American Physical Society press release:
------------------
Highly Trained STEM Teachers Needed to Boost America's Global
Competitiveness, According to New Study
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 14, 2017
www.aps.org/newsroom/pressreleases/stemeducation.cfm
The United States' global competitiveness is at risk as the nation
confronts persistent shortages of STEM teachers in subjects such as
physics, chemistry, and computer science. More than half of all high
school physics teachers lacked certification in the discipline in
2012, for example.
As a result, students who are interested in STEM careers find
themselves ill prepared to compete in an increasingly highly
technical workforce.
A new study by the American Physical Society, in collaboration with
the American Chemical Society, Computing Research Association, and
Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership, addresses the reasons why
STEM students shy away from teaching as a career and offers ways to
counter the trend.
... too few U.S. students complete STEM degrees. One possible reason:
exposure to STEM disciplines is limited during high school. In
European and Asian countries, high school students often take four or
five years of physics. But in the U.S., only about 40 percent of
students take as much as one year of physics, and only half of those
courses will be taught by a teacher who majored or minored in the
discipline.
...
--------------
The report puts forth recommendations for universities and
professional societies to recruit more high school STEM teachers,
including impressing upon university STEM departments the importance
of promoting teaching as a career.
You can download the 37-page report at
www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/stemteachers.cfm
Please share this information with your colleagues. -- Jane Jackson,
Arizona State University