CAN STUDENTS OF COLOR MASTER STEM? {GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: GEORGE WONG}
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ARTICLE SUMMARY: “GET INTO CALTECH WITHOUT CALCULUS”
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is changing its admissions requirements to promote greater equity in access to the university. Historically, Caltech required applicants to have completed high school calculus, physics, and chemistry courses. However, the university has eliminated these prerequisites in response to concerns about the unfairness of these requirements for students from less advantaged backgrounds. Instead, applicants can demonstrate mastery of these subjects through alternative methods, such as Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam scores or certifications from the online education platform Khan Academy. This decision aims to provide equal opportunities for all prospective students and has been praised by Khan Academy’s founder, Sal Khan, as a significant step toward educational access.
I was stunned to learn that 33 percent of US high schools fail to offer calculus. I initially questioned if Caltech’s solution was more than a band-aid. But thanks to having intelligent friends like George Wong, I realize we cannot quickly fix the broken and unfair US public education system. We must look for innovative solutions that allow all hard-working Americans a chance to live the American Dream.
While the Failure of the US Department of Education and the Teachers’ Union to address the inequities is a disgrace, we must look for alternative solutions.
I have friends who utilized STEM education and careers combined with their work efforts to lift themselves out of poverty. Let’s give more that same opportunity!
BY GEORGE WONG
“The Cal Tech approach is notable, should be applauded, and should be widely adopted. It is one of the rare tactics in the name of educational equity that preserves the integrity of the educational institution and promotes the self-esteem of the student who was robbed of an opportunity to learn. Too many programs in the name of equity merely give the affected student a different starting line, but otherwise, with little training and ability to run the race. The Cal Tech approach prepares a student to be well-trained for the starting line, with the affected student getting an even start, a level track, equally skilled competitors, and competing in the same race with everyone else. This is a serious lesson for all education equity advocates- they may be looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
It is a national disgrace to have such disparity. Educators will whisper that students of color are not capable. Other educators will tell you we can’t find enough students with an interest or ability. Still, other educators will tell you we lack teachers for the subject. All of these are excuses. We should all go back and see the movie about the AP Calculus Teacher Jaime Escalante from Garfield High School in “Stand and Deliver.” Garfield sits in one of the poorest sections of Los Angeles, and virtually all its students are Hispanic. It is a true story.
As one of the founders and board members of the California Academic Decathlon, I have met many of his Garfield colleagues of the next generation. The teachers continue to embrace education with an infectious enthusiasm that is contagious to the students. According to a recent New York Times story, 47% of the Garfield Advance Placement exams in all subjects attained passing scores of three, four, or five. This is a very high percentage for schools in this demographic group.
What can educational leaders, pundits, politicians, and teachers learn from this?
- Students of color are not too dumb to be taught and learn advanced subjects, including STEM courses.
- The right leaders in a school can influence and inspire teachers, students, and parents to pursue and support sustainable rigor in urban schools.
- The shortage of crucial STEM teachers can be addressed by hiring and paying STEM teachers’ salaries equivalent to what their skills bring to the private sector.
What can we do with this data?
- Create environments and mindsets where showing up daily is part of the community, home, and school culture.
- Demonstrate that there is a line of sight between showing up every day and success: It is as simple as showing that academic achievement opens new sets of doors to the next level.
- Align learning, achievement, and wealth as an outcome attainable for those who show up every day.
- Reward the teachers who produce the best academic outcome with higher salary scales. High average salary scales based only on seniority produce at best average outcomes.
- Consider paying students for school achievements; we lost the war on poverty many years ago with entitlements without expectations.
- Revive the audacious ambitions and actions President John F. Kennedy kicked off on the nine-year race to the moon. The USA’s STEM programs need a reset to narrow the huge STEM gap that China has built.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: George Wong – Senior Advisor at Shark Wheel LLC and Senior Advisor at Intex Industries (Xiamen) Co., Ltd
George Wong is semi-retired and continues to work as senior advisor to two companies, owner-manager of the family’s commercial and multifamily real estate, board member in two non-profit educational organizations, and manager of several stock and bond portfolios for extended family. His professional career included stints at Price WaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant, a commercial real estate firm as developer/portfolio manager, a commercial printing company as COO, a legal document management systems start-up as V.P. Operations, RR Donnelley Financial Print as Plant Manager, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as Finance Manager, Intex Plastics Division as Senior Advisor, and Shark Wheel Inc as co-founder-CFO-Senior Advisor. Out of college, he was a middle school teacher at Inglewood Unified Schools and worked for two federally-funded organizations advising minority-owned businesses. His previous community involvement included the turnaround of a Pasadena unit of the National Urban Coalition, board membership in the Pasadena chapter of the Urban League, and advisor to the California Senate Select Committee on Small Business Enterprises. George was raised in South Central Los Angeles, where his entire education, from elementary to graduate school, was obtained within a three-mile stretch on one street. He remains active in south Los Angeles as a board member at a state-funded child-care center for low-income parents that he helped found 40+ years ago and working with the tenants at the family’s commercial buildings to keep the tenants (all people of color and immigrants) in business. He has been married 40+ years and has two highly successful sons in business, following degrees at two ivy-league schools and the University of Michigan. George has degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Education, and the MBA, all from the University of Southern California. George still competes in the 50 Meter and 100 Meter Dash. He is very proud to say that his understanding of the business world and finance comes from reading the Wall Street Journal every day since he was 15.
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