The National Academies "Rising above the Gathering Storm" devoted an entire chapter to “What Actions Should America Take in K–12 Science and Mathematics Education to Remain Prosperous in the 21st Century?” and concluded, “The competitiveness of US knowledge industries will be purchased largely in the K–12 classroom.”

One thing that we do know is that education spending at the K-12 level has increased dramatically as our economy has shifted to one based on services and information. According to the US Dept of Education, constant dollar funding for public K-12 education has roughly doubled on a per-student basis during the 30 years from 1973 to 2003.

What is uncertain – and there are conflicting indicators – is whether this investment is achieving the objective. Are we ensuring that our education infrastructure is providing our children with the skills needed to compete in the ‘flat world’ that we have heard so much about? Put another way, are we getting the return on the education investment that we need to maintain the vitality of the US economy?

On January 18th, 2008, ASTRA and CSIS sponsored a discussion that critically examined the role of education in driving innovation. We also reviewed how well American students are doing relative to their peers in other nations. Our objective was to shed a little light on this highly complex area to find out where we appear to be doing well and where we need to consider changing to improve our education outcomes.