There is widespread fear that US is not preparing enough talents in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) while its global competitors, such as China and India, are producing a lot more engineers and scientists. And this fear has been used to fuel investment in STEM education in the United States.  For example, a report produced by the National Academies of Sciences at the request of Congress in 2005 and published in 2007 (with a revision in 2008) says that “Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of …

China has been working on another round of major education reforms. A national team of government leaders, education officials, and education leaders have been working on a mid and long term strategic plan that will guide education development in China for the next decade or so for over year now. The team is led by China’s Premier Wen Jiabao. The team issued a national call for comments and suggestions in the summer and has received tens of thousands of them online and through traditional means.
I was in China last week. …

Last week, getideas.org published a post of mine on its Thought Leader’s blog. I am reposting it here.
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In my new book Catching Up or Leading the Way, I mostly focus on issues facing education in the United States noting that the current education reform efforts, with their emphasis on standards, testing, and outcome-based (read test score-based) accountability, are unlikely to make Americans “globally competitive.”
Instead, what America needs is an education system that cultivates a diversity of talents and develops “unique niche talents” that are not available at a cheaper price …

Chris Knott, Principal of the International Baccalaureate World Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina shared this excellent song by Tom Chapin–it’s a funny, but really sad description of what has happened to education in the U.S..
http://www.notonthetest.com/index.html
Thanks, Chris.

10-12-2009: WNYC’s Brian Lehrer show interview about my book: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2009/10/12