Preparing the 21st century workforce: A new reform in science and technology education

Without notice the science education community has entered a new era of reform.We think it essential to recognize the defining characteristics of this reform and the critical role research must play.Almost 50 years ago, October 1957, the United States accelerated and expanded efforts to improve science education.In the Sputnik era, the United States had a single competitor, the Soviet Union.The primary goal was understandable: win the space race by sending a man to the moon and returning him safely to Earth.The timeline was clear: we will achieve the goal by the end of the decade.Now, the United States must again launch a major effort to improve science and technology education.While some express the fear that ''a new Sputnik'' may be required to move the nation to action, we argue that we must not wait for such an event.It is important that the science education community recognizes the contemporary situation-the United States is in danger of losing its competitive edge in the global economy.Even in the popular literature there is growing recognition of the perspective expressed here.We note, for example, The World Is Flat (Friedman, 2005), Three Billion New Capitalists (Prestowitz, 2005), and The Flight of the Creative Class (Florida, 2005).In addition, there are dozens of reports from groups representing business and industry; all address the themes we have described.Today's challenge is, however, very different from Sputnik.First, our economic competitors are greater in number.They include not only countries with developed economies such as Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, but also some of the fastest growing economies such as China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.Second, the primary goal is less clear and more complex to give our students the skills that they will need to prosper in a time of unprecedented global economic competition.Third, the timeline for achieving the goal of improving science and technology education is undoubtedly longer than a decade-some believe that it could take a half-century.Finally, it is important to recognize that the metaphor of competition is not entirely appropriate.