Career Tech Update

Advertisement

The New York Times (12/10, A23, Dillon) reports, "American fourth and eighth grade students made solid achievement gains in math in recent years and in two states showed spectacular progress," but "science performance was flat," according to a survey released Tuesday by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS. "Fourth grade students in Hong Kong and eighth grade students in Taiwan" earned the top scores in math, "while Singapore dominated in science at both grade levels." According to the Times, "the latest TIMSS study, the world's largest review of math and science achievement, involved testing a representative sample of students in each country in 2007, the first time the tests had been administered since 2003. ... The results included fourth grade scores from 36 countries, and eighth grade scores from 48 countries."

        Similarly, the Washington Post (12/10, A10, Glod) adds, "Results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), released today, show how fourth- and eighth-graders in the United States measure up to peers in dozens of countries. US students showed gains in math at both grades." Specifically, "the average score among fourth-graders has jumped 11 points since 1995, to 529." Still, "students in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, and England were among those posting a higher average. Hong Kong topped the list with an average score of 607." Meanwhile, the "average science performance" for students in the US, "although still stronger than in many countries, has stagnated since 1995."

        In science, "USA fourth-graders scored 549, well above the international average of 500, but below a few Asian nations -- Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Japan," adds USA Today (12/10, Toppo). "Eighth-graders scored 520, similarly above average but below a handful of other nations."

        According to the AP (12/10, Quaid), "Kids in Massachusetts and Minnesota did even better than the US overall. In fact, Massachusetts students did as well as some of their Asian peers." The Boston Globe (12/9, Vaznis) explained that Massachusetts "performed strongest on the fourth-grade science exam, coming in second worldwide just behind Singapore and ahead of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. By contrast, the United States as a whole placed eleventh with a score that researchers characterized as significantly lower than Massachusetts." In math, the state's eighth-grade "score rose 34 points to 547 from eight years ago, compared to a seven-point increase for the United States, which averaged 508 last year. In eighth-grade science, the state's score rose 23 points to 556, compared to a 5-point gain for the United States, which scored 520 last year."

        The Christian Science Monitor (12/10, Paulson, Khadaroo) points out that most of the math and science gains in the US "took place among the lowest-performing students, a similar trend to that seen in national report cards on education." Some analysts say that could be a result "of the increased focus on bringing up America's struggling students without as much attention to those at the top."

        The Wall Street Journal (12/10, D1, Hechinger), the Chicago Tribune (12/10, Malone), and the Journal of New England Technology (12/9, Lynch) also covered the story. Canada's CBC News (12/10) reports on Canadian students' performances in math and science, the BBC News (12/10) reported on UK students' performance, and the Jerusalem Post (12/10, Selig) covered Israel's declining math and science rankings, as reported in TIMSS.

The Dallas Morning News (12/10, Goolsby) reports, "Some of the smartest people in Texas have come up with a plan to improve science and math education in the state's schools and make Texas more competitive in the global marketplace." According to "a report being issued today by a group of scientists, engineers, Nobel Prize winners and university and industry leaders," the state "needs to work harder to entice science and math teachers to the classroom and students to the professions." The proponents of the plan "also want to revamp the state's accountability system and to create an advisory council to offer the group's expertise to educators and policymakers." Members of the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas said that "failure to take action may cause Texas to lag in the 21st-century economy." Yet, according to educators, "the group's findings are nothing new...but may help bring needed attention to the problems."

The Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle (12/9, Dalmath) reported, "Finger Lakes Wired has announced that it will fund expansion of camp programs that encourage youth to study and pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The funding will provide scholarships to increase the participation of students ages 16 to 18." Pat Piles, Finger Lakes Wired Program Manager, stated, "One of our major areas of focus at Wired is in empowering our region's youth to be able to compete in the job market in the changing global economy. That can be accomplished, in part, by supporting innovative efforts that stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and math curriculums." The Democrat & Chronicle noted, "This is the third year Finger Lakes Wired has supported STEM programs. In the past two years these programs served more than 250 area youth."

The AP (12/9) reported, "A nearly $2.5 million grant" from the National Science Foundation "will help Nebraska 4-H expand its robotics and GPS/GIS curriculum nationally." Bradley Barker "a University of Nebraska-Lincoln 4-H science and technology specialist and 1 of the project's leaders," said that "the robotics curriculum helps get young people excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The curriculum is aimed at students in grades 5-9." The AP noted, "The 4-H Robotics and Geospatial Project is built on a week of summer camp that features hands-on activities. Nebraska 4-H will contract with several trainers who will train others to deliver the program as it expands nationwide."

The Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle (12/9, Broder) reported, "A report last week from a commission headed by Jim Hunt, the former governor of North Carolina, underlines how important" President-elect Barack Obama's pledge "to make college more affordable and accessible for America's young people" is, "and how difficult it may be to attain his goals." The report concluded that "college has become increasingly unaffordable to millions of middle-class and working-class Americans," and that "the rising barriers to campuses are costing the United States in the international competition for a trained workforce." Among some of "the key findings from Measuring Up 2008: The National Report Card on Higher Education, published by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education," are: "Between 1982 and 2007, college tuition and fees rose three times as fast as median family income, after adjusting for inflation." In the past ten years," there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of undergraduate borrowers and a doubling in the inflation-adjusted total of students' debts." Regarding college completion rates, the US ranks 15th among "29 rated nations, barely above Mexico and Turkey. ... Hunt warned that the trend threatens the US economic future."

