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Mr Duncan was in Denver last week when he spoke to a group of 400 middle and high school students at a public school in northeast Denver.

I fundamentally think that our school day is too short, our school week is too short and our school year is too short

You’re competing for jobs with kids from India and China. I think schools should be open six, seven days a week; 11, 12 months a year.

Source: News9 Denver

A couple of news items from the last month may well demonstrate this:
China lands a deal to launch a satellite for Eutelsat a leading European satellite operator. Source: Wall Street Journal

Tata Motors of India has developed a $2000.00 car. Currently they are for sale only in India. Never heard of Tata? They purchased the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford last year for $2.3 billion. Source: MSN

In his speech tonight, the President  warned that more than a high school education is needed to compete in the global economy.

In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a pre-requisite.

Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma.  And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education.  We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation.  And half of the students who begin college never finish.

This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow.  That is why it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.

From the executive summary of the final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel:

During most of the 20th century, the United States possessed peerless mathematical prowess—not just as measured by the depth and number of the mathematical specialists who practiced here but also by the scale and quality of its engineering, science, and financial leadership, and even by the extent of mathematical education in its broad population. But without substantial and sustained changes to its educational system, the United States will relinquish its leadership in the 21st century. This report is about actions that must be taken to strengthen the American people in this central area of learning. Success matters to the nation at large. It matters, too, to individual students and their families, because it opens doors and creates opportunities.

Much of the commentary on mathematics and science in the United States focuses on national economic competitiveness and the economic well-being of citizens and enterprises. There is reason enough for concern about these matters, but it is yet more fundamental to recognize that the safety of the nation and the quality of life—not just the prosperity of the nation—are at issue.

Full Report [PDF]

Steven Leinwand a principal research analyst at the American Institutes for Research and the author of the forthcoming book “Accessible Mathematics: Ten Instructional Shifts That Raise Student Achievement” writes that:

The country’s long-term economic security and social well-being are clearly linked to sustained innovation and workplace productivity. This innovation and productivity rely, just as clearly, on the quality of human capital and equity of opportunity that, in turn, emerge from high-quality education, particularly in the areas of literacy, mathematics, and science.

Education Week

“… average science performance, although still stronger than in many countries, has stagnated since 1995.”

How can we compete in the global economy if we are not producing more talented young people?

Washington Post

Educators in Texas recogize the need to educate more math and science students or lose out in competing in a technology driven global marketplace. Recruiting and retaining math and science teachers and developing curriculum that piques and holds students intersts are priorities.

Houston Chronicle Article

A National Science Foundation study finds middle school science and math teachers ill prepared.

“Our future teachers are getting weak training mathematically and are just not prepared to teach the demanding mathematics curriculum we need for middle schools if we hope to compete internationally in the future,” said William Schmidt, MSU distinguished professor, who directed the study.