Trend Watch List

>>>> NOTE TO READERS: Trend Watch List is evolving and joining forces with Trend POV to become the way that forward thinking executives access the people and ideas that drive strategic advantage. See and share what we are planning for the big launch January 1st at http://www.New.TrendPOV.com. <<<<

Continuing our look forward towards 2010 and beyond we turn our attention towards the evolving trends that will affect your talent and workforce strategies in the coming years. These trends represent an overarching theme of the individual in an environment of rapid change and continual learning. Training has to be fast, timely, targeted and relevant. One way may businesses may accomplish this in 2010 and beyond is via audio push. Audio push, differs from podcast in that the delivery is immediate and the whole process transacts over your phone with only SMS and phone service. As more employers demand proof of timely skills sets, more job seekers will look for short certification programs to gain and prove these skills. Certification programs are evolving and we are tracking it. We have not forgotten that the talent pipeline for the majority of American industry is broken. In 2010 we will be tracking efforts by governments, organizations and companies alike towards turning this negative trend around with a future workforce checkup. Speaking of your employees, there may be fewer of them. Freelancing is on the rise to the extent that the employee of the future may not be an employee at all, but an independent contractor. Employees that are not moving towards freelance status in the coming years will need quite a bit more to stay with your organization more than a year. Incentivizing employees to drive innovation, effectiveness, and the bottom line has to be personalized. In 2010 we will be tracking the evolution of freelance as the norm and incentive solutions forms. Each of these evolving trends are part of the larger complex landscape of your talent and workforce efforts. Stay tuned throughout 2010 as we explore each of these and more to develop ways for your business to get ahead.

This week, we turn our attention towards the powerful combination of trends that are converging. In this article, we cover how social media, the talent war and global workforce attitudes are converging to affect your talent strategy and how you can create advantage. Even as the internet was developing, talent was becoming harder to find. As we enter the innovation economy the need for a new kind of talent has unleashed the dogs of war across every industry. The evolving innovation economy is not the root of the talent war, but it is the element that would escalate talent shortage towards an all out battle for human capital. Meanwhile, social media emerged as a means to fill a need for the secret sauce of innovation - people. A virtual flood (pun intended) of job candidates but a need to find just the right one has led to the emergence of some unusual recruiting methodologies. Ambush interviews, networks raids, lurking on candidate blogs and more are now common place techniques for pulling in that hard to find innovative talent. At the same time, generations X and Y are becoming your mainstay workforce with the attitude of the disposable worker. Your challenge used to be making sure you did not give your employees a reason to leave...now work every day to give them a reason to stay. Growing disinterest in technical disciplines within the United States and worsening performance against global peers is spurring more organizations to search globally. Social media, the talent war and global attitudes did not beget each other, but have now converged and are both exacerbating and enabling solutions among themselves. Being at the center of these trends can mean a number of things. Decide what it means for your organization. Focus, measure and track your results and you are on your way to coherent and talented teams.

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Trend Watch List and Trend POV are all about helping businesses create unique advantage from emerging trends. We want to hear from you about what you like, what you don’t like and how we can serve you better. Follow this link to take our 10 min survey and get a free copy of this month's extended article on converging business trends: “Smarter, Faster, More - Converging Trends Driving The New Business Environment”. We value your opinion and look forward to being a part of your strategic point of view.

Your competition is tapping your talent pipeline. In previous articles we have detailed where the pipeline is broken, why, how to fix it, the role of attitudes, and much more. We turn our attention now to the one other force responsible for your lack of workforce talent - that of your competition siphoning off the pipeline at every stage possible.

In the K-12 range, a multitude of companies are making efforts to develop their own pipelines. We have highlighted several via the Spotlight Awards but there are hundreds more; 18 from the Aerospace Industry Association alone whose members support an average of 26 educational programs each. The college level of your talent pipeline is perhaps the most common and accepted place to find new talent, and one that your organization likely is tapping already.

Now consider the talent that you already have in-house. This part of the pipeline is perhaps the most vulnerable. Other organizations will tap your current staff in many ways including: social media, ambush interviews, and the newest style of corporate raiding that we will call “network raiding.”

