Education Trends

Waiver Overrides NCLB Proficiency Standards

The U.S. Department of Education is gearing up to announce a new waiver system that would allow states to override No Child Left Behind (NCLB) proficiency standards, which mandate that 100% of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014. Although all states will be encouraged to apply for waivers from the law’s AYP provisions, only those that can show they have implemented ambitious school improvement programs would receive them. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said states such as Pennsylvania would most likely receive a waiver, adding that it is one of 46 states to sign on to the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The initiative encompasses a new set of uniform academic standards for what K-12 students should master in English and math. The waivers, which are not likely to go into effect until next year, would not supersede congressional reauthorization of NCLB, which was supposed to be reauthorized four years ago.

Proponents of NCLB say that the law, with its AYP emphasis, holds schools accountable through standardized testing and that scores have been rising since the law was enacted in 2002. Opponents claim that standardized testing is flawed and that schools have been unfairly labeled as failing when they are really not. For example, even when the lowest performing students make significant gains, if they do not meet the proficiency mark, the school does not receive credit for improved academic performance. About 38,000 of the nation’s 100,000 public schools fell short of their test-score targets under NCLB last year. Duncan has predicted the number would rise to 80,000 this year.

Sources: The New York Times, The Morning Call

Continuing Trend: Women Still Underrepresented in STEM Fields

Although women fill close to half of all jobs in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 25% of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce report Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation. This trend has not changed during the past decade, even though college-educated women have increased their share of the overall workforce. In addition to earning more money in STEM-related jobs, women also experience a smaller wage gap between what they make and their male counterparts compared to other lines of work. STEM fields represent a workforce crucial to our global economic competitiveness, according to the report. Possible factors that contribute to the gender discrepancy despite more competitive pay include a lack of female role models, gender stereotyping, and less family-friendly flexibility.

Other findings of the report include: Women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering. Women with a STEM degree are less likely than their male counterparts to work in a STEM occupation. Instead, they are more likely to work in education or healthcare. The report stated that the findings represent an untapped opportunity to expand STEM employment in the United States and emphasized the need to encourage and support women in STEM fields.

Sources: Economics & Statistics Administration, United States Department of Commerce

Economic Trends

Skills Gap Prevents Company Hiring

Despite the sluggish economy, companies are having a difficult time hiring employees. "[T]here's a long-term battle for the highly skilled people," said Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite, which makes social network recruiting software. Two underlying causes contribute significantly to this hiring issue: the changing job market and high school and college students lacking the skills that employers need most, according to Bridging the Skills Gap, a recent report released by the American Society for Training and Development.

Over the last several years, millions of jobs have been lost, most of which are not recoverable. As companies get back on their feet, new job offerings tend to require higher skilled people. One type of highly skilled employee in demand is the "knowledge worker." These individuals are valued for their high degree of expertise in fields such as accounting, finance, software engineering, and scientific research. They tend to have the ability to solve problems, collaborate, analyze, as well as apply, adapt, or update their knowledge in order to conduct their work. (Please see "By the Numbers" for related statistics.)

Sources: Forbes, ASTD

Brain Research Trends

Shedding Light on the New Field of Optogenetics

In the new field of optogenetics, scientists are beginning to unfold new discoveries about the brain that range from how we wake up in the morning to how we learn. Optogenetic approaches take light-activated molecular switches from living organisms, such as algae, add them to neurons, and then work with light to try to decipher how the neurons communicate with each other in various electrical states. Scientists hope the research will help them discover what goes wrong with specific neural circuits during disorders and diseases.

In one recent study, researchers at Stanford University of Medicine used different wavelengths (color) of light on genetically modified mice to trigger social deficits that resemble those seen in people with autism and schizophrenia. For example, a flash of blue light switches certain brain cells on that in turn send a signal to other neurons. A flash of yellow turns them off. The researchers targeted the prefrontal cortex, a highly evolved part of the brain involved in planning, execution, personality, and social behavior. The mice exhibited no difference from one another in tests of their anxiety levels or their curiosity about new objects. However, when the researchers used light to stimulate the medial prefrontal cortex in one group of mice, those animals lost all interest in engaging with other mice.

Source: MedicalXpress.com, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Nanotechnology Trends

New X-Ray Microscope for Seeing at the Minute Nanoscale

Physicists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a new brand of X-ray microscope that can penetrate deep within materials to allow them to view minute details at the scale of a single nanometer, or one billionth of a meter. The most innovative aspect about this microscope is that the images are not produced by a lens, but rather by a computer program, or algorithm, created through a complicated mathematical formula. The algorithm is able to convert the diffraction patterns produced by the X-rays bouncing off the nanoscale structures into images. One immediate application of this lens-less X-ray microscope is the development of smaller data storage devices for computers that can hold more memory.

"To advance nanoscience and nanotechnology, we have to be able to understand how materials behave at the nanoscale," said Oleg Shpyrko, who headed the research team. "In order to do that we have to be able to see at the nanoscale." The microscope works, in principle, like the computer program that sharpened the Hubble Space Telescope's initially blurred images, which was caused by a spherical aberration in the telescope's mirror, before the telescope was repaired in space.

Source: Azonano.com

Nanomaterial Matrix Promotes Growth of New Blood Vessels

Northwestern University researchers have developed a nanomaterial that stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in tissue starved of oxygen. The development could lead to new drugs to treat coronary heart disease, a condition in which plaque builds up inside coronary arteries, restricting oxygen-rich blood to the heart, which could lead to a heart attack.

When injected into the body, the new synthetic liquid forms a scaffold of nanofibers made up of amino acids and fats that mimic a natural protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The protein triggers a cascade of complex events that promote the growth of new blood vessels. VEGF has been isolated by scientists to try to stimulate the growth of blood vessels, but the protein does not stay in a concentrated dosage in the targeted area long enough to make a difference. However, the resembling nanomaterial remains in a specific location until new vessels form. Once that happens, the nanomaterial biodegrades.

Sources: Technology Review
 

By the Numbers

Following are statistics from the Bridging the Skills Gap report by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). (Please see "Education Trends" for the related story.)

• Of U.S. manufacturers, 80% cannot find educated skilled workers for their entry-level positions.
• STEM jobs, which require well-educated employees who have analytical, problem-solving, and collaborative skills, grew at three times the rate of non-STEM jobs over the past decade. These jobs are expected to continue to grow at a higher-than-average rate over the next decade, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
• In a 2009 ASTD poll taken by 1,179 organizations, 79% said there is a skills gap within their workforce, mainly because new strategies have been introduced.
• In 1991, less than 50% of U.S. jobs required skilled workers. By 2015, 76% will require highly skilled workers.
• At the current rate of employment supply and demand, 60% of new jobs will require skills held by 20% of the population by 2015.
• The demand for educated workers will outpace supply by 2018 by about three million workers with a postsecondary degree and 4.7 million workers with a postsecondary certificate.

Sources: Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc., ATSD