Today saw the release of a new report which is the Nation’s first ever report card for Technology and Engineering Literacy measuring how 8th graders solve real-world problems using innovative scenario-based tasks on a computer.
It found that girls did slightly better than boys at using tech to solve a problem, 45 percent to 42 percent. It also concluded that children in cities, and black and Hispanic students scored lower than their suburban and white peers.
Notwithstanding this fact, both white and black girls outperformed boys, and Hispanic and Asian girls scores were aligned with the boys. When asked where they developed their technology and engineering skills, over half said they got them from taking a related course in school, 59 percent. Meanwhile, 2/3rd said they learned from a family member who taught them to fix or build things, 19 percent were self-taught and another 13 percent learned from their teachers.
The findings underscore the importance of access to technology. Literacy can only be achieved with practice.
“The scores clearly show that when students have opportunities to engage with technology and engineering, they become fluent in the skills that prepare them for living and working in the modern world. But access to these opportunities from place to place is patchy,” Tonya Matthews, CEO of the Michigan Science Center said. “That’s a call for communities to create opportunities where needed, from schools to science centers to after-school programming.”
check out the entire report HERE.
h/t Politico