In the social media age, there is no such thing as a secret. This fact has let to two more unusual forms of recruitment. The first emergent form of recruitment is the ambush interview. The ambush interview begins as a legitimate business meeting for a legitimate purpose and devolves by design into a serious discussion of whether or not the talent in question would consider jumping ship. On the other side of the coin, a popular tactic is to lure away one or two and have them lure more in turn, a.k.a. the Network Raid.

For a positive advantage, you have two options: raise the talent yourself, or let your competition raise the talent and siphon off of their pipeline. Organizations that are focused on the short term (perhaps planning a grow-and-sell strategy) will prefer to pick off great talent from other organizations after they have put in the effort to educate and train them. For stable brands in it for the long haul, it is cheaper and more effective to have your own pipeline rather than siphoning off of your competitors.

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The spotlight award is given to organizations that demonstrate an honest understanding of emerging trends and work to turn them into an advantage. This month, we honor For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) with the Spotlight Award in the category of Education Trends for understanding the need, and for taking innovative, scalable and measurable steps to meet it.

FIRST was founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 to “change the culture” by “inspiring young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.” The non-profit organization provides challenge programs culminating in competitions where teams from grades K-12 put forth their best solutions to real world problems posed by sponsors.

Three factors make FIRST special and of note to organizations everywhere: it reaches all the way down to the early elementary level, it is measurable, and it is massively scalable.

Among FIRST programs, if Junior FIRST LEGO is tee-ball, FIRST LEGO is little league, FIRST Tech Challenge is Junior Varsity and FIRST Robotics Competition is Varsity. Coaches and mentors from companies that sponsor, promote and just get involved provide guidance, real-world application, hands-on learning and critical encouragement to teams of all ages. Today, FIRST has 3000 corporate sponsors and reaches over 196,000 students. Careful tracking has shown that FIRST programs directly increase technical career choice by two to four times. The secret to FIRST scalability is putting the power in the hands of individuals who come together to create their own teams. Coaches and mentors volunteer within these local teams.

We asked FIRST President, Paul Gudonis, how he will know when FIRST has succeeded in changing the culture? He recommended a two-sided measure: qualitative and quantitative. He suggests, “quantitatively, by college entrance and by graduation in STEM fields and qualitatively by who we celebrate as a culture. You get what you celebrate - we celebrate innovation, creativity, and teamwork.”

Companies and organizations worldwide can turn this trend into an advantage in several ways: get involved, create additional challenge programs locally, and incentivize employee participation at the individual level. Time is a precious as money and it does not take a lot of either to start seeing the rewards of a solid technical talent pipeline for your organization.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/r8bvly

It seems like great talent is getting harder and harder to find. Few industries have felt the pinch more than those who need technical minds to survive. Something has gone wrong. The pipeline that used to turn future talent into today’s talent is broken. In this article, we travel down the pipeline to find the break. There is advantage to be had for organizations that act now. The university end of the pipeline appears to be in tip top shape. However, there are not enough people emerging from technical majors because students do not choose those majors. The pipeline is in tact, but it is empty. High School shows a similar story. Let’s look at middle school. Decisions made by these 11-14 year olds are making the difference between staying in the technical pipeline and leaving it forever...and they are choosing to leave it forever. The full damage to the technical pipeline is not seen until you look all the way back at the shattered remains of what once ran through the pre-school and elementary years. Today, the technical talent pipeline of today does not really begin until the end of Middle School when most future talent has already chosen a different path. The pipeline that used to exist before middle school was destroyed in the early 1970s when we lost our culture of importance. Few in...few out. To turn these trends into an advantage for your organization, I recommend a two-pronged approach. First, It is not too late for the millennials and beyond. Establish your own pipeline that begins in pre-school and continues through college. The reward is a pool of talent that competes to work for YOU instead of the other way around. Sadly, It is too late to increase the amount of technical talent in generation X and generation Y. For those generations, offer education and experiences within your organization to grow the talent you have and those diamonds in the rough that you will discover. This combination of strategies will keep you in sufficient talent to weather the innovation economy and beyond in grand style while your competition takes loss after loss in the great talent war.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/n6k5k4

The Self Tending Mushroom Alert, or STeMie, is bestowed on individuals, organizations and countries who choose to delude themselves rather than face reality. Albeit harsh, the STeMie serves an important role in showing us what not to do. Grab your shovels as we award this month’s STeMie to the American Parent in the category of Education Trends.

