Goldin and Katz (2010) offer an analysis of how education and technology have changed the position of the United States among global competitors. The rate of development of skilled workers lags behind the rate of technology development. More specifically, they contend that economic growth requires educated workers and the US lags behind education levels of many other countries that prepare appropriate skilled workers.
The authors offer data to illustrate how this lag jeaprodizes the working and wealth-building (and therefore likelihood of continuing to live as we choose) of US citizens in the near and more remote future.
The Race Between Education and Technology contains many tables, a few equations and a powerfully told story about how and why the United States became the world’s richest nation–namely, thanks to its schools…Beginning in the 1970s, however, the education system failed to keep pace, resulting, Ms. Goldin and Mr. Katz contend, in a sharply unequal nation…It is nice to be reminded, in a data-rich book, that greater investments in human capital once put Americans collectively on top of the world. –Stephen Kotkin (New York Times, cited in Reviews of the book)
Students of all ages should already know about the content of this tome. Hopefully, educators will help them use that background in order to figure out what options they have to learn more and faster in whatever schools they attend.
Public school educators will find it useful for adjusting instruction in order to increase learning efficiency through contracted duties, especially, for excample, in the 100 AZ schools that operate on a four-day school week.
At the very least, these economists offer useful sources for educators preparing case statements for funding requests and curricula updates/revisions.
Goldin, C. and L. Katz (2010). The Race between Education and Technology.
Goldin, C. (April 21, 2009) Lecture: The Race between Education and Technology. Forum Network. (Retrieved March 15, 2010, 3:37 PM.)