The Coolest Thing You’ve Heard in a While…

In 2011, Google introduced its first ever science fair that challenged students ages 13-18 to answer the big questions they had about science, life, and how the world works.  Of course, many people have questions, but Google sought out the most curious minds from across the globe that went a step further and actually got answers.  After a long and grueling selection process, three winners were chosen in each of three age groups (13-14, 15-16, 17-18).  Notably and highly encouraging, all three were young women – a gender known for its general underrepresentation in the sciences.

In the 13-14 age group, Lauren Hodge studied the effects of marinades on potentially harmful carcinogens in grilled chicken.  As her prize, she received a $25,000 scholarship and an internship at LEGO.  In the 15-16 age group, Naomi Shah won for her study that showed how changes to indoor environments could improve the lives of asthma patients.  For her efforts, she was also awarded a $25,000 scholarship and a Google internship.  Finally, in the 17-18 age group, Shree Bose wowed the judges with her discovery of a way to improve cancer treatment for patients that have built up resistance to specific chemotherapy drugs.  She was awarded a $50,000 scholarship and an internship with CERN, the world-renowned Geneva-based laboratory that is the leader in particle physics and nuclear research.  The judges were impressed by the girls’  “intellectual curiosity, their tenaciousness and their ambition to use science to find solutions to big problems.” They recently met with President Obama  and also spoke at the TED Women conference in Los Angeles.

In other youth science news – that will also make readers feel quite inadequate – 17-year-old Taylor Wilson recently gave his own brief TED Talk about his short career as a…nuclear physicist? Yes, at the ripe age of 14 he built a nuclear fusion reactor in his garage, a technology he believes will be the future of energy. He has also developed special safety detectors for a few hundred dollars – which normally cost the Department of Homeland Security a few hundred thousand dollars.  Taylor has even found ways to develop medical isotopes at small scale.  He says, “I started out with a dream to make a star in a jar, and I ended up…making things that I think can change the world.”

Much of the debate surrounding science and technology education in the United States is resoundingly negative. Our test scores lag, we produce fewer bachelors and advanced degrees in the sciences, fewer children have a passion for science.  All this, many predict, will lead to America’s innovative decline; we will no longer be able to compete in the area that made our economy so strong.  But seeing competitions like those of Google or First Robotics, the passion shown by those three young women, and the curiosity of Taylor should give pause to those naysayers.  These young people are also evidence of how American institutions like equal opportunity and individual freedom foster what remains the best environment for innovation and creativity the world has ever seen.  They will be the ones to invent the future and are a source of hope and inspiration for America’s competitive future.  Like TED says, these are certainly ideas worth spreading.

Posted by Brian Gowen

Sources: Google, TED, The New York Times, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program

Photo credit Fayette County Science Fair courtesy of flickr user DrBacchus

Can America Restore Its Competitive Edge?

The Wilson Center hosted a panel discussion this morning focusing on what government, business, and educators can do to restore U.S. competitiveness through long-term improvements in the K-12 education system and public policy. The event brought together five experts for a dialogue led by moderator David Wessel, Chief Economic Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.

The panel discussion highlighted the importance of manufacturing in U.S. competitiveness. Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, pointed out that advanced manufacturing is not only essential for the U.S. economy, but also for national security. Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness, added that stimulating the growth of manufacturing hubs and clusters will help spur innovation and progress within the industry. Two of the most significant problems that need to be addressed are outsourcing and the shortage of skilled labor.

Combating outsourcing can be done through changes in corporate tax policy, Business Roundtable President John Engler asserted, such as simplifying and reducing it. This will give businesses more incentive to stay in the US. Paul Vallas, former superintendent of schools in Chicago, Philadelphia and the Recovery School District in Louisiana, adds that not only do changes need to be made at the federal level, but also at the state and local level, especially with entitlements and tax policy.

Jan Rivkin, a professor at Harvard Business School, explained that a less restrictive immigration policy can bring in a large influx of skilled laborers that many firms need. Engler pointed to heightened partisanship in politics during the last few years for keeping a comprehensive immigration policy from being pushed through Congress.

