PITTSBURGH – The math is simple.

America is not producing high school graduates equipped with the tools to fill the many jobs that exist now – and in the future – in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines.

Vicki Phillips, Director of Education - College Ready, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, delivers the keynote address at the Pittsburgh STEM Summit.

That was one of a number of problems highlighted by Vicki Phillips, Director of Education – College Ready, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of her keynote address to about 170 education officials, teachers and business leaders at the Pittsburgh STEM Summit.

“At a time when unemployment hovers near 10 percent,” Phillips said, “one million new jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math will open up, but only 200,000 new graduates will have the skills to fill them.”

Randy Dearth, CEO, Lanxess Corporation, who was the luncheon speaker, said 50 percent of chemists in his industry will be retiring in the next five to 10 years, creating a huge chasm between the number of available jobs and individuals qualified to fill them.

Randy Dearth, CEO, Lanxess Corporation, discusses regional programs to promote STEM awareness.

“When I look at the pipeline, no one wants to study chemistry anymore,” Dearth said. “We have a problem across this country: we rank 25th in math and 21st in science internationally. Only 43 percent of graduating seniors are ready to take on college math and only 27 percent are ready for college science. This is disturbing, and we have got to do something about it in this country.”

Phillips said the low number of students graduating nationally who are ready to enter college or the workforce with the proper tools and skills is staggering: one-third of all high school students do not graduate and another third are not prepared for college level work.

“The first step is to establish clear and high, consistent standards in this country,” Phillips said. “Pennsylvania, along with 35 other states and the District of Columbia, have agreed to adopt these standards.”

While many good things are happening locally with STEM, Phillips said much more needs to be done on a national basis. She issued a call to action concerning a national program called Change the Equation that will be launched in September.

“Its goal: mobilize the nation’s many leading companies to do what many of you are already doing – and that’s to find new and exciting ways to support STEM education,” Phillips said. “We need to drive the reach of STEM deeper across this country. Look for the launch of Change the Equation in September and visit the Change the Equation’s website to find out how you can become involved in this program.”

Phillips said the ultimate key to student success is teacher effectiveness.

“With great teachers, there is no limit to what America’s kids can do,” Phillips said. “If every student had a great teacher every year of their school career, and those teachers were able to inspire them across subjects, and in particular math and science, it would close the gap between us and other countries in a short matter of time.”

Phillips said while it is hard to identify “great” in a meaningful way, the Gates Foundation is conducting a research project with 3,700 teachers across the nation, including Pittsburgh, to determine what teachers are doing in the classroom that makes a difference in student academic achievement.

“Push for the notion of teacher effectiveness – whether in Pittsburgh, surrounding districts or across the state,” Phillips said, “because in school, nothing matters more than an effective teacher in those subjects you care about.”

During a Q & A session, Phillips was asked if there are indicators for effective teachers. Phillips said research of teacher effectiveness over the past 30 years has given insight into what does not work.

“Seniority does not make a difference to whether a teacher is effective or not, so it doesn’t matter whether they have 30 years, 13 years or three years,” Phillips said. “Secondly, we know Master’s degrees have absolutely no impact on student outcomes. Thirdly, certification doesn’t really matter either. It doesn’t matter whether you come through a traditional or non-traditional program. Whether alternative or traditional, you still get that huge difference between effective teachers and bottom-percentile, non-effective teachers.”

During his presentation, Dearth showed video for a number of programs administered or supported by Lanxess that are used to promote learning to school students in the STEM disciplines.

The Summit also included three breakout sessions that addressed Underrepresentation in the STEM Fields; Programs that Work Panel Discussion; and Connecting Today’s Students with Tomorrow’s Careers.

Team Pennsylvania Foundation founded the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative more than two years ago to work on these issues. Read more about our work in education.