Few people have spent more time deluding themselves about their children’s future than the American Parent. For decades, a “they” mentality and a culture of low standards in math and science performance has brought about significant declines in our overall technical capacity as a nation. The attitude of the American Parent (and teachers, and daycare providers alike) is at the center of problem and the solution to the declining technical capability of the United States.

How did it come to this? Somewhere towards the beginning of Generation X, our culture stopped thinking that math and science are important. We allowed ourselves to think that some people are just not good at math or science because it made us feel better about our own failures. In short, it became uncool to be good at math and science. We put ignorant people on a pedestal and listen to every word they say because it makes us feel smarter.

There is not one parent in the country that would believe that their child is “just not good at P.E.”. After all, they have a body now go out there and use it! But the average American Parent allows their child to come home and declare that they are “just not good at math,” relying instead on THEY. Somewhere out there in their generation there are some smart kids and they will study math and science and create wonderful things.

I have good news and bad news and you can decide which is which. Every child has a brain. Now expect them to go out there and use it. There is no THEY. Your child is the brilliant one who is capable of amazing ingenuity. If your children are “just not good” at math and science it is because you ”just don’t put in the effort.” Maybe you didn’t do well in math or science and you are embarrassed about that...Maybe you don’t like math...maybe you just hate science..Maybe you don’t understand the varied methods that your child brings home in their homework. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to understand it. You don’t have to have done well in the classes. You just have to care that your child does.

The lesson for individuals and organizations across the United States is both simple and critical. The solution to the education crisis in the United States begins with creating a culture of importance in the home. A culture of importance is what you create when you say to your child, “Whether or not I did well in these subjects, it is important to me that you do.” Your opinion matters. Now use it for your own future and that of your children and grandchildren.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/ln7blp

In this article, we turn our attention outward to look at cultural attitudes towards math and science worldwide and what it means for us. Cultures which strive for continual improvement are synonymous with innovation and success. Four of the top seven performing countries have a 90% rate of belief that technological advancements bring social benefits. Another interesting find is that students in the large majority of the top performing countries study within systems where 80% of schools have at least two other schools competing for students leading to higher emphasis on academics.

The important conclusion from these results and others is that attitudes matter. A secret sauce of attitudes would seem to be the perfect recipe for high performance and high interest. All of this emphasis on attitude might make you wonder why it is so important.

Attitudes affect vocational choice and national research funding in every country. If no one wants to be a scientist and no one is funding research, there will be no work done. The result: we will not have the medicines, we will not have the gadgets and we will not have the know-how. In short, we will stagnate while others race ahead...And it all comes down to attitude.

To turn global attitude trends into an advantage for your family is quite simple: start today to form a culture of importance within your home and within your family. It doesn’t matter if you failed every math and science course you took. Decide that it is important to you that the children in your life learn as much as they can. Then, let them know!

For businesses and organizations, foster a culture of importance within your communities and among your employees. Perpetuating a culture where math and science are important is a critical factor for filling your talent pipeline.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/cja7uy

The spotlight award is given to individuals and entities that demonstrate a keen understanding of emerging trends and who successfully turn those trends into an advantage over and over. Spotlight award recipients are examples to learn from and a great place to get ideas for your own trend POV. This month’s spotlight award goes to Intel Corporation in the category of Education Trends.

Intel is pursuing a powerful portfolio of programs to, “help teachers teach, students learn and universities around the world innovate-particularly in the areas of math, science and technology.”

With nearly a dozen programs to tackle many of the major aspects of early and higher math and science education, it can seem overwhelming. Why would any company do so much? The major reason is in the sad fact that no company or organization in the United States can depend on our current educational system and culture to produce sufficient technical talent for the future. The fact that Intel recognized over a decade ago is that any organization requiring technical talent to thrive has to fill the pipeline themselves.