The panelists also agreed that reforms in the education system can address the shortage of skilled labor. Vallas asserted that the K-12 education system in the U.S. has failed to evolve, and identified two major issues – the school days and year are too short, and the teachers are not good enough. As such, the education system needs to be modernized and given more flexibility to adapt to changing demands. He suggested that we bring a “free enterprise system” to education; pay STEM teachers more, pay excellent teachers more, pay mediocre teachers less, and fire incompetent teachers.

A full webcast and podcast of the event is available on the Wilson Center event page.

Posted by: Pokyee Yu

Sources: The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Photo Credit: David Hawxhurst/WWICS

Live Webcast Tomorrow: Can America Restore Its Competitive Edge?

This event is by invitation only but a live webcast will be available here at the time of the event.

Can America Restore Its Competitive Edge?

What will it take to rebuild wealth-generation and innovation in the U.S.? What are the roles of government, business, and educators and what changes must each of them make to reverse the decline in US competitiveness?

 Featuring…

Introduction by The Honorable Jane Harman—President, Director and CEO, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Norm Augustine—former CEO, Lockheed-Martin, Chair of the National Academies Gathering Storm Committee and author of Rising Above the Gathering Storm

John Engler—former Governor of Michigan, former President of the National Association of Manufacturers, and currently President of the Business Roundtable

Paul Vallas—former Superintendent of the Recovery School District in Louisiana; former CEO of Chicago Public Schools and the School District of Philadelphia and active in restoring schools in post-earthquake Chile and Haiti

Jan Rivkin—Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Business Administration Unit Head, Harvard  Business School

Deborah L. Wince-Smith—President, Council on Competitiveness

David Wessel (moderator)—Chief  Economic Correspondent, Wall Street Journal

 Wednesday, March 28, 2012

9:30 to 11:00 a.m.

Woodrow Wilson Center, 6th Floor, Joseph H. and Claire Flom Auditorium

 The National Conversation at the Woodrow Wilson Center series provides a safe political space for deep dialogue and informed discussion of the most significant problems and challenges facing the nation and the world.

Imagine: How Creativity Works

A recent Economist article discussed author Jonah Lehrer’s new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works. Lehrer opposes the assumption that human creativity is a chance gift reserved only for the lucky few. His main argument is that “innovation cannot only be studied and measured, but also nurtured and encouraged.”

Lehrer drew from several different examples of firms that employ a host of methods designed to spur innovation among its employees. 3M, one of the companies the author looked into, encourages employees to engage in recreation at the workplace. Playing pinball and taking breaks can help the mind overcome mental blocks or devise a creative solution to a problem. Employees are also pushed to take risks by “spending masses on research” and by spending “15% of their time pursuing speculative ideas.”

Lehrer believes that exploring unfamiliar ground is crucial to innovation because outsiders are less restricted by the norms of that field. This is one reason why younger, and thus less experienced, people tend to be more creative. Understanding our creative potential can then give us insights into how to better harness it through various policy changes, such as easing immigration laws and “enabling more cultural borrowing and adaptation” of intellectual property.

 

Posted by: Pokyee Yu

Sources: The Economist, Jonah Lehrer

Photo Credit: How Creativity Works. By Jonah Lehrer. 304 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $26.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal introduces education overhaul legislation:

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has an ambitious overhaul plan for primary and secondary education that will be introduced in the legislative session that begins on March 12^th. Jindal’s agenda is targeted at four major pieces of legislation: teacher tenure, charter schools, vouchers, and early childhood education.

Jindal’s plan for teacher tenure includes extending high performance evaluations to five years before tenure. Teachers would be evaluated as highly effective, effective, or ineffective. Highly effective ratings for five years merit tenure, while teachers who already have tenure are required to meet “effective” status to keep it. Ineffective teachers would be subject to dismissal, regardless of previous ratings. Jindal also wants to shift some of the power from the school boards to the superintendents and principals especially in regards to employment decisions.

Jindal also plans to expand charter schools and wants to allow parents in an “F”-ranked public school to vote to convert the school into a charter school.  The governor also would like to see public universities and nonprofits the ability to approve new charter schools.

