The Swine Flu Solution: Fund the Best Minds in Science
By Joann P. DiGennaro : 04 Jun 2009
Spurred by the spread of swine flu, President Barack Obama recently called for more than 3 percent of our nation's GDP to be spent on research and development, saying "[T]his represents the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in American history."
The president noted that the swine flu scare demonstrates that "one thing is clear: our capacity to deal with a public health challenge of this sort rests heavily on the work of our scientific and medical community. And this is one more example of why we can't allow our nation to fall behind."
But falling behind we are. The critical reason is the significant deficiencies in teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills in the United States. Look at the facts:
- Federal funding in the physical sciences as a portion of GDP has fallen by nearly half in the past 25 years.
- Our schools lag behind other developed countries and even some developing countries.
- American 14-year-olds ranked 25th in math and 21st in science when compared to nations around the world.
During a recent trip to China, I visited several "Key High Schools" created to identify and prepare China's most promising high school students for careers in science and technology. China is spending millions to support advanced learning and labs in each of these high schools that, when compared to U.S. facilities, make even some of our university labs outdated.
President Hu Jintao indicated that the Chinese are placing a great emphasis on encouraging their brightest students in order to further their country's economic and military development. By explicitly connecting education policy to national objectives, China has taken a long-term approach to training its talent for the next century. An analysis of Chinese development in science and technology published last year found that the country's senior scientists and technology experts are expected to make training their own young people their first priority.
Similarly, on a recent official trip to India for the U.S. State Department, I visited secondary schools, colleges, and information technology training facilities ALL of which focused on rapid growth of STEM training and the push to nurture science careers in India's young. Then-President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam announced that India's economic plan will target support for young scholars as a means of reaching its national economic policy goals. India is putting special emphasis on information technology through "Operation Knowledge," a national campaign to encourage students in IT related fields.
By comparison, here at home, less than 70 percent of U.S. high school science teachers feel confident in their ability to manage hands-on labs, and some 70 percent of teachers feel they are deficient in the use of the current technology. Only 13 states require enrollment in a single lab science course part of their standard high school graduation requirements. Among the contributing factors for poor lab skills are lack of laboratory coursework by students (many having none at all), lack of teacher training in lab science, poor-to-failing lab equipment, the high cost of specimens, cutbacks in school budgets, and fear of litigation resulting from lab accidents.
The result is a complete lack of quality laboratory instruction in our nation's science and engineering high school classrooms. From the Center for Excellence in Education's (CEE) USA Biology Olympiad and its Research Science Institute it is evident that inadequate lab facilities, insufficient training for teachers and unsatisfactory lab curricula exist even among our nation's best and brightest students.
In order for the United States to compete globally and continue to lead in innovation we need to do the following:
- At the strategic level, the United States must establish a policy for nurturing its most talented science and technology students and integrate this policy with a long-term vision of U.S. economic and national security. The White House and State Department should make this task a priority.
- The next step should be a thorough assessment of all government educational programs focused on science and math. Shockingly, there are few quality assessments and little coordination among governmental agencies for the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on educational programs from kindergarten through the undergraduate level. There is not even a comprehensive system that tracks what educational programs at agencies are sponsored for students from kindergarten through college, how many international students are in the United States under programs of the various government agencies, or what happens to international scholars when they complete their studies here.
- Some of the millions of dollars devoted to U.S. educational programs must be reallocated for the most talented high school students. The government should support such efforts to enrich learning experiences for the highest-achieving students so that they can maximize their potential. A system of performance measurements would help determine which programs are least effective and could be canceled to provide the funds for this initiative, which would also be guided by performance metrics.
- Eliminating the limited Javits Gifted and Talented Education Program, as the Obama Administration announced two weeks ago is obviously a step in the wrong direction. Similarly, the tragic demise of NSF's legendarily successful Young Scholars Program is an enormous loss to the U.S. STEM community. Rather, Obama should be following the lead of JFK who, when acknowledging the U.S. had fallen significantly behind the Soviets in the Space Race, launched the "New Frontier" which ambitiously promised federal funding for education. The individual states -- also terrified by the Soviet Sputnik launch -- followed JFK's lead, as did California in 1961 with the "Mentally Gifted Minors" Act.
- Finally, Congress must fund the America COMPETES Act of 2007. This Act, signed by President Bush in August 2007, promised increased science funding. The legislation has languished in Congress, unfunded, for almost three years.
- President Obama should demonstrate his "commitment to scientific research and innovation" through support of the the first-ever National Lab Skills Symposium which will focus on the deplorable state of high school laboratory teaching in America and the importance of that instruction in assuring a future, diverse, talented U.S. STEM workforce. This National Lab Skills Symposium will take place in April of 2010, in Washington, D.C. At this Symposium, the Center for Excellence in Education will bring together members of congress, agency heads, corporate leaders, top academics, NGOs, education advocates and foundation executives to discuss the status of STEM education in the United States and to address shortcomings in science teaching and student learning. The attendees will focus on the critical importance of lab skills development; discuss what is needed for scientific educational achievement; and develop the gold standard for lab instruction in the United States. CEE plans to roll out these "best practices" models in several states by 2012.
As President Obama remarked early on in his campaign, "To restore America's competitiveness, we must recruit a new generation of science and technology leaders." This crisis must be addressed for the U.S. to retain its worldwide innovative and global competitive edge. For the last century, America has been the STEM leader in the world. That will no longer be the case if we do not act.
Joann P. DiGennaro, Esq., is the President and founder, with the late Admiral H.G. Rickover, of the Center for Excellence in Education, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation in McLean, VA. The Center sponsors the Research Science Institute with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It also sponsors the USA Biology Olympiad and other research and competitive opportunities for high school and college students interested in STEM careers. You can reach Ms. DiGennaro at this address
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