Do We Need Another Sputnik

This October 4th marks the 50th anniversary of Sputnik. The Soviet satellite amplified America's Cold War fears and stimulated a public and political response. Sputnik culminated years of criticism centering on Progressive education and expanded the role of scientists in educational reform. Although the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) curriculum lead by Jerrold Zacharias was already underway, Sputnik brought the reform efforts to fruition. America hoped to recover international leadership in science and mathematics education. Accelerating, broadening, and deepening educational reform that had already been initiated. One of the first, largest, and longest-lasting of the post-Sputnik projects was the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) which will celebrate 50 years of leadership in 2008. Does the United States need another Sputnik? Clearly, there will not be another Sputnik, but we need what Sputnik has come to symbolize-an era of significant reform of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. In 2007 one can identify similar concerns about national security and the need for scientists, engineers, and scientifically literate citizens. The 50th anniversary of Sputnik presents an opportunity to pause and reflect on that period in science education and offers potential insights for our contemporary era. Here are several insights about Sputnik. The competitor and venue were clear--the Soviet Union and a race to space. President Kennedy challenged the nation to respond by setting a clear goal: Send a man to the moon and return him safely. The President also set a timeline--by the end of the decade. This goal had a clear and visible symbol that every American could see on a regular basis-the moon. Accomplishing the ultimate goal included approximations of success that the public could see and understand--suborbital flights, orbital flights, a flight around the moon and back, and ultimately landing a man on the moon. One component of the U.S. response involved curriculum reform lead by the scientific community. One final insight centers on the use of curriculum materials and science teacher institutes as the primary methods of reform. Both of these methods center on the core of teachers' effective interaction with students. This was a positive and productive way the federal government facilitated educational reform. The United States now confronts new challenges associated with the economy; and I would add the environment, and natural resources. The National Research Council report, Rising Above The Gathering Storm (NRC, 2007), has become one of several major reports signaling the need for a national response. Thomas Friedman has sustained public attention for a new reform in his book, The World Is Flat (Friedman, 2005). Friedman has an interesting if not compelling premise: The international economic playing field is level, hence the metaphor --hence the world is flat. The "flattening" that Friedman refers to is a result of information technologies and associated innovations that have made it technically possible and economically feasible for U.S. companies to locate work "offshore," for example, call centers in India. The revolution of informational technologies has developed a generation of digital natives and left many of us as digital immigrants. The implications for STEM education are significant, to say the least. On balance, Friedman argues that a flatter world will benefit all of us, those in developed and developing countries. Friedman does address education questions in a chapter entitled "The Quiet Crisis." According to Friedman, "The American education system from kindergarten through twelfth grade just is not stimulating enough for young people to want to go into science, math, and engineering" (p. 270). Friedman continues: Because it takes fifteen years to create a scientist or advanced engineer, starting from when that young man or woman first gets hooked on science and math in elementary school, we should be embarking on an all-hands-on-deck, no-holds-barred, crash program for science and engineering education immediately. …