Here is an interesting fact. The countries that are producing
more people with higher skills in mathematics, science,
engineering, technology, and science don't have STEM programs.
When we do benchmarking research in those countries, we don't
hear their educators talking about STEM priorities. We don't
hear their industrial leaders doing that either. The term is not
used. The programs don't exist. What is going on here? How come
they are doing better at this when we have STEM programs and
they don't? The answer is that they have education systems that
work and we don't. When we start falling behind in an area, we
invent a program. When they start falling behind, they ask,
What's wrong with our system? And they fix it. The truth is that
"programs" won't work in an arena like this. The causes of our
poor performance in these disciplines run deep. Those causes
implicate the inner workings of our education system. It is not
possible to ring fence the STEM subjects from the system itself,
nor is it possible to bui