Beyond positive results and philanthropy you have to ask what is in it for Intel. After all, Intel Corporation is a technology manufacturer. They make computer chips. They are not in the education business. They funnel a lot of corporate profit into the endeavor but they do not profit from education or education research...or do they?

No company is THAT philanthropic without an expected ROI. Looking a little deeper, we see that there is indeed quite a bit in it for Intel: direct lines into a large worldwide pipeline of technical talent AND increased worldwide positive brand image and awareness.

There are several aspects of Intel’s program that any organization can emulate even if your budgets are small. The important features of Intel’s education outreach programs include:

1. budgeting a consistent percentage of profits each year towards educational outreach programs,
2. designing activities that tap into their unique workforce,
3. designing activities that promote the skills their organization will need in the coming decades
4. benefiting students, parents, teachers and administrators alike,

We are thrilled to award this month’s spotlight award to Intel Corporation as an example that every organization can follow and wish to offer our heartfelt thanks to the people behind the education initiative for the inspiration they provide worldwide.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/d4t9xa

In the January 2009 Trend Watch List article, ”Trends in Math and Science Performance,” we noted that “An important trend is that the United States was in a similar position in 2003. Not an upward trend, not a downward trend, but a trend wherein other countries continue to out-perform the US and still others are racing forward while the US stagnates in ineffective education...The impact of stagnant and ineffective math and science education is a severe lack of technical talent in the current and future workforce.”

This problem is significant and not likely to be resolved in time for Generation X...perhaps there is a fighting chance for the Millennials (second half of Generation Y). In the February Trend Watch List article, ”Cultural Attitudes Towards Math And Science In The US,” we noted that, “Major differences in math and science performance between countries can be traced to a cultural issue – one of parent and teacher attitudes towards math and science and its importance...To turn this trend into an advantage, your organization needs to reverse the trend.”

In this article, we review past research and detail why early childhood is the last frontier and best possible stage to foster and enjoyment and importance of math and science that will lead to a larger, more capable emerging workforce.

There is no shortage of research blooming from every corner on the subject of literature-based mathematics at the early childhood level and its impact on the emerging workforce. But introducing concepts early is not enough. Effectively stemming the decline to produce the technically savvy workforce required for the coming decades will require TWO specific remedies.

The definition of success is quite easy to reach. We will pass the turning point when every school has sufficient resources to introduce higher order math and science at the preschool and early elementary level and when every parent and teacher says honestly and often to the children in their lives, “Whether or not I did well in math and science, it is important to me that you do, and I will do what I can to help you.”

Individuals can create an advantage from this trend by fostering a culture of importance with the children in your life - your own children, your nieces and nephews, your cousins, your neighbors, your friends. You have the power to influence - so start using it to positive effect.

Companies and organizations have an equally powerful chance to influence young minds, and an entire workforce to gain. Consider the talents within your own organization. What experiments, talents, information and demonstrations can you and your organization bring to local schools to make a difference? It is rare that a single undertaking can be a win for both the organization and the community, so get started today!

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Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001YQF6SU?ie=UTF8&tag=trendwatchlist-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001YQF6SU

This month’s STeMie goes to a reporter, radio host and nightly cable news anchor who, as a result, will probably not invite me on any time soon; the illustrious Lou Dobbs. Lou Dobbs is the anchor and managing editor of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight.

After a recent episode of his CNN show, I knew he was a perfect candidate for a STeMie in the category of Education.mHe goes so far as to suggest that large companies like Microsoft are deviously plotting to import foreign post doctoral students for cheap labor...insert Bill Gates and an evil laugh here...and that this results in lower pay for scientific jobs thus deterring our own citizens from pursuing scientific careers.

He fails to understand the reality behind these statistics, however, which have formed from the sad state of pre-college math and science education in the United States and the higher quality of such in thirty five other countries around the world.

The lesson for Lou Dobbs is: it may be time to get some new researchers on staff. Granted, in the media world, “bad news is good news and good news is not news.” Nonetheless, taking a victim mentality via tabloid quality expose to protect yourself and your audience from the reality of our educational failure is unacceptable. Your viewers deserve better...they deserve the “TRUTH” that you so vehemently promise each night but, in this case, failed to deliver.

