Strengthening Pre-College Education - IRI style

Trends in U.S. students' academic performance in science and math show a pa ttern of decline over the past 25 years. Further; international comparisons reveal U.S. primary school students tend to perform above the internationa l average in math and science but do worse as they progress through higher grades. This drop parallels a decline in the number of students choosing sc ience and math majors at the college level, which in turn widens the gap be tween the supply and demand for technically trained workers and threatens t he competitiveness of U.S.-based companies. The Industrial Research Institu te's Pre-College Education Committee approaches the problem by facilitating and encouraging corporate involvement in strengthening science and math ed ucation through a Winning Programs competition, regional networks, and exte rnal relations work.