Market Wire via NewsEdge Corporation :
PRINCETON, NJ, February 5 / MARKET WIRE/ --
Three powerful forces -- inadequate literacy
skills among large segments of the population, the continuing evolution of
the economy and the nation's job structure, and an ongoing shift in the
demographic profile of the nation, powered by the highest immigration rates
in almost a century -- are creating a "perfect storm" that could have dire
consequences for our nation, according to a report ETS released today in a
National Press Club Newsmaker press conference in Washington, D.C.
"America's Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation's Future," a
report by ETS's Policy Information Center, warns that America is in the
midst of a perfect storm that, if unaddressed, will continue to feed on
itself, further dividing us socially and economically, jeopardizing
American competitiveness and threatening our democratic institutions. In
the report, authors Irwin Kirsch and Kentaro Yamamoto of ETS, Henry Braun
of Boston College and Andrew Sum of Northeastern University contend that
the convergence of the three forces has serious implications for future
generations and could turn the American dream into an American tragedy.
"'America's Perfect Storm' is a wake-up call with implications for
education, business, policymakers and every parent and child," says ETS
President and CEO Kurt Landgraf. "It describes forces at play in society
that will affect all of us in the near future. The American dream is the
idea that everyone has the opportunity to make a living, provide for a
family, and raise children who will be better educated and better off. If
we fail to act now on the warnings sounded in this report, the next
generation of children will be worse off than their parents for the first
time in our country's history. The American dream could turn into an
American tragedy for many."
The report also offers hope that if we act now and develop new policies
that will increase literacy skills across the population, we can reduce the
impact of the storm, help our nation grow together, and retain our leading
role in the world.
"'America's Perfect Storm' describes brilliantly the major challenges
facing American workers and our economy as the result of an education
system that fails to educate our young people, an increasingly
technological global economy, and major demographic shifts in our
population," says Arthur J. Rothkopf, Senior Vice President, U.S. Chamber
of Commerce. "Unless we act aggressively and promptly to reform our public
education system, the standard of living of U.S. workers will decline, and
the U.S. economy will become far less competitive."
One of the major forces contributing to America's "perfect storm" is
inadequate literacy skills among large segments of the population.
"Individuals are expected to take more responsibility for managing various
aspects of their own lives, such as planning for retirement, navigating the
health care system, and managing their careers," Kirsch says. "Yet half of
adults lack the reading and math skills to use these systems effectively
and, therefore, will face challenges fulfilling their roles as parents,
citizens and workers. Perhaps of greater concern is the fact that this
problem is not limited to adults. Our high school graduation rate, at 70
percent, is far behind that of other countries, and our students lag behind
many of our trading partners in reading, math and science."
The second force is a dramatically changing economy, driven by
technological innovation and globalization. "The economy itself is
experiencing seismic changes, resulting in new sources of wealth, new
patterns of international trade, and a shift in the balance of capital over
labor," Braun says. "These changes are causing a profound restructuring of
the U.S. workplace, with a larger proportion of job growth occurring in
higher-level occupations that require a college education, such as
management, professional, technical, and executive-level sales. The wage
gap is widening between the most- and least-skilled workers; men with
bachelor's degrees can expect to earn almost twice as much over their
lifetimes as those without."
The third force contributing to America's "perfect storm" is sweeping
demographic changes. "Half of the U.S. population growth into the next
decade is expected to come from new immigrants, which will have a dramatic
impact on the composition of the workforce, as well as on the general
population," Kirsch says. "While immigrants come from diverse backgrounds
with varying levels of education, we should recognize that 34 percent of
new immigrants arrive without a high school diploma, and of those, 80
percent cannot speak English well, if at all."
Although each of these forces is powerful in its own right, it is their
interaction over time that can have momentous consequences. "Our nation has
a choice to make," Sum says. "If we continue on our present course, we will
gradually lose ground to other countries and, in the process, become more
divided socially and economically. Or we can invest in policies that will
help us to grow together, policies that will result in better opportunities
for all Americans."
Download the full report, "America's Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing
Our Nation's Future," for free at www.ets.org/stormreport. Purchase copies
for $15 (prepaid) by writing to the Policy Information Center, ETS, MS
19-R, Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541-0001; by calling (609) 734-5949;
or by sending an e-mail to pic@ets.org.
ABOUT ETS
ETS is a nonprofit institution with the mission to advance quality and
equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research and
related services for all people worldwide. In serving individuals,
educational institutions and government agencies around the world, ETS
customizes solutions to meet the need for teacher professional development
products and services, classroom and end-of-course assessments, and
research-based teaching and learning tools. Founded in 1947, ETS today
develops, administers and scores more than 24 million tests annually in
more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. Additional
information is available at www.ets.org.
Contact:
Tom Ewing
609-683-2803
Email Contact
<<Market Wire -- 02/06/07>>
