Worth Knowing...
"The key is not just knowledge or skill, but flexible knowledge, flexible skills---those insights and abilities that enable us to learn new material quickly, to move easily from one job to another."
Gunderson, Jones, Scanland. (2004). The jobs revolution: Changing how America works
In an international comparison of math problem-solving skills, U.S. 15-year-olds had the smallest percentage of high achievers and the largest percentage of low achievers.
PISA (2003)
Composition of U.S. Job Market
| |
Professional Jobs |
Skilled Jobs |
Unskilled Jobs |
| 1950 |
20% |
20% |
60% |
| 2000 |
20% |
65% |
15% |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Market Statistics and Projections
More than 50 percent of the current science and engineering workforce is nearing retirement, while the percentage of students planning to major in engineering has dropped 33 percent in the last decade.
ACT policy report (2003)
In one national survey, 88 percent of students said they would work harder if their high school demanded more of them.
Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies for Achieve, Inc. (2005)
Requiring all students to take four years of math and courses in biology, chemistry and physics before graduating would improve high school a great deal, according to 41 percent of high school student respondents.
Horatio Alger Association (2005)
Only 4 percent of college professors say high school graduates are very well prepared in math.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (2006)
College students who took Algebra II or higher-level math courses in high school are more than twice as likely to feel prepared for the math they are expected to do in college (60 percent feel well prepared).
Achieve, Inc. (2007)
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