A major issue for American colleges and universities is that the lack of emphasis on the hard sciences in K-12 results in a technologically poorly prepared workforce. Therefore, institutions rely on an international pool of students, who then want to stay in the country. There are definite gender and economic issues that discourage U.S. students from entering the hard sciences in college.
Many teachers enter the classroom ill prepared for their subject matter area.
In this program, the teacher receives four years of instruction in a specific discipline, such as math, plus one year of teaching methodology. We also need to be more flexible in directing the career paths of high school graduates. Too often they see a 4-year college degree as the only possibility. There are other avenues, such as associate degrees or certifications. These could serve as stopping points until a student decides to pursue a more traditional college degree.