Schools need to prepare students for future, not present

Champions of Education guest speaker says science, technology, education and math are key to success.

By: Sarah Newell williamson | Hickory Daily Record
Published: March 18, 2010

HICKORY --

"The problem with schools is not that they aren't what they used to be, but that they are what they used to be."

So said Sam Houston, president and CEO of N.C. Science Mathematics and Technology Education Center.

Houston spoke on Wednesday at the Catawba County Champions of Education meeting. He said it is increasingly difficult to measure what skills students will need for their future careers. The jobs will primarily be in science, technology, engineering and math: the STEM philosophy.

A former teacher and superintendent, Houston admits that the schools he oversaw did not adequately prepare students.

"We did a miserable job of preparing them for the future. We prepared them for the present," Houston said. "Think about what you do as an adult. How many of you can calculate the volume of a cone? This is necessary in school, but not in an adult world."

He said the STEM philosophy, which Houston also said could stand for Strategies That Engage the Mind, is where schools should be headed.

He currently works with schools in five nations, as well as doing work for Microsoft. Houston said there is a direct relationship between student performance and economic health. However, schools shouldn't wait to introduce concepts with the older students — many other countries are starting with younger grades.

"If we expect kids to do a senior graduation project, we should expect kindergarteners to do the same thing," Houston said. "Parents may say, 'That's not like the school I was in.' Well, guess what, I went to school in 1949, and things have changed."

He said tests should also be revamped. Instead of giving students multiple-choice answers, questions should be asking what difference Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech made, for example.

"STEM uses problem-solving skills," Houston said. "We don't emphasize what the STEM world needs — scientists and researchers. With most of the jobs from here on out, kids will have to use math, science and technology."

He encouraged businesses to open the doors to their facilities so students can see the environment they might work in one day, and take an interest in it.

And he encouraged the community to support excellence in schools.

"Schools will be no better than you expect them to be," Houston said. "They don't just need you to give them support, they need you to challenge them. There's a real struggle to control the world at an economic level, and education can control that."