It’s no secret that math skills are in growing demand in today’s technology-driven world. What you might not be aware of is how much trouble the United States education system is having producing workers to meet that demand.
While the growing importance of high-level math skills has driven up salaries in several fields, United States high school students are scoring lower on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), dropping to the lower half of the 72 participating countries for the first time in 2015. This isn’t an aberration, but the result of three decades of stagnating math performances from United States students.
In response to a dearth of domestic talent, United States companies are increasingly turning to foreign workers to fill the skills gap. By 2006 one fourth of engineers were foreign born, compared with roughly one seventh in 1994. According to a recent study released by Gallup, 48% of United States scientists holding a bachelors degree are foreign-born.
While this might sound like bad news, it’s really a signal to American students and educators to start placing more emphasis on mathematics—particularly early on in students’ educations.
The countries that score the best on the PISA exam spend more time on each math concept, covering it in depth before moving on. In the United States we have a tendency to cover more topics, but in less detail. They also place greater importance on sequential instruction—going “in order,” so to speak.
Mathematical concepts build on each other, meaning that competence in math is best achieved by laying a solid foundation and expanding upon it. One study by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) suggests that the first six years of life are an especially critical time in which to create an engaging and encouraging environment for math learning.
The other side of this coin is that students who don’t master early mathematics are at risk for falling behind in high school, and then college. Given the acknowledged relationship between educational attainment and expected income, this can have run-on effects that pose significant difficulties to students’ futures outside of the classroom.
To give students the best chance to succeed, we have to at least allow them the opportunity to develop their math skills. It will surely involve some education reform, but there’s an important role for others (like us!) to play. Students can benefit from supplemental math tutoring to fill the gaps in regular math instruction. If you’re interested in making sure your child is learning math as well as they can, call Mathnasium of Littleton today at 303-979-9077. We offer free assessments and other promotions.