The lesson lesson for Trend Watch List readers is: compete on a global scale, or suffer the consequences. No good will come from blaming our poor educational system on foreign states or evil corporations. We need to face the reality and start doing something to turn it around.

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Link: http://www.trendwatchlist.com/extended

Major differences in math and science performance between countries can be traced to a cultural issue – one of parent and teacher attitudes towards math and science and its importance. In this article, we look as the state of cultural attitudes towards math and science in the US specifically and how companies and organizations can help reverse the trend for an advantage.

Many parents push back on updated teaching methods because they are not what they know themselves. Keep in mind, these are Generation X parents of Generation Y and Millennial Children. We were among the first wave of the lost technical generations. It is no surprise that our fear of not understanding makes us less open to our children learning new ways to solve problems. There is nothing wrong with the method…the problem is the parental attitude, and often that of the teacher as well.

Many teachers across the country also push back on any new method of instruction. Largely for the same reason…fear. I have seen it first hand in my teaching experience. Imagine a room full of soon-to-be elementary school teachers of which 80% are quite literally in fear of math. They are teaching your children and grandchildren today.

Students in the PISA test (see January’s Trend Watch List Article on Education) echoed their parents’ sentiment that science (including mathematical science) is important and should be advanced. But only 1% take up a mathematics major when they reach college in the United States because they do not see the subject as relevant and useful to them personally.

To turn this trend into an advantage, your organization needs to reverse the trend. Consider what you can uniquely do to affect attitudes, reach children at all ages, and educate parents and teachers on the importance and use of math and science. It is not only good for your community; it fills your future talent pipeline AND builds brand awareness with the upcoming generation and their parents!

[Get the full-length version of this article for your Kindle, iPhone or iPod Touch at Amazon!]

Link: http://www.dramyvanderbilt.com

Performance in Math and Science for High School students is a critical indicator of both current educational effectiveness and future workforce capability. More important than the trends themselves are the implications for individuals and organizations nation-wide. The United States trails 35 other countries in math and science performance (23 of which are considered “rich” countries) and has for years.

An important trend is that the United States was in a similar position in 2003. Not an upward trend, not a downward trend, but a trend wherein other countries continue to out-perform the US and still others are racing forward while the US stagnates in ineffective education. Look again at the worldwide list of countries that out-performed the US. You will see some of the poorest countries in the northern hemisphere. It strongly suggests that increased educational funding is not a factor in an effective technical education.

The impact of stagnant and ineffective math and science education is a severe lack of technical talent in the current and future workforce. Retirement is near for the boomer generation. A smaller and smaller percentage of technical degrees are awarded each year to US citizens. There goes Generation X. Add to that the waning pipeline cut off by the above noted lacking math and science education at the K-12 level. There goes Generation Y.

To create advantage from this trend, your organization must develop unique methods for locating, attracting and maintaining that technical talent. Moreover, you must prepare a pipeline of technical talent starting from the early elementary and even preschool levels. In later articles we will detail how Education affects the talent war and what you can do to affect your position in that war to a positive end at each stage of the pipeline.

[Get the full-length version of this article for your Kindle, iPhone or iPod Touch at Amazon!]

Link: http://www.dramyvanderbilt.com

The United States has fallen far from the lead in math and science education over the last decade and it could not have worse timing. As the boomer generation retires and fewer and fewer technically savvy graduates are produced, this country will see a sharp decline in our capacity to innovate. As the world moves to an innovation economy, our country will move to the end of the line. It is already starting and the trend to watch is this: will the US wake up to reality and make a move to end this decline; or will we watch, as WE become a third world country over the next ten years. In 2009, I will be reporting on the organizations and businesses who have chosen to do something to end this decline; what they are doing and what effect it is having. As a cultural issue, it starts with individuals, parents, companies and our society. I will be tracking the national discussion that is soon to emerge and will show you how you can start to make a change for your children, and for your future talent pool.

Get extended Trend Watch List articles with all the data and analysis for your Kindle, iPhone or iPod Touch at Amazon!

