Image Credit: The Independent
The Isle of Man off the coast of the UK is fast becoming the new "space hub" with the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle program.
Or, will soon become.
I know that tax breaks have a lot to do with the decision to locate across the pond, but I wonder if this had an impact as well:
Source: National Center for Education Statistics: The Nation's Report Card - Science 2009
The achievement gaps are the same as always: Anglos/Asians in the suburbs outperform African Americans/Latinos in the inner cities. Much the same for Mathematics as well. Note that for science, the highest percentage at advanced levels is 2% in middle school.
The 1% in high school are taking the AP classes in physics and calculus, preparing for National Honors tests, stigmatized as "nerds," "geeks," jocks are celebrated throughout the year in print and on campus; recognized for their "signing day" and salutatorians/valedictorians get their moment...at graduation.
As a nation, we're so focused on the wrong things, more concerned with our votes on American Idol than understanding our civics process; more attuned to our friends on the Internet than pausing to read a good book offline on science, the classics, politics. We take our information in sound bites as if the human mind has always done so, we have more television channels than ever before, and make choices in our lives based on the fantasy that is projected before us than the reality that the future is coming...whether we're prepared for it, or not.
Neil Postman was prophet.
The Independent: The ascent of Manx
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