The Honorable Tom Ridge, senior advisor to the State Government sector of Deloitte LLP and Deloitte U.S. State Government Leader Bob Campbell, hosted a national education forum "Science Technology and Math Education in America: Bridging the Performance Gap," on October 31, 2007. The forum took place in Washington, D.C. and featured more than 30 leaders focused on education issues from the public, private, academia and nonprofit arenas. Among the many participants represented at the event were Cisco, IBM, GE, Microsoft, Carnegie Mellon University, the National Academy of Science, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Gates Foundation, the White House, and several federal and state agencies.
The goal of the forum was to encourage dialogue about initiatives the business community can adopt to help bridge the relevancy and technology gaps that prevent students from choosing careers in math and science. As the speakers emphasized, the issue of the performance gap for American youth in science, technology and math is critical, both for global competitive reasons and for the future human capital challenges America faces.
Speakers for the event included:
- Norm Augustine, retired chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Lockheed Martin Corporation and chair of the Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century
- Jan Morrison, executive director of the Teaching Institute for Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
- Marc Prensky, author and founder/CEO of Games2train
Seven middle school students joined the participants and gave their views about how their school taught math and science as well as the effectiveness of their teachers and any changes they would like to see.
Outcomes from the session included identification of several needs:
- Stronger points of connection between economic developments
- Sharing of education best practices more broadly through a digitized community
- After-school programs that are viewed as part of school
- Development of platforms vs. models that can more easily be implemented and altered to meet specific cultural needs
- Education stakeholders who view their community as global
"The future of U.S. education impacts all of our lives," Ridge said, "and we must actively engage in identifying ways the business community can start altering outcomes."
Presentations
STEM in America: Bridging the Education Gap
Marc Prensky, author and founder/CEO of Games2train, discussed the importance of bridging the divide between a child’s outside world and the classroom as it relates to technologies used in everyday life and in teaching. Download his presentation.*
What Works in STEM Education?
Jan Morrison, executive director of the Teaching Institute for Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), discussed the relevancy gap and what works in teaching math and science. Download her presentation.*
Science, Technology and Math Education in America: Bridging the Performance Gap
Download this high-level summary of the education forum, which includes key insights provided by the speakers and students, an overview of initiatives defined during the forum's three breakout sessions, and an overall summary of key themes concluded from the forum and resulting initiatives that could be pursued by the business community. Available in both transcript and slide formats.*
* Presentations are password protected. If you have not received this information, please contact the webmaster for assistance.
A full list of the Forum documents are attached below. For additional information, please visit our U.S. State Government section.
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