Link: http://www.events.dramyvanderbilt.com

The social media age has spawned fantastic advancements in technology and communications. It has also spawned one of the greatest battles for your children’s attention that our society has ever known.

It seems to be getting harder and harder to create, nurture and maintain real communication with your children. Add to that the complexity of up to three wildly different generations within your family (the boomers, Gen X and Gen Y).

In this highly interactive session, Dr. Amy Vanderbilt will show you the role of social media and the internet in the war for your family’s attention and how to turn it into your secret weapon. Participants will learn key insights into how our own behaviors led to the creation of social media and the need for a different kind of leadership within the family.

Dr. Vanderbilt will walk participants through case studies and real life examples of how to use social media and the internet to create, nurture and maintain real communication with your children. Worksheets will be provided to help participants plan and tailor these techniques for their own families and create an action plan that can be implemented immediately.

Special cases and scenarios from participants will feed a portion of the presentation on handling difficult and unique situations with new methods and an enlightened point of view.

Learner Outcomes

• Social Media And Internet-driven Techniques That You Can Implement To Keep Your Family Together And Talking
• Behaviors Within Your Own Family That Are Holding You Back
• An Action Plan That Can Be Implemented Immediately For Transforming Your Family’s Use Of Social Media To Create, Nurture And Maintain Communication

Link: http://www.events.dramyvanderbilt.com

In the age of social media, parents must come to terms with one very important fact: control is a fallacy, but leadership is real and required.

In this highly interactive session, Dr. Amy Vanderbilt will detail how the communications age, and subsequently the social media age, has changed the way parents must lead and manage their families and the consequences of being a Self Tending Mushroom. Using case studies and best practices from the military, industry and everyday life; Dr. Vanderbilt will walk you through each step of the family leadership cycle.

Presentation will include handouts and worksheets as we work through real life examples and techniques that participants can implement immediately. Special cases and real-life scenarios from participants will feed a portion of the presentation on handling difficult and unique situations with new methods and an enlightened point of view.

Learner Outcomes

• Build And Maintain Highly Effective Communications Within Your Family
• Manage And Lead Your Children Openly To Build Trust And Cohesion
• Develop Your Children Into Great Leaders And Transition Leadership To Them At The Right Time

Link: http://www.events.dramyvanderbilt.com

The state of math and science education in the United States has suffered a significant decline over several decades.

In this presentation, Dr. Amy Vanderbilt will challenge you to see the cultural trends the led to this decline and that will lead us out of it. She will walk participants through the future of this trend over the coming decade and how companies and individuals are taking action to ensure a better tomorrow for the next generation.

Every parent, teacher and citizen can elevate the potential of every child. Dr. Vanderbilt will show you how!

Learn what successful companies are doing to cultivate technical talent from a young age, how you can too, and how these children are benefiting from their efforts.

Extended sessions will include in depth how-to on finding and inspiring great teachers, and motivating children to work toward their full human potential.

Learner Outcomes

• Elevate The Potential Of Every Child
• Cultivate Technical Talent From A Young Age
• Find And Inspire Great Teachers Motivate Children To Work Toward Their Full Human Potential

Link: http://trendfactorpress.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1&osCsid=aac8c4924a3c7a4a96f2c065e57611b9

How It All Started

When my two children were very small, I would search the bookstore and library shelves for books that would plant the seeds of real math to give my own kids the advantage of early learning; but all I could find were counting books.

After sufficient complaining on my part, my Mom (brilliant woman that she is) said, "So why don't you just write one!" It was in that moment that I decided to put forth a series of books that would launch a new genre: higher order math fiction for 0-10 year olds.

Sabrina's Involvement and Why Negative Nine Became Book One

Sabrina was so excited about the idea that she wanted to help and her perspective was what lent Negative Nine and the whole series that special tone that speaks so well to young children.

We actually wrote a number of prototype books on different subjects, but Negative Nine bubbled to the top as something truly special and worthy of being the first book in the series.

What's Next?

We plan to complete the series with an additional five or so books. Some of the topics we are considering include: zero, infinity, fractions, counting in different bases, partitions, and logic.

The second book in the series, Zero,Zero Everywhere! launches in early November of this year.