UK's Birmingham Post (12/10, Thorne) reports, "The head of the [British] Aluminium Federation (ALFED)," Henry Dickinson, "has warned the science and engineering sector faces a manpower shortfall unless current trends are reversed." Dickinson said that "ambitious industry targets would not be met unless recruitment across the sector was increased," adding, "We are not training enough talented young men and women in science and engineering disciplines. Where we have perhaps 10,000 undergraduate scientists and engineers in universities, the Chinese have 600,000." He attributed this mainly to the Chinese focus "on productive disciplines." Dickinson concluded, "Without an adequate base of intelligent, trained and resourceful young people entering manufacturing and research it becomes increasingly difficult to improve products and processes at a rate at least the equal of overseas competitors."

The AP (12/10) reports, "Snowmobile and watercraft manufacturer Bombardier Recreational said Tuesday that it is cutting its workforce by nearly 1,000 as it slashes production by 20 percent to respond to the global recession." The company, which "makes the Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo," stated that "550 administrative white-collar jobs will be slashed starting this month and another 430 shop floor workers will be laid off temporarily. That's on top of 370 workers laid off in October. The company employs about 6,500 people around the world." CEO Jose Boisjoli, noting that "these are very difficult decisions," said, "We believe these measures will reduce our costs and make BRP less vulnerable to drastic declines in revenues caused by events outside our control, such as the current crisis." Bombardier Recreational "has operations in Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico and China."

MarketWatch (12/10, Pummer) reports, "Community colleges nationwide are bracing for a jump in enrollment as decimated college-savings accounts force parents to seek less-expensive higher-education options and rising unemployment sends laid-off workers back to school for retraining." Administrators at about 1,200 US "community colleges anticipate tens of thousands of students who expected to attend four-year colleges will take an unplanned detour for one or two years in route to a bachelors degree." According to the article, "Wall Street's little-noted casualty has been the college savings amassed by parents for children, accumulating since birth in many instances. Those who failed to move 529 plan and Coverdell education savings account assets out of stocks and mutual funds and into money-market accounts as their children approached college age have seen their savings drop as much as 35 percent or more in the last year."

        Some Students Drop Out Due To Financial Aid Woes. In an article about "financial aid woes" for students, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/10) reports, "Even after receiving federal loans, the 19-year-old freshman from Salem, Wis.," Rheannon Gustafson, "still owes about $3,200 for tuition and expenses at Winona State University in Minnesota this semester. Her parents can't afford to fill the gap -- they filed for bankruptcy this year." The Journal Sentinel continues, "Neither Gustafson nor her parents can get private loans, because lenders have tightened standards during the credit crunch. Gustafson couldn't find a job near school that could cover the bill." Gustafson and her parents have decided that she will drop out "after her first semester. She'll come home, work two jobs and attend a local technical college when she can afford it." Enrollment at many colleges looks "to be holding steady," but 'some administrators are preparing for a coming wave of students like Gustafson." On the other hand, "several colleges report increases in students requesting adjustments to their financial aid offers this semester because their family's financial health has changed."

The Business Courier of Cincinnati (12/10) reports, "Gateway Community and Technical College (Covington, KY) said the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges has granted it initial accreditation as a two-year comprehensive community and technical college." The college, which has "an enrollment of 3,500, offers more than 200 associate degrees, diplomas and certificates at its locations in Boone County, Covington/Park Hills and Edgewood."

The Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle (12/9, Tabor) reported, "A senior at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas," Wen Chyan, 17, "won $100,000 in scholarship money Monday in the country's premier high school research contest." Chyan won "the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology for a chemistry research project that could eventually prevent hospital-related bacterial infections." Chyan, who "beat out five other high school finalists in the individual category," said that "he was honored to earn the award and grateful to his parents and mentors." He said that he "developed an anti-microbial coating for medical devices like breathing tubes and catheters. ... These infections infect more than 2 million hospital patients and kill more than 100,000, so it's a very severe problem in our healthcare system." A Siemens competition judge, W. Mark Saltzman and "Goizueta Foundation Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Yale University, called Wen's project creative."

Subscriber Tools

• Unsubscribe
• Change Email Address
• Send Feedback
• Email Help

Career Tech Update is a daily news briefing selected from thousands of sources by the editors of U.S. News Custom Briefings. ACTE does not receive any revenue from the advertising herein. The presence of such advertising does not endorse, or imply endorsement of any products or services by ACTE. Neither U.S. News Custom Briefings nor the Association for Career and Technical Education is liable for the use of or reliance on any information contained in this briefing.

This complimentary copy of Career Tech Update was sent to cmeier@rand.com as part of your Association for Career and Technical Education membership. View U.S. News Custom Briefings' privacy policy.

For subscription information, contact ACTE at 800-826-9972, or send an e-mail to Stephani Anderson.

Association for Career and Technical Education | 1410 King Street | Alexandria, VA 22314

Copyright © 2008 by Custom Briefings | 11190 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 130 | Reston, VA 20191