The Skills our Students Need

When New York City announced its new Summer of STEM initiative this month, it joined a growing number of educators, employers and families who understand the importance of reinforcing math and science skills in a way that is meaningful and fun for kids. Through the program and its partners at Microsoft and New York University, more than 1,200 students will work with industry leaders to build their knowledge in these areas, with an emphasis on serving children in underserved neighborhoods.

This is music to my ears as someone who has worked hard to promote STEM through Girls Who Code, where more than 1,200 girls are enrolled in our Summer Immersion Program. For seven weeks, the girls will have an opportunity to learn coding and other tech skills, as well as interact with experts at a dozen of the city’s leading technology, creative and financial firms. The goal of all of these programs is to expose students at a young age to the skills and careers that will be most relevant when they graduate college and enter the workforce.

This level of engagement was unheard of even five years ago. That’s when I was on the campaign trail and meeting kids who owned every gadget imaginable and kids in other neighborhoods who did not have access to a computer or a teacher to show them how to use these devices.

Girls in particular were missing out. We have made huge strides since then as a city, and we continue to find new ways to bridge the digital gender and socioeconomic divide.

But while summer programs and a growing number of after-school coding and STEM-based programs are a great step forward, we need to do more to ensure we are increasing the number of students who view STEM careers as options for their futures.

According to a recent Pew report, while U.S. students are scoring higher on national math assessments than they did two decades ago, they still rank in the middle of the pack in international comparisons, and are well behind many other advanced industrial nations. Furthermore, the most recent Program for International Student Assessment results placed the U.S. at 35th out of 64 countries in math and 27th in science. In order for our children to compete in this international landscape, we need to start thinking of ways to more fully integrate STEM programs into the curriculum instead of relying on external programs solely to level the playing field. 

There are a few ways to do this. For one, we need a greater emphasis on critical thinking and independent inquiry in our curriculum and less emphasis on teaching to the test. These skillsets are developed through independent thinking, critical analysis and “out-of-the-box” thinking. The Common Core state standards are meant to prioritize these skills. We need our city and state elected leaders to embrace the promise of these standards and help with their implementation rather than try to politicize them out of existence.

Increasing public exposure to STEM is another effective way to fill the gap. Nobody understands the needs of the workforce more than local employers. The de Blasio administration should continue to incentivize private partners to invest in STEM education, bring local employers into classrooms and offer support with teacher training and STEM-focused curricula. Several major New York City companies are already partnering with schools in this way. AT&T is in the second year of a pilot program with the city that expands the STEM curriculum in a dozen middle and high schools. And the GE Foundation helped fund a three-day STEM institute for city teachers earlier this year. We need to scale and expand these types of public-private partnerships.

Finally, schools must take the lead and adopt a more interdisciplinary approach to curriculum advancement by infusing STEM across subjects. Incorporating mathematics and science lessons into reading curricula is a great example of an emerging best practice. Questioning, summarizing and organizing findings are skills that our kids need to master to succeed in our new knowledge economy. Instilling our classrooms with the resources they need to acquire these skills will better prepare them for tomorrow’s jobs.

The success or failure of our future economy rests on the shoulders of our children. That is why it is our job to bring together the best and brightest New York City has to offer, and enrich our curriculum with the skills our children need for a successful future.

Reshma Saujani is the founder of Girls Who Code and a former candidate for public advocate.