As American students fall further behind their foreign counterparts in international assessments, U.S. educators, policymakers, industry leaders, and parents must find ways to equip students with the skills and knowledge that will make them successful in the global economy. In his new book, One Nation Under-Taught: Solving America’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Crisis, released today by Beaufort Books, Project Lead The Way CEO Dr. Vince Bertram writes about the urgent need to address this challenge head-on, and provides a blueprint for helping students fall in love with and succeed in critical STEM fields.
Listen to Bertram's live interview on The Seth Leibsohn Show-11/18/14
Bertram live on Bill Bennett's Morning in America-11/19/14
U.S. students placed 21st in science and 26th in math in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings. Domestic assessments are equally bleak: the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) found that only 26 percent of high school seniors score at or above proficient in math. Meanwhile, math and science play an increasingly important role in defining the jobs of the future. STEM jobs are expected to grow twice as fast as other jobs over the next four years, resulting in 1.2 million unfilled STEM jobs by 2018.
Girls and minorities of both genders face even more hurdles to accessing a quality STEM education and career path. Women make up about half of the workforce in America, but hold less than a quarter of STEM-related jobs. Minority groups receive less than 15 percent of the nation’s bachelor’s degrees in science.
In One Nation Under-Taught, Bertram highlights this crisis and explains why 30 years of efforts to address it – increasing funding, hiring more teachers, and raising testing standards among them – are failing. Bertram argues that the solution requires a reimagining of the U.S. educational system and its approach to subjects like math and science. Schools must integrate STEM principles into all subject areas at the earliest stages of development, and make the concepts relevant to students through activity-based learning that prioritizes experience and application over memorization. They must also equip teachers with the tools and training they need to teach these subjects more effectively.
Praise for One Nation Under-Taught:
“Vince’s candid assessment is on the mark … we need to be strong on STEM. It’s critical to our nation’s long-term competitiveness and economic prosperity.”
- John S. Watson, chairman and CEO, Chevron Corporation
“Dr. Bertram has written a valuable roadmap outlining the reforms and programs that are necessary to solve our nation’s STEM crisis. One Nation Under-Taught is essential reading for educators, policymakers, business leaders, and families—all of whom share a stake in ensuring that we are inspiring the next generation.”
- Dr. Ray O. Johnson, senior vice president & CTO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
“Project Lead The Way helps transform students’ lives and expand teachers’ repertoire. One Nation Under-Taught explains not only why high-quality STEM education is important, but how we can make it available to all students. I can’t understand why any school or district would not implement the program.”
- Trevor Greene, 2013 National Principal of the Year
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About PLTW Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of K-12 STEM programs. PLTW’s world-class, activity-, project-, and problem-based curriculum and high-quality teacher professional development model, combined with an engaged network of educators and corporate partners, help students develop the skills needed to succeed in our global economy. More than 6,500 elementary, middle, and high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are currently offering PLTW courses to their students. For more information, visit www.pltw.org.