Math and Science Education Comparisons Between the United States and the Rest of the World

Abstract

At the end of secondary education, the students of the United States are behind most advanced countries in science and mathematics. The main problem lies in the fact that the United States education system does not have a clear focus in their teaching of math and science through primary and secondary schools. According to the United States Department of Education, only 22 of the 50 states in the U.S. require that three years of math and science be taught in order to graduate from high school. This puts students of the United States at a disadvantage against the rest of the competitors on the global marketplace. This lack of uniformity in the United States is the reason that high school graduates are behind other developed countries in their math and science scores and subsequently less Americans are graduating from universities in the sciences. These facts could contribute detrimentally to the economic progress in the United States. To remedy this lack of American scientists and engineers, the United States needs to have a comprehensive system to encourage the study of math and science from primary school all the way to implementation in the economic marketplace.