In regards to vouchers, Jindal wants to re-allocate the state’s per-pupil spending to low-income students in poorly performing schools to pay private school tuition. Jindal’s spokesman said “we believe the money – all of it – should follow the student.” And in early childhood education, Jindal would mandate that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) would have the responsibility to oversee all state and federally funded early childhood education programs and would develop a goal setting program to ready children for kindergarten.

Nationally, Jindal is doing well among conservatives and has been in running among pundits to be groomed for the next generation of GOP candidates. “If Republicans in Washington are not panicked and trying desperately to pull Bobby Jindal in the race tomorrow, or someone like him, the party leaders must have a death wish,” Erick Erickson, a blogger from Redstate.com wrote. The Wall Street Journal said if Jindal gets his way, he could make Louisiana “the first (state) to effectively dismantle a public education monopoly.”

The State Senate Education Chairman Conrad Appel and Rep. Steve Carter will be carrying the bills while competing bills have been introduced by Senator Ben Nevers, Rep. Pat Smith, and Rep. Roy Burrell.

 

Posted by: Devon Thorsell

Sources: Times-Picayune NOLA, American Press, The Wall Street Journal

Photo Credit: Bobby Jindal, The Governor of Louisiana by flickr user Marc V. Genre

 

Chicago: Innovative Six Year Schools Partner with Corporate Giants for Education

Next September, Chicago will be the second major city (after New York) to offer corporate sponsored high-school education. Five companies; IBM, Cisco Microsoft, Motorola Solutions, and Verizon, have each signed on to sponsor a collaborative public school in Chicago. The schools will serve grades 9-14 in an effort to allow more students to pursue post-high school education. The schools are a collaborative effort between Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago and they enable students to graduate after six years of study with a high school diploma and associate’s degree. Additionally, each school offers individual mentors for each student and offers internships within the company that sponsors it. The corporate partners will each develop their own STEM based curriculum for the schools to offer students the greatest opportunity for success at that company after graduation, since each graduate is guaranteed an interview. Admission to these schools is by lottery only: there are no selective admissions criteria.

Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel highlighted the importance of the partnerships involved in this project: “I love this cooperation between CPS and the Chicago community colleges and the other four-year institutions that will be stepping up to give the children of Chicago a chance at this education.”  Emanuel was also supportive of the STEM education focus: “We are adding a level of high school seats in our city of educational excellence in the fields that will be essential.… The skills you learn in a STEM education are going to be the foundation of your employment opportunity in the future.”

To see photos of this announcement click here

Posted by: Devon Thorsell

Sources: Chicago Sun Times, St. Louis Today, Bradenton Herald, IBM

Photo Credit: Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago, by flickr user Kyle Pozan

White House Science Fair

President Barack Obama hosted the second annual White House Science Fair last week. The fair featured original student research and inventions. Thirty student teams were represented by approximately 100 students from over 45 states. Also in attendance were senior Administration officials as well as leading STEM advocates and educators, including Bill Nye and Linda Rosen (CEO of Change the Equation).

The fair honored winners in a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics competitions across the United States. President Obama made statements address the need for more students to study these critical areas: “When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future… That’s why I’m proud to celebrate outstanding students at the White House Science Fair, and to announce new steps my Administration and its partners are taking to help more young people succeed in these critical subjects.”

In his address to the attendees, Obama expressly thanked the parents, teachers, and noted the incredible work of the students, who presented work that most of us couldn’t have dreamed of when we were in middle or high school. He also remarked on the importance of recognizing achievements in STEM subjects, especially those of young people.

“The belief that we belong on the cutting edge of innovation, that’s an idea as old as America itself,” Obama said. “We’re a nation of thinkers, dreamers, believers in a better tomorrow.”

The President also announced a few new initiatives to increase the number of students in STEM subjects and prepare teachers to meet the need including:

• Priority on undergraduate STEM education reform in the President’s upcoming budget, including a $100 million investment by the National Science Foundation to improve undergraduate STEM education practices.
• A new K-16 education initiative jointly administered by Department of Education and the National Science Foundation to improve math education
• Commitments from private sector groups and coalitions to do more to get students excited about STEM-related
• New policies to recruit, support, retain and reward excellent STEM teachers, along with an $80 million investment in the President’s upcoming budget to help prepare effective STEM teachers.
• A new $22 million investment from the philanthropic and private sector to complement the Administration’s teacher preparation efforts.
• One million more students graduating with degrees in STEM subjects in the next ten years.

