[Okgrantsmanship] Article About STEM in Oklahoma

[Mason, Linda]

Former Oklahoma education chancellor: Clarity a must for state's education system
BY PAUL RISSER  The Oklahoman  1/4/2014

Suppose your favorite college football team consistently ranked in the bottom third of the conference. The coach keeps insisting that he'd coach the way he wanted, that nobody outside the program would tell him what to do and that he refused to watch his opponents' film from previous games. Thus, neither he nor his players knew what kinds of defense each opponent used or offensive plays it liked to run. As a result of the coach's uninformed approach, the team could not be successful, his players weren't well prepared and therefore were at a significant disadvantage against better-prepared opponents.

This hypothetical coach is precisely analogous to those who say Oklahoma should ignore the Common Core math and English/literacy standards or other standards in science and social science. These standards don't mandate what or how our teachers should teach; they do identify what Oklahoma students should know and be able to do. To complete the football analogy, films indicate what the opposition knows and can do. If the coach and his team were to watch the films, they'd know what would be expected to compete successfully - exactly like education standards.

Recognizing that we're in the 21st-century competitive environment, here are six conditions that affect living conditions for Oklahomans:


1.      The best way to strengthen our state's economy is to produce goods and services that people and businesses outside Oklahoma buy from us. Otherwise, we basically just move money among ourselves. Using new technologies, our energy sector competitively markets petroleum products outside state boundaries, which is one reason why our economy has fared better than most states.

2.      Oklahoma has a high poverty rate compared with other states.

3.      We're ranked low compared with other states in enabling our citizens to reach a higher economic status.

4.      Economic productivity has grown more in those states with higher personal educational attainment.

5.      People with more education generally achieve higher financial earning power.

6.      Finally, since World War II fully half of the growth in this country's GDP per capita is attributable to expertise and innovation in science and technology.

These six conditions clearly indicate why we need to educate our students in the context of education standards in other states and countries. All these conditions point to the need for a more educated workforce and citizenry. Oklahoma isn't an island by itself - as citizens and as a state, we must compete with others if we are to provide resources and opportunities for the citizens. Education and innovation, especially in science and technology, are correlated with higher economic productivity and earning power both for individuals and the state as a whole.

To be successful, Oklahoma's education system must be based on clarity about what the students should know and be able to do. Just as importantly, we need to know the same about the competition from other states and countries, and ensure that our students are equally or better prepared than our competitors.

Risser, former chancellor of the state's higher education system, is chairman of the University Research Cabinet at the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Linda Mason
Coordinator of Grant Writing
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200
Oklahoma City, OK 73104
405-225-9486 desk
405-706-8757 cell
405-225-9230 FAX
lmason at osrhe.edu<mailto:lmason at osrhe.edu>
www.okhighered.org/grant-opps/<http://www.okhighered.org/grant-opps/>

Do not be afraid to give your time to writing grant proposals. Time given to planning proposals is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our research, our programs, our collaborations and indeed our whole profession may become more profoundly significant.

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