because the knowledge-based competition of the 21st century economy depends on the competitiveness of STEM education, improvement of STEM education is a national call. In addition, the needs for improvements in K-12 science education align with the needs for improvement in science teacher’s PD. STEM jobs require higher creativity and innovation, thus STEM teachers and educational leaders are expected to encourage creativity and innovation in student learning regardless of barriers. Nevertheless, teachers are expected to overcome all barriers in order to foster active learning by students (Michael, 2007). In general, STEM education requires teacher’s creativity and flexibility. This urges rethinking of the education leaders and researchers about identifying effective professional development for STEM teachers.

Math is a difficult subject for many high school students. Goldberger author of beating the odds describes “the American education system having a gap in math achievement along the income and race lines.”(Goldberger, 2008) It would be nearly impossible to change the amount a family makes each year, or changing the race a person was born with but their is something that can be done to make the math achievement gap go away. All students entering high school should be required to take a math diagnostic exam prior to their ninth grade year. Students should then be separated by their math abilities to help students with greater difficulty in the subject. Students who do not meet the minimum standards for the test should be encouraged to take preparation classes for math before school starts. This will not only help students who need help succeed, but it will also keep students interested by preparing them for future classes. Keeping a students interest is

As the world advances in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the importance of capable workers in these “STEM” fields is undeniable. The United States has been slow to respond to the growing demand, and as a result, is short on supply for these critical jobs. However, there exist many analysts who claim that such a shortage, or “STEM crisis”, does not exist, such as Hal Salzman, Professor of Public Policy at Rutgers University. He claims, in his article “What Shortages? The Real Evidence About the STEM Workforce”, that the current surge for STEM education is an overreaction to a non-existent shortage that pushes students towards unsuccessful degrees, and the guest workers hired as a solution to this crisis are damaging the U.S. economy. Yet, the evidence shows that Salzman’s claims are not true. Due to the

I attended the Sanford Research Lecture series at the Washington Pavillon on October 13 at 4pm. The topic or title of the speech was “The Changing National Landscape in STEM Education: Connecting the Dots”. It was presented by Jay Labov who has a PhD and is affiliated with National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. The purpose of his speech was to inform us of the need for STEM careers and how many people who start as a STEM career never finish. The goal of informing us of this is to show how important it is to properly educate the STEM fields so more people get an understanding of it and to keep people involved within the field.

When national, state, and local dropout and graduation rates are published, it is difficult to deny that U.S. middle and high school students are in need of special literacy and/or mathematics supports to reverse the current trends. In 2003, a commission established by the National Assessment Governing Board (Governing Board) to review and make suggestions about indicators of academic preparedness for postsecondary education and training recommended the use of the grade 12 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2014). A combination of factors were considered for academic readiness and preparedness for entry-level college coursework, such as core subject or content knowledge, cognitive strategies (problem solving, reasoning,

The United States is concerned about the education of its citizens. With raised initiatives in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs and standardized education, the government is attempting to reverse declining test scores and prepare American youth for a globally competitive and more technology-based future. Proponents of a STEM education assert that scientific thinking and technical skills are what are needed in a modern economy, while a liberal education is often an unnecessary commodity. The purpose behind standardized schooling is to give every student the tools to succeed, usually at the cost of educators’ creativity. I assert that a new approach to systematic teaching, as well as a liberal education coupled with effective science and math courses, are not only vital for the economic well being of the nation collectively, but also for the imperative development of every individual. The keys to proper student develop are preparing each individual to support their families and communities, to be horizontally and vertically successful in the career paths of their choosing, and to be perennial learners.

The struggle to find employees with the indispensable technical and critical problem-solving skills has become increasingly complicated. The H.R. 1020 offers a solution to promote these skills into the working class field, inclusively the educators who will teach the generation of tomorrow. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is prime evidence that we need STEM education to widen across the nation. It is an international assessment that measures students ' reading, mathematics, and science literacy skills and is taken every three years. Sadly, results seem to be plummeting, for example in 2009 the U.S. ranked 24 in math and 19 in science. Now, in the most recent assessment, 2012, we are now in 29th place in math and

The vast majority of incoming and current 4th grade students in this school haven’t yet mastered the state standard for problem solving (Standard 4.OA.A.3). Specific standards are set by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and adopted by Washington State (Common Core State Standards Initiative, (n.d.)), and require students to be able to solve multi-step word problems in all four operations. Incoming fourth grade students struggle with solving these word problems accurately. These students need to pass the state-mandated Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) which requires completion of a problem-solving performance task. Their score on this assessment will determine their placement in grade 5 at the district’s middle school. Students have difficulty with word problems mostly based on lack of strategies and poor language interpretation. While fact fluency may be present, the ability to interpret vocabulary to guide computation leaves many students unable to construct mathematical models to interpret or solve problems. Students have difficulty in analyzing

The lack of college readiness is also of growing concern due to the increasing demand for technically trained individuals. “The U.S. Department of Labor projections indicate that nearly 50% of all new jobs created between 2008 and 2018 will require some form of postsecondary award or training” (Shultz and Stern, 2013, p. #). Changes in technical skills demanded in the work place today have created fast paced and industry specific courses which leave very little time to address core competency deficiencies (reading, writing and arithmetic) in the classroom. If a student is unable to comprehend required college level material or perform pre algebraic calculations necessary for a skilled trade, instructors are forced to either leave those students behind or carve out already limited additional time for them after class.

For many students entering higher education, the hard sciences and advanced mathematics courses are often avoided. As attrition rates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) increase, the projected need for professions in these fields in the upcoming years is increasing. Increasing success and retention in the STEM subjects has become a focus of much recent educational research (Tsui, 2007). To avoid falling short of educated scientists and engineers to fill the expected positions, intervention strategies and new teaching methods such as, summer bridge programs (Ackermann, 1991), learning centers (Sullivan, 1980), career counseling (Hill, Pettus, & Hedin, 1990) and others have been implemented (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). Of particular interest to this project is advanced mathematics achievement, specifically in calculus, in hopes of increasing retention.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics or STEM Strand is an academic discipline that focuses on math and science subjects. STEM strand education creates critical thinkers, increases science and math literacy, and prepares the next generation of innovators. Innovation leads to new products and processes that sustain our economy. This innovation in science and mathematics literacy depends on a solid knowledge base in the STEM areas (Why STEM education so important?, 2016). It is clear that most jobs in the future will require basic understanding of math and science. Although we are talking about STEM strand advantages, we cannot neglect the fact that it also has its disadvantages.

Through philosophical foundations there emerges certain philosophies of education. Those philosophies of education can then be directly linked to issues/ problems in education today. This paper will take a detailed look at pragmatism and its link to progressivism. Then, an examination of how those principles have shaped the movement of STEM education will provide a complete overview of these early century physiological foundations to modern day education issues. There are principles and thinking within all three topics that overlap. In order to take a detailed look at this subject matter, multiple sources were used to gain insight and develop meaningful connections. These foundational theories are covered with language that is associated with philosophy. Interpretation of these findings and theories, are just that, interpretations. Suggestions will be provided for improvement of current STEM education practices to provide alternative approaches to improve learning in the modern classroom.

The purpose of this practical assessment task is to inform students about the STEM crisis , the importance of STEM and how to create awareness of the current situation at hand. The current focus question of this practical assessment is how will the shortage of science skills and workers affect south Africa? I focused on where one can apply for further enrichment in science (eg: University); what the role of science is in day-to-day life; any economic uses; threats to the future of South Africa and STEM awareness.