On a Note of a More GLOBAL Nature

Folks:

Failures in Science Infrastructure Threaten U.S.
Leadership

The United States' poor performance in science and math has placed the country in danger of losing its competitive edge in the global marketplace, says a new study by the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), a joint effort by the business and higher education communities to analyze U.S. math and science performance.

Raytheon Co. Chairman William Swanson, co-chair of Forum's Initiative on Mathematics and Science Education, called the latest data gathered by the Forum "cause for deep concern."
The report found that even though the U.S. is experiencing an undergraduate enrollment boom, enrollment in countries with emerging economies are growing faster, similar to the U.S. after World War II.

In China, enrollment rates are expanding at 10 times the rate of the U.S. Two-thirds of Chinese students earn math, science or engineering degrees, compared to about one-third of American students, BHEF said.

The BHEF report recommended long-term tactics to alleviate the teacher shortage. The report challenged business and education leaders to commit to collaborative roles to develop seamless state systems of education extending from pre-kindergarten to higher education and the workplace.

The full report can be downloaded from
http://www.bhef.com