Creativity: What High Tech Business Means

American industries need creativity and innovation to maintain a competitive edge. A review of government and industry reports, best-selling books, and op ed pieces shows that to be a major theme in assessments of the global economy.

But is everyone talking about the same thing?

Let's start with defining creativity and innovation through the lens of big American industries like IT, aerospace and defense, automotive, and others that depend on the most advanced technologies for their competitive edge. Those industries and the public and private entities that support them have been the most vocal in calling for schools to produce more creative thinkers and innovators.

That group seems to be focused on the kinds of scientific and technological breakthroughs that create new industries, ensure that America is #1 in key global markets, and maintain U.S. national security (which more and more includes energy independence).

Their statements about education benchmarks suggest an emphasis on greater participation and rigor in math and science education. The report Innovation is America's Heartbeat, a 2006 report issued by the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation, presents benchmarks for assessing America's current and future competitive edge. Among those listed under education are math and science literacy among high school students, numbers of science and technology graduates, emphasis on STEM courses among undergraduates, and the showing of American students on the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. In other words, these participants in the "innovation conversation" tend to see their role in K-12 education as promoting high standards in math and science and supporting high-quality math and science teaching (which may mean incentives for teachers). I have seen other recommendations from big industry consortia and agencies supporting programs that increase collaboration between math and science classrooms and the real world of STEM professionals, innovative use of technology in schools, and competitions that encourage students to invent or engineer.