More on STC and National School Standards

Last week we presented a New York Times editorial on a push for national school standards and a stronger emphasis on writing. We asked for comments and got a nice start. You can read the original post and comments here. We also received a couple email comments, which we're condensing below for your review.

First, Rick O'Sullivan (the economist who has been assisting STC in our efforts with the U.S. Department of Labor and making “technical writer” a distinct profession in their Occupational Outlook Handbook) wrote:

The national education standards debate has been going on for some time and there is far less agreement about it than the editorial implies. I am not certain STC taking a position on this topic lies within STC’s mission, but that is a matter for STC’s Board of Directors to determine.

That said, evidence of declining communications skills supporting a push for better writing does give credence to STC's claim that employers should not blindly entrust the engineers capable of designing products with the task of crafting the technical content describing how to safely and effectively use the products they design. One could interpet the data supporting the need for better communications skills as affirmation that the near singular attention on math and science that has driven education policies, budgets, and curricula development over the past decade or so succeeded at the expense of language and communication courses (in both English and foreign languages). This research and the concern generated by its findings clearly demonstrates STC's point that command of technical application and technical communication are separate and distinct skills. Employers should hire technical communicators for the job of technical communication.

STC member David Carlson wrote and included a couple references as well:

Five years ago, the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies published Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, which you can download for free here. You can also download the subsequent essay by Norman Augustine, updating the Academies' report. Both are a result of Congress's desire to better understand what we need to do to improve national competitiveness. They also address the roles of K-12 education.

Thoughts? Opinions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you and find out what you think, so keep the discussion going!