US is Sweating on Improving Interest in Maths and Science as Much as is Australia. (May 14, 2007)

    A draft plan, drawn up by the board that oversees the National Science Foundation addresses what is seen as the increasing problem of attracting sufficient students to the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). One worry high on the list is the decentralized management of education by state and local government bodies. In this they would have the hearty agreement of Julie Bishop Australia's Minister for Education, Science and Training.

Of course it must be understood that decentralisation of primary and secondary school education in the United States is markedly greater than in Australia. Local school boards are powerful entities.

Nevertheless, contrary to Ms Bishop's Xena: Warrior Princess approach, the draft plan put forward by the board "suggests a way to get around that problem without abandoning 2 centuries of local control over schools."

According to Science "The National Council on STEM Education would coordinate initiatives across federal agencies and work with the states to help them adopt a core set of content standards, link state assessments to those national standards, and create a system of national certification for STEM teachers."

Steven Beering, chair of the National Science Board and former president of Purdue University, told Science "There is a serious disconnect between the different elements of the school system in this country, with each of 15,000 school boards doing their own thing. The commission felt that there was a clear need for a nationally coordinated effort to bring about some standardization in content and teaching."

Not surprisingly the draft plan has evoked mixed reactions.

Jodi Peterson of the National Science Teachers Association believes, "Anything at the federal level that would help the states improve science and math education is a good idea."

But Chester Finn Jr., president of the Fordham Institute, an education non-profit based in Washington, D.C. predicts, "It will lead to more bureaucracy, more meetings, and more talk."

And Science reports a statement that could have been uttered here:

"We are in favor of better coordination between federal agencies and better coordination of educational activities within each state," says Joan Wodiska of the National Governors Association (NGA) in Washington, D.C. But states are wary of anything that smacks of a top-down approach, including a national curriculum. Besides, states are already working together to improve STEM education and economic competitiveness, Wodiska says, pointing to an ongoing NGA initiative known as Innovation America that is aimed at getting states to share best practices.

Co-chair of the commission that drafted the report, physics Nobelist Leon Lederman (84), said with what must have been something of a sigh, "We expect many to say: 'Oh, it's so difficult' [to reform education nationally]. We know it's difficult, but it's needed."