Standardized Testing Takes Center Stage
Every issue explores cutting-edge developments in technology, medicine, education, climate change, and much more. Articles provide in-depth analyses of science and technology’s impact on public policy, the economy, and society—bringing today’s best minds to bear on tomorrow’s most critical topics.
Editor's Journal
Testy about Testing
Testy about Testing Concerns about race, class, unions, and state budget priorities have elevated the testing of students to a major national issue–and muddied the discussion. Discussions of standardized testing often seem… Read More
From the Hill
From the Hill – Winter 2003
Proposed big increases for R&D in FY 2003 may be in jeopardy Hefty increases in research and development (R&D) spending proposed by the House and Senate for fiscal year (FY) 2003 may… Read More
Perspectives
Science and Technology in Foreign Policy
This is a time when the constructive power of science and technology (S&T) can propel humankind to new levels of global well-being, or when their destructive power could bring an era of… Read MoreWanted: Scientific Leadership on Climate
What happens when the scientific community’s responsibility to society conflicts with its professional self interest? In the case of research related to climate change the answer is clear: Self interest trumps responsibility.… Read MoreHighway Research for the 21st Century
The U.S. highway system faces many challenges in the years ahead, challenges that cannot be successfully addressed without new knowledge and innovations of all sorts. For example, how can highway agencies and… Read MoreAttracting the Best and the Brightest Students
Are careers in scientific research still attractive to the most talented young Americans? This is a critical question since it is widely held that innovation in science depends less on the many… Read More
Real Numbers
OECD Science, Technology, and Industry Outlook
Despite the economic slowdown that spread across the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area in 2001, investment in and exploitation of knowledge remain key drivers of innovation economic performance, and… Read More
Features
Blocking Invasive Aquatic Species
Voracious snakehead fish from China crawl out of a Maryland pond, while 100-pound Asian carp smash into recreational boats on the Mississippi River. Armies of alien rats, numbering in the millions and… Read MoreConflicts of Interest in Human Subjects Research
Conflict of interest in biomedical research first came to public notice in the 1980s via a number of cases of scientific misconduct in which perpetrators had financial interests in the outcome of… Read MoreImproving Workplace Hazard Communication
Workers in many modern industrial settings have long faced a multitude of chemical threats to their health and safety–some of them obvious, many more barely perceptible. As early as 1972, a National… Read MoreCan the Testing Industry Meet Growing Demand?
The passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act significantly increased the prominence of standardized testing in the nation’s K-12 schools. Every state will have to test every student repeatedly in… Read MoreKnowing What Students Know
Many people are simply puzzled by the heavy emphasis on standardized testing of students and eager to find out exactly what is gained by such activity. The title of the National Research… Read MoreNo Child Left Behind
On his first day in office, President Bush announced that education was his priority and set forth a plan that was based on four principles. The first, of course, is accountability. The… Read MoreThe Hazards of High-Stakes Testing
With the nation about to embark on an ambitious program of high-stakes testing of every public school student, we should review our experience with similar testing efforts over the past few decades… Read MoreEveryday Threats to Aircraft Safety
On the morning of February 9, 1998, an American Airlines 727 on final instrument approach to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport suddenly pitched downward. Despite the pilot’s corrective actions, the aircraft hit the… Read More
Book Reviews
Broadband on the run
Smart mobs is veteran tech-watcher Howard Rheingold’s term for the growing ranks of people linked to each other through the mobile Internet. In the millions worldwide today, mobile devices could start outnumbering… Read More
The forgotten half
Beyond College for All reexamines the school-to-work transition for those who do not go on to further education after high school. In particular, it focuses on the connections and contacts made (or… Read More
Archives – Winter 2003
Photo: University of Texas at Dallas Lloyd V. Berkner Lloyd V. Berkner (1905-1967) began his research career with the study of ionospheric conditions surrounding the transmission of radio signals, which he undertook… Read More