Post-Sputnik Education

Report Outline
Stock-Taking after 25 Years
Education Trends since 1957
Debate Over Responsibility
Special Focus

Stock-Taking after 25 Years

Alarm Once Again Over Inadequacies

The Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik 25 years ago, on Oct. 4, 1957, sent the American education establishment into a tailspin. At least since the early 1940s the trend in education had been toward the social development of children rather than an emphasis on hard academic subject matter. At the same time, however, there had been a growing concern about whether math and science education was adequate and whether enough students were prepared and interested in seeking careers that would help advance American technology.

Russia's dramatic exploit in space highlighted the costs of neglecting rigorous academic training, particularly in math and science, and galvanized this nation to action. President Eisenhower stressed the importance of education to national security, and American leaders rushed to bolster the nation's science, math and foreign language instruction, funding university research and development projects, providing scholarships and otherwise encouraging young people to enter technological careers. This was done largely through the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which was in many ways the forerunner of general federal aid to education.

Twenty-five years later educators, scientists, industrialists and other concerned citizens are again declaring that American children are not being adequately educated, which they see as posing a threat to economic growth and national security. Last spring President Reagan told a meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences that problems in math and science teaching are “serious enough to compromise the nation's future ability to develop and advance our traditional industrial base to compete in international marketplaces.“ Dr. Harry Lustig, dean of science at City College of New York, said, “I see us becoming industrially a second-rate power.“