Kentucky lags in hard sciences

Education forum will look at reasons and how it can improve

If Kentucky is going to be an economic engine in the global marketplace, a lot is going to have to change in education.

Consider that nationally Kentucky ranks:

• 47th in workforce education.
• 47th in the number of scientists and engineers.
• 44th in the number of high-tech businesses.
• 42nd in the number of high-tech jobs.
• 41st in the number of science and engineering occupations.
• 39th in industry investment in research and development.

Those statistics are according to a study released in March by the Council on Postsecondary Education STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Task Force and the University of Kentucky.

In a study released in August by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, of every 100 ninth-grade Kentucky students in 2004:

• 64.8 percent of students graduated from high school.
• 37.2 percent directly entered college.
• 24.2 percent enrolled in their second year.
• 12.3 percent graduated within 150 percent of the program time.
• 22.2 percent from ages 25-44 had bachelor's degrees.

All five of those statistics are below the national averages, and far below the best-performing states.

So why is Kentucky lagging, and how can those numbers be improved?

That will be discussed at a couple of workshops - "Getting There from Here" and "Can We Supply the Demand?" - at the Vision 2015 "Champions for Education" summit Wednesday at Northern Kentucky Convention Center.

Vision 2015 is a strategic plan of providing regional economic and social solutions by 2015. The purpose of the summit is to inform and empower local citizens to promote and support a better education system in Northern Kentucky....

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer.