By Patricia H. Kushlis
Just two years ago, the US National Science Foundation reported a 16% increase of first time foreign students enrolled in graduate science and engineering programs in American universities during 2006. The NSF simultaneously reported an overall 1.7% increase in enrollment in the same programs. Yet just last month the NSF’s most recent report stated that doctorates in these fields that were awarded to foreigners in 2009 declined by 3.5 percent.
What's the story?
Are Americans finally becoming even a bit more scientifically proficient and hopefully more attracted to careers in the hard sciences than in years past? Or are foreign students still being hassled by tighter security restrictions in the aftermath of 9/11 and have decided to study elsewhere leaving more places for less qualified Americans? Or are American Consulates so overburdened and understaffed that they simply can’t issue the requisite visas in time for the beginning of classes because consular officials are required to interview each and every student personally who applies to study in the US in the aftermath of 9/11?
What do these statistics mean or are they meaningless? Or could they, perhaps contain a thin silver lining of sorts?
The silver lining: more American women and minorities in the hard sciences
The good news, and there is a bit of good news in the numbers, is that the increase in science and engineering graduate students in the US is due to the growth of women receiving doctorates. Furthermore, the number of all graduate students in science and engineering is higher by 5 percent from just the year before. At the same time, there was a slight decrease (by 5) of doctorates earned by men.
Furthermore, Americans from racial and ethnic minority groups earned doctorates in science and engineering at a faster pace than white students suggesting that if the trend continues, America’s future professionals will look far different from decades past.
With the US economy still in the doldrums, the employment prospects for these newly minted advanced degree holders is something else again but at least their chances of landing a job beyond McDonalds’ are much higher than for those of their more poorly educated American counterparts who are far lower down the education totem pole where high unemployment rates are concentrated.
The Sputnik from Shanghai: Is it a fair comparison?
Meanwhile, there was a fuss in the US media in December about the stellar scores of Shanghai students on the 2009 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) exam – a multinational assessment of 15 year olds. The PISA tests reading, science and math proficiencies and is conducted once every three years by the 22 nation OECD. Representative students from 65 countries took the exam in 2009.
The scores of a similar number of American students (approximately 5,100) from across the country produced a less rosy picture than their Chinese counterparts in Shanghai where the schools are reportedly the best in China.
Nevertheless, is it fair to compare students from across the US with students from another country who live in a single urban area where the educational standards are the nation's highest? Would the discrepancy between American and Chinese students be as sharp if, for instance, the American students had all hailed from Boston?
The data also shows that American public school students from poorer families scored below the US and OECD average in reading literacy whereas those from wealthier families scored above both the overall OECD and US averages. Likely another spill-over from the ever widening American income disparities that began in the 1970s.
Sexy headlines and the competitive scare
True, the data from Shanghai makes good newspaper headlines since China has become the US media’s bête noir especially among fear-mongers here. More thoughtfully, The New York Times has published at least two articles on Shanghai's educational miracle since the PISA data was released in early December.
If it takes the scare of competition from 15 year olds from a single Chinese city to initiate US national reforms aimed at improving the quality of K-12 education in the here, then so be it. But just as Boston is not a mirror of the US, Shanghai should not be seen as a mirror of China.
The US first enrolled in the PISA exam in 2000. The exam tests all three subjects but concentrates on one of the three each exam cycle. In 2009, the emphasis was on reading skills. The Shanghai students came in number 1 on the reading exam – South Koreans were in second place, but at least American students reading skills (thank you Harry Potter?) put them in line with the OECD average including students from many European countries. The math scores, however, for American students were dismal – placing them below 30 of the 65 countries. The science results were nothing to brag about but math skills were worse.
A wake up call?
Should the 2009 PISA results be taken as a “wake up call?” Or viewed as a Chinese Sputnik ? Should these latest test results be used as yet another call to action as US Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan is quoted as saying?
If so, what needs to be done to wake this country from its educational slumber? No Child Left Behind is not the answer: it certainly has not improved the picture if these test scores are any indication. Neither is the proliferation of Charter Schools the way out of the morass: from what I've read, many of these schools do not perform any better than the public schools they were supposed to out-perform.
What can be done?
I think, however, that there are a number of things that need to be dealt with to turn America’s lower, middle and high schools into something more than glorified baby-sitter drop-off points. Polling data has suggested that most American parents want their children to receive a good education – but I have to wonder how much they are willing to change their attitudes towards schools in order to make a quality education happen.
School is not a football team
First and foremost, American parents need to realize that their kids must hit the books from day one - foregoing the football team couch-potato culture that saps the vitality and energy of academic pursuits.
Throwing more money at the schools is not the answer: Americans do not spend less on K-12 education than their European or Asian counterparts– on the contrary, they normally spend more. But clearly the money is too often poorly used because the results range from C to F.
Beginning with Americans’ educational attitude problem
First of all a deepseated attitude problem needs addressing: this country needs to adopt a “culture of education” and it needs to begin that now in every home. Parents need to be intimately involved in their children’s education – encouraging them to work hard from the day they enter kindergarten to the day they graduate from high school and beyond - keeping close contact with their kids’ teachers and counselors to make sure there are no nasty surprises when report card time rolls around. Furthermore, parents need to ensure that their kids are given meaningful homework and experience quality teaching. Essentially, its the parents that need to keep schools accountable: they need to be the squeeky wheels.
Second, as a part of a national culture of education, teachers – for their part - need to know subject matter well - not just the methodology of teaching. If I had a magic wand, I would do away with undergraduate degrees in education and introduce the requirements that alll teachers have a BA in a substantive field - one that provides a crucial knowledge base - then, and only then should teachers be allowed to step inside a single educational methods course.
Finally, teaching needs to become a respected profession with performance reviews and financial compensation that includes a base salary plus an annual bonus based on student performance. The starting point should be a student's level at the beginning of each year. Far more of the funds should be directed at the classroom itself and less to administrative overhead. Schools should run administratively lean and discipline must be enforced. Bedlam in the classroom or the corridors does not represent quality education. Campuses should be closed while classes are in session.
With competent teachers, supportive families and motivated students a lot can improve in the American education scene. If, there is, enough of a will to make it happen.