Math, engineering, technology, and science are the subjects necessary for economic growth in the future. The Kauffman Foundation. understands the necessity to train “METS” entrepreneurs for future innovation.

America has been the innovation leader in the world. School Boards, superintendents, and high school principals must recognize the need to train students in “METS” subjects.

Dire statistics include those from a recent U.S. Department of Labor report indicating that 60 percent of jobs in the 21st century economy will require skills that only 20 percent of the workforce currently has—and those skills are largely related to METS subjects.

There are 14,600 local school boards across the United States, each independently addressing one of education’s most critical challenges: how to improve the teaching of mathematics, engineering, technology, and science (METS). Some have led their districts to innovative partnerships and brilliant solutions; others have made disastrous decisions costing their districts thousands of dollars. But none of them has had a central place to go to for resources and support.

Beginning in 2007, a new partnership between the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) was created to address this gaping need. The AAAS/NSBA Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Project marks the first time a national science organization has reached out proactively to local school boards, and the first time that NSBA has directly addressed its constituents’ needs with respect to METS subjects. The project’s goal is to determine what school boards want and need to know about METS education and to address those needs head-on.

Read the entire story here:
Helping Local School Boards Understand the Importance of METS Education

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Last week’s chart illustrated the current plunge of S&P 500 earnings. Today’s chart illustrates how this plunge in earnings has impacted the current valuation of the stock market as measured by the price to earnings ratio (PE ratio). Generally speaking, when the PE ratio is high, stocks are considered to be expensive. When the PE ratio is low, stocks are considered to be inexpensive. From 1936 into the late 1980s, the PE ratio tended to peak in the low 20s (red line) and trough somewhere around seven (green line). The price investors were willing to pay for a dollar of earnings increased during the dot-com boom (late 1990s) and the dot-com bust (early 2000s). As a result of the current plunge in earnings and the recent 2.5 month stock market rally, the PE ratio has spiked to the low 120s – a record high.

Notes:
- Where’s the market headed? The answer may surprise you. Find out right now with the exclusive & Barron’s recommended charts of Chart of the Day Plus.


Source: Chart of the Day

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