TWIF+Chapter+8

The Quiet Crisis** In one sentence, this chapter highlights the increasing decline of the United States on the "flat world" in relations specifically in reference to our fall in the fields of science and engineering. "While we were admiring the flat world we had created, a lot of other people in India, China, and Eastern Europe were busy figuring out how to take advantage of it"(339). Our scientists and engineers are leaving through retirement faster than we are graduating students that can capable of filling these positions. Friedman states, "wealth in the age of flatness will increasingly gravitate to those countries who get three basic things right: The infrastructure to connect as efficiently and speedily as possible with the flat world platform, the right education programs and knowledge skills to empower more of their people to innovate and do value-added work on that platform, and, finally, the right governance-that is, the right tax policies, the right investment and trade laws, the right support for research, the right intellectual property laws, and most of all, the right inspirational leadership"(343).
 * Chapter 8 Summary - Victoria Bonaccorso

The chapter then went on to reveal 6 "dirty little secrets" detailing the causes of our demise in these fields. This section highlighted the lack of our universities to graduate well prepared students to enter into the science and engineering field to replace those that will soon be making a mass exodus. Two fifths of NASA employees are over the age of fifty. When these employees retire, the spots are held for American citizens for security reasons, but we students exiting universities are not prepared with the knowledge needed to fill these positions in the numbers that are needed. This, he claims, will lead to a fall from the lead. The United States is ranked 17th in the world for students receiving degrees in science. Our decline is happening at a time when other countries are increasing the number of students with science degrees and prepared for the work force. He also pointed out that the reversal of this trend is still 10 to 20 years away. "The students entering the science and engineering workforce with advanced degrees in 2004 decided to take the necessary math courses to enable this career path when they were in middle school, up to 14 years ago"(345). A global science fair that attracts 65,000 US students attracts 6 million in China. Sixty to 65% of our nation’s top math and science students are children of recent immigrant to America. On international assessments of students the United States is not making gains that could even compare to other countries. Friedman discusses a trip to Yale recently to see his daughter. He had a conversation with a friend how was earning a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in Nanotechnology. He shared his thoughts on way there is a decline of men and women entering the science and engineering fields. He cited the notion that “people want to do stuff that is fun. But there is no fun in algebra or memorizing the multiplication tables. But those fundamentals eventually become freshman chemistry”(352). His point was that people do not want to spend time on fundamentals they do not see as fun or work hard at these to open the doors that allow them to pursue advanced, “fun” sciences. It was also noted that there has been a decline in the literacy levels of college graduates. He eluded that this was due to declines in pleasure reading and increasing in video games and television. The end of secret two helped to introduce the next secret highlighting the love Americans have for video & online games, television, and having fun and not their love for hard work. He noted that outsourcing of jobs is not only due to lower wages being paid, but also extremely higher productivity from workers overseas. He shared an email from and IT systems architect where he noted that our next generation is being coddled. He refers to this as the “American Idol problem” where people are shocked to learn that they do not actually have the capabilities to achieve high paying jobs. Another letter from a fifth grade teacher was shared pointing out the differences in parents responses to their curriculum. Parents of immigrant children said the material was too easy and students should be given more work to do. While, on the other hand American, middle class parents claimed the curriculum was too tough and did not leave room for their children to be kids. Friedman point out that we need to tap into our people for energy, entrepreneurship, creativity, and intelligence. Our education system is run by local school boards allowing varying levels of education throughout our nation. Most other countries run their education system on a national or at least state level. This allows consistency throughout the education system. He states we were able to get by on this system for so long because the basics we were teaching our low income students was enough for mass production jobs and provided decent wages. However, these job have been outsourced or automated leading us to better educate all our youth at a high level. This section covers the lack of fiscal resources for science research. How can we expect to compete in a flat world in science innovation if we are not providing the resources to do so. Our country is not promoting a high speed broadband service at reasonable prices as our competing countries do. We need to become more efficient as a country when it comes to innovation and production. Rote-learning does not squander creativity. One can not create something new and innovative if they do not know the basics and was there currently is. “In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In American today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears – and that is our problem”(365). We need to reverse our decline in the flat world and change our focus to creative innovative high level thinkers. “We should be embarking immediately on an all-hand-on-deck, no-hold-barred, no-budget-too-large crash program for science and engineering education”(373).
 * Dirty Little Secret #1 - The Numbers Gap**
 * Dirty Little Secret #2 - The Education Gap at the Top**
 * Dirty Little Secret #3 - The Ambition Gap**
 * Dirty Little Secret #4 - The Education Gap at the Bottom**
 * Dirty Little Secret #5 - The Funding Gap**
 * Dirty Little Secret #6 - The Infrastructure Gap**
 * The Bottom Line**

Do you agree with Friedman's points in the chapter? Why or why not?** Although it hurts, I do agree with many of Friedman’s points in this chapter. America’s schools are not doing their students justice. Instead of recruiting the best possible educators (in all subjects, not just math and science) and implementing a rigorous curriculum, we are focused on testing our students until they are completely disinterested in school. Also, it terrified me to realize that the reason why our poorest school districts are failing is because they have ALWAYS failed; we just never realized it because there were mass-production jobs (now outsourced) that these students could fill. Of course, American parents are also doing their children a disservice. Instead of encouraging them to make the most of their education, many parents complain that school is too rigorous and that students should have time to “just be kids”. These realizations hurt because I am a part of this failing educational system.
 * Chapter 8 Analysis - Erin Riley-Lepo

Friedman made it very clear what the consequences will be. Countries that are “hungry” will overtake us. For example, China already has the ability to train competent engineers and scientists. They realize, and are currently working on, encouraging these same well-trained engineers and scientists to be creative, outside-the-box thinkers. If China (and other countries) can do this, and Friedman believes they can, what does America have to offer? The consequence will be that, along with our mass-production jobs, America will also lose its high-level thinking engineering and science jobs as well.
 * What are some potential consequences (positive or negative) in the next 10 years if what he says is true? **

Friedman also goes so far as to intimate that our American civilization as we know it is slowly dying. He provides an example of how American Congress was quick to investigate major-league baseball when it faced a steroid scandal, but Congress has all but ignored what Friedman calls the “science crisis”. Freidman uses a quote from Craig Barrett, the Intel chairman, in this chapter: “…when you study history and look at every civilization that has grown up and died off, they all leave one remnant – a major sports coliseum at the heart of their capital” (Friedman 373). The warning seems pretty clear.

As educators, we must find ways to reenergize our students. We must imbue in them the attitude that school is important and, without nagging, help them see that the high-paying jobs that their parents now posses will not just fall in their laps.
 * How do you suppose his points affect us as educators? How about our students? School in general? **

Friedman presents an idea that Mike Arguello sent him in an e-mail. Arguello called it the “American Idol problem”. This is where someone is shocked when they are told that they are not talented (Friedman 356). I worry that this is where our students are headed. I know that it is cliché to make fun of the T-ball team that hands out trophies to all of its members, even if they lost every game, but there is truth to the idea that we are coddling our youngsters. Maybe we need to hold out on a few trophies in order to make our students hungry to earn them.

Hopefully, schools will be inspired to make changes in the way they present math and science materials. If schools do not change, they will continue to fall behind the countries that Friedman believes are our main competitors (China, India, etc.).