Educational Science and Mathematics Reform

Sarah Whitmore

Each year, an increasing number of advanced science and mathematics careers become
available with hardly any qualified workers to fill them. Nearly 90 percent of high school
graduates say they arent interested in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering, or
mathematics, also known as STEM. An article published by The New York Times, Who Says
Math Has to Be Boring? states that within five years, there will be approximately 2.4 million
STEM job openings, yet fewer than 13 percent of high school graduates continue to study any
science and math in college. American students ranked 30th among students of 65 nations in
math evaluations. In todays world of complicated advancing technologies that operate on the
basis of advanced math and science, its time for American high school classrooms to find a way
to make these subjects more appealing and applicable to its students.
A typical algebra classroom in an American high school generally consists of finding the
answers to different types of situations where the typical goal is to find the value of x. Current
teaching methods are seemingly successful; students understand how to find unknown values
when given different types of equations and they pass standardized tests as theyre expected.
Heres where the issue with modern-day math instruction arises- just because a student knows
how to find x, doesnt mean he or she knows what x represents in daily life. Classes are so
focused on forcing large amounts of material to be taught in a certain amount of time, virtually
no emphasis is placed on how to take the knowledge from the classroom and make it useful.
Contrary to popular belief of todays students, algebra can most definitely serve a purpose in
daily life; its just that nobody knows how to apply it. This matter is particularly unfortunate
because according to Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce
at Georgetown University, only 11 percent of jobs require high level math; they just require
critical thinking skills which are much too often overlooked in math curriculum.
In an online report by Change the Equation, about 29 percent of Americans say they are
simply no good at math, which is a major indication that the math courses offered in American
schools are inapplicable and missing the major point. If the American education system is going
to require a lengthy study of math from kindergarten to senior year, there should be no reason
that Americans are no good at math. American adults most likely know more math than they
are aware of; however, because of the lack of instruction on how to apply it, this knowledge goes
unnoticed.
If educational curriculum begins to place emphasis on word problems and how
mishmashes of seemingly random sets of letters and numbers actually have purpose in the real
world, students would begin to view math as a valued skill; something they should work hard on
to understand to make their lives easier. Additionally, showing students how math can be so
useful and maybe even fun, encourages students to look into STEM careers instead of
discouraging them.
Additionally, the challenge of finding enough employees to fill the oncoming surplus of
STEM careers might originate from the very beginnings of a typical students math instruction.
Each student is taught the very basics of math in early elementary school by teachers are
virtually all language arts-oriented, which might suggest that they didnt enjoy math themselves.
If all elementary school classrooms were to be divided into different subjects with a specific
teacher for each subject similar to how high school classes are organized, elementary school
students would be virtually guaranteed that the person responsible for their initial relationship
with math would love it and want his or her students to love math as much as they do.
Another issue emerges due to the large interest gap between classmates. Student A may
feel like he doesnt understand math whatsoever and wants nothing to do with it, yet Student B
may do so well that he wants to learn more and possibly devote his future career to it. However,
when students like Student B are interested in studying math in college and consider a STEM
career, the lackluster, dull high school math classes might discourage Student B from choosing to
study math or science in college by making a career in applied math seem dull and lackluster
also.
Schools must begin to take advantage of the increased math and science interest from
certain students by implementing and improving gifted education programs for every student.
On the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment test, the most recent, 34 of 65
countries and school systems had a higher percentage of 15-year-olds scoring at the advanced
levels in mathematics than the United States did. The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland all
had at least twice the proportion of mathematically advanced students as the United States, and
many Asian countries had far more than that. If American schools are ever going to equip their
students to compete with the rest of the world, gifted students and students who show increased
interest in math or science must not only receive more challenging courses, but given advanced
real-world career applications which will both interest these students and prepare them for
STEM careers.
Students who perform below average or express little to no interest in studying math at
advanced levels can be easily geared towards the more basic, everyday applications where more
emphasis is placed on the most applicable use of math- personal finance. Placing students who
would much rather learn the basics that will help them the most in life allows for above average
students to be the focus of more gifted education opportunity and experience.
Technology is advancing each and every day and ensuring that America has intelligent
minds to interpret and improve such advances is more important than ever before. Its now time
for the nations educational committees to implement a course of action to recover and advance
the modern mathematics classroom. If students are ever going to be able to compete
internationally to become the leaders of advanced technology and engineering of the future, math
classes must begin to encourage and prepare their students for the intriguing world of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics.