Since the 1950s with the launch of Sputnik, the United States has been attempting to compete with other countries in education. According to Patrice Flynn, when the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957, the United States became increasingly nervous that their existence as a superpower was coming to an end. In order to compete with the Soviet Union, the United States passed the National Defense Education Act of 1958. This act was meant to ensure that American students would be able to meet any needs in terms of national defense. Currently, however, the focus is on making sure that students are able to compete in the global economy. In this way, the United States is now pushing for students and schools to meet these demands of an international competition in order to once again assert itself as an economic superpower. While previously, the focus was on math and science in order to compete in the Space Race, now technology is being emphasized due to the fact that the economy is becoming increasingly technological. According to Education Week, other countries are also pushing for their students to learn technology. Britain, for example, has added technology into the curriculum to be learned in conjunction with the main subjects. Other countries, like Singapore have already been teaching technology long before the United States has even thought about implementing it in schools. In addition, according to the article, schools should teach critical thinking, creativity, analytical, and communication skills in addition to technological skills. Therefore, once again, much like the 1950s, the United States must be sure to compete with these other countries in education because without these technological skills, the United States would not be able to compete in the global economy.
Currently, the United States is lagging behind other countries in terms of educational success. In fact, Karin Zeitvogel indicates in her article that the United States 15 year olds rank 14th out of 34 countries in reading skills, 17th in science, and 25th in math. This same article states that 15 year olds in Canada are a year ahead of those in the United States in math and more than half a school year ahead in reading and science. The United States has a lower percentage of students enrolled in school except for Mexico and Turkey. Additionally, an article in Education News states that minority students are lagging behind White students in terms of test scores, which is troublesome. Hopefully, by focusing on this group in particular, test scores can see an increase across the board for America. Importantly, the economy is affected by education in that “boosting US scores for reading, math, and science by 25 points over the next 20 years would result in a gain of 41 trillion dollars for the United States economy over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010” (Zeitgovel, 2010). Therefore, serious economic gains can be seen if United States’ students can compete with other students around the world.
While the United States is lagging behind other countries educationally, a national organization called Partnership for Twenty-First Century Skills advocates for a curriculum that includes aspects that will help students be prepared to compete in the global economy. It involves teaching the 3 R’s as is usually taught in schools, but in conjunction with the 4 C’s. The 4 C’s involve critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Additionally, technological skills would be taught as well as career and life skills. Through this new curriculum with an emphasis on critical thinking, technological skills, and responsibility, the United States may be better prepared to compete with other countries educationally and economically.
Overall, it is important for the United States to compete with other countries in terms of education because of the new, more technological economy. Students should be focusing on critical thinking and technological skills in order to be able to compete in this economy. Through the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the United States will be able to teach its students these essential skills. Finally, focusing on minority students’ lagging scores and closing the achievement gap will hopefully bring economic gain to America as a whole.
References
Flynn, P. (1995). Global competition and education: Another Sputnik?. Social Studies, 86(2), 53.
Manzo, K.K. (2009). Global competition: U.S. students vs. International peers. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/06/17/04global.h02.html?print=1.
Minorities unprepared for global competition, report says. Education News. Retrieved from http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/minorities-unprepared-for-global-competition-report-says/
Zeitgovel, K. (2010). US falls to average in education ranking. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5juGFSx9LiPaur6eO1KJAypB2ImVQ?docId=CNG.5337504e8f65acf16c57d5cac3cfe339.1c1
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