STEM the tide

About this book

One study after another shows American students ranking behind their international counterparts in the STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering, and math. Business people such as Bill Gates warn that this alarming situation puts the United States at a serious disadvantage in the high-tech global marketplace of the twenty-first century, and President Obama places improvement in these areas at the center of his educational reform. What can be done to reverse this poor performance and to unleash America's wasted talent? David E. Drew has good news -- and the tools America needs to keep competitive. Drawing on both academic literature and his own rich experience, Drew identifies proven strategies for reforming America's schools, colleges, and universities, and his comprehensive review of STEM education in the United States offers a positive blueprint for the future. These research-based strategies include creative and successful methods for building strong programs in science and mathematics education and show how the achievement gap between majority and minority students can be closed. A crucial measure, he argues, is recruiting, educating, supporting, and respecting America's teachers. To secure a competitive advantage both in the knowledge economy and in economic development more broadly, America needs a highly skilled, college-educated workforce and cutting-edge university research. Drew makes the case that reforming science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education to meet these demands, with an emphasis on reaching historically underserved students, is es…

Themes & subjects

About the author

David E. Drew

David E. Drew holds the Joseph B. Platt Chair in the Management of Technology. His principal appointment is in the School of Educational Studies, where his teaching focuses on data analytics, statistical analysis, and model building. For 10 years Drew served as dean of the School of Educational Studies.