Some of the outstanding research and inventions presented at the fair were: dissolving sugar packets, designed to reduce paper waste; a landmine detecting device; and improvements to Cancer treatments by overcoming chemotherapy resistance. The President also took the time to participate in a few of the projects. Watch the President launch a marshmallow cannon in the State Dining Room.

 

Posted by: Devon Thorsell

Source: whitehouse.gov

Photo credits: President Obama and participant at the 2010 Science Fair by flickr user cerebus19

Combating High Dropout Rates

A New York Times op-ed published in January put forth a convincing argument for the investment of tax dollars in reducing the number of high school dropouts. The authors, Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse, estimated that “each new graduate confers a net benefit to taxpayers of about $127,000 over the graduate’s lifetime,” and concluded that increasing the graduation rate is indispensable to achieving long-term economic growth and reducing income inequality.

Although the authors did not specifically state how taxpayer money should be used to reduce America’s noticeably high dropout rate, they did mention a few ideas that could help.

“Rigorous evidence gathered over decades suggests that some of the most promising approaches need to start even earlier: preschool for 3 and 4 year-olds, who are fed and taught in small groups, followed up with home visits by teachers and with group meetings of parents; reducing class size in the early grades; and increasing teacher salaries from kindergarten through 12th grade.”

Levin and Rouse made it clear that despite a lack of consensus on the most effective methods of improving the U. S. education system, it would be folly not to invest in reducing the number of high school dropouts. President Obama, in his State of the Union Address, has asked “every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen,” but according to the authors, it is not enough.  Programs that embrace small learning communities and “individualized instruction from dedicated teachers” would go much further in producing more qualified and productive graduates.

Posted by: Pokyee Yu

Sources: The New York Times, C-SPAN

Photo Credit: Graduation courtesy of flickr user ajschwegler

Eastern Job-Hunting on the Rise

Jonathan Levine recently urged Americans not satisfied with their careers to turn their job prospects to China. Levine himself was stuck with a “dead end job,” even with degrees from NYU and Columbia University, but found success as a teacher at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

As more young professionals seek opportunities in burgeoning economies, we might be reminded of “brain drain,” a phenomenon in which a developing country’s potential growth is hindered because those who go abroad to study do not return to their home nation to utilize their skills, having little economic incentive to do so. Instead, they find higher paying jobs in developed nations.

Young people today are still coming to the United States for higher education, but there may be greater incentives to find work in countries like China. What impact this could have on the U.S. economy remains uncertain.

Posted by: Pokyee Yu

Sources: The New York Times

 Photo Credit: Beijing, China 2006 courtesy of flickr user torres21

Event Summary – Bullets to Books: The Role of Education in Development

The following is a news digest from an event hosted by Wilson Center on the Hill and the Program on America and the Global Economy.

Education can play an integral role in development and economic growth internationally.  Many studies have shown that an increase in education can result in higher productivity and earnings, as well as decreased crime and infant mortality.  At a Wilson Center on the Hill event on Friday, June 17 titled “Bullets to Books:  The Role of Education in Development and What the U.S. Can Do,” panelists discussed the relationship between education, development and economic growth. The panelists also touched on current USAID education initiatives.  Kent Hughes, Director of the Program on America and the Global Economy at the Wilson Center, moderated and opened the conference with a brief introduction of the panelists.

After introductions from Hughes, Harry Patrinos, Lead Education Economist for the Education Human Development Network at the World Bank, began by discussing the economic benefits of education.  He noted that education is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and that currently over two trillion dollars are spent each year on education around the world.  He also discussed Learning for All, the World Bank’s new education strategy, and its three messages:  investing early, investing smartly, and investing for all.  This will also launch their program on benchmarking education systems.  Patrinos analyzed the economic benefits of education from both the microeconomic and macroeconomic perspectives.  He noted that at the individual level, “a year of schooling increases earnings on the order of ten percent a year, on average, and perhaps as high as twenty percent in the poorest countries in the world.”