Build Public Support for Making Math and Science Improvement a Priority

According to the TAP coalition's major policy statement, The Education for Innovation Initiative, federal, state and local investments in improving math and science education are essential. Business leaders - no matter what size their company is or where their hiring pool comes from - can take action to reverse the decline in American excellence in math and science education. Among the coalition's five recommendations are three that call for action in K-12 education at the federal and state levels:

• Build public support for making math and science improvement a priority.
• Motivate students to study and enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers, especially girls, low-income students and students of color.
• Upgrade K-12 math and science teaching.

To build public support for making math and science improvement a priority, TAP recommends that business leaders and policymakers should:

• Launch a campaign to help parents, students, employees and community leaders understand why math and science are so vital to individual success and national prosperity.
• Expand the State Scholars Initiative to encourage students to take rigorous core academic courses in high school and provide role models and other real world examples of the work that engineers and scientists do.

Building public support for math and science is an essential component of any strategy to increase math and science excellence. Many people do not remember their math experiences in school fondly-and many people simply do not know about the math and science skills that are required to succeed in technical jobs today. There are several business-led efforts to communicate about these issues to students, parents, educators and the general public.

For example, the State Scholars Initiative is a nationwide, business-led effort to motivate students to take the rigorous courses that will prepare them for good jobs and college. Currently operating in 22 states as state-level, business-education partnerships and supported by federal funding, State Scholars brings business volunteers into classrooms to talk with middle and high school students about life after high school and works with state and district policymakers to create incentives for students to complete rigorous courses. Click here to learn more about the national State Scholars initiative or here to read about the Maryland Scholars initiative led by the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education.