Link: http://www.trendfactorpress.com

TREND: Declining state of math and science education in the United States

EFFECT: Lack of technical talent is getting worse every year; innovation is suffering and the economy with it.

SOLUTION IN FOCUS: Parents must create a cultural change within the home.

Twenty Three other countries do a better job of educating their children in math and science than we do… and it has been that way for some time. So what does that mean for us?

Lets start by thinking about all the things that math and science are used to create:

• Medicine
• Weapons
• Products
• Manufacturing Advances
• Ideas
• Knowledge
• Innovation

These twenty three other countries understand that by educating their children more effectively in math and science, they will advance themselves in these areas farther and faster. Let this trend continue for another ten years or so…to about the time that YOUR kids are entering the world. The world that your children (and mine) will enter is a world where TWENTY THREE other countries have BETTER medicine, BETTER weapons, BETTER products, BETTER ideas, and BETTER economies because of it . Who will be the third world country now? The United States will no longer be a super power. And it is not because we are not running in the race; but because twenty three other countries are running faster. It is time for us to pick up the pace.

Cultural Roots

It is a cultural problem that will not be solved with law and policy. Generation after generation, math and science has not been something we expect our children to be good in. It is OK for children to stop taking math at a certain point in High School. It is considered acceptable when someone says, “I’m just not good at math.” If your child came home with bad grades in History or English or Art, would you brush it off and say, “well, he just doesn’t have the knack for that!” I doubt it. It has become acceptable to leave math and science to the “smart people”. I have some bad news for you…your children ARE THE SMART PEOPLE; and you should expect more from them. There is no magic THEY within their generation that is going to save the day…it is up to THEM.

Look further now at who your children are idolizing on TV – these men and women, boys and girls that make the news so often – are they smart? Do they work hard? Do they make intelligent decisions on and off screen? I challenge you to take a good hard look at what your kids are watching; at the role models that you are putting in front of them; and at the expectations that YOU set in YOUR HOUSE. It is the individual actions of parents within their own home that will begin to shift this cultural deficiency back to where it needs to be; and this country back into the competitive position that it USED TO hold. We can get there again. But it is up to YOU!

Link: http://www.dramyvanderbilt.com/Sponsor%20an%20Educational%20Distribution%20of%20Negative%20Nine%20and%20the%20Early%20Math%20Series.pdf

The reality is that you as an individual, as a company or as a Government entity, cannot expect the struggling school systems to give your children and future star employees everything they need to be the building blocks of our future economic stability. It is time to do something and that something is to partner with us here at Trend Factor Press to bring Negative Nine and the Early Math Series to schools and reading programs across the nation.

WHY YOU SHOULD SPONSOR AN EDUCATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

• The lack of home-grown technical talent in the United States is hurting Government and Industry alike across every sector
• Developing the technical talent needed for 2020 and beyond has to start TODAY at the EARLIEST POSSIBLE POINT
• Teachers recognize what this book can do for them but they do not have the funding to acquire it – 75 percent of all teachers and librarians in the pre-kindergarten through fourth grade levels who hear about the book wish they had one, but they don’t even have the money to buy school supplies, much less critical concept-building books.
• US students are falling, ”further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries” – Associated Press, USA Today, December 4, 2007
• “This issue has reached a crisis point…If the United States is to remain a global economic leader, we must foster an environment that enables a new generation to dream up innovations” - Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, The Washington Post, February 25, 2007

PARTNER WITH US

Trend Factor Press is a passionate supporter of early math & science education. We want to partner with you to put this innovative series into schools & programs nationwide:

• We will run a special printing with your logo and message inside each book
• We will support your PR efforts to show off your sponsorship
• We will provide books at a full one third off the list price
• We will handle all of the distribution
• We will pay all the shipping costs
• YOU will make a difference

Click the link above to see program ideas and more detail.

Link: http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r40/Music/14/29/01/mzi.cdxqzkxj.170x170-75.jpg

Negative Nine has launched in audio format and is now available on iTunes:

Check it out!

An ENHANCED version that includes synchronized pictures is available on Audible Kids

The audio version of Negative Nine is voiced by Sabrina and I ourselves with Sabrina taking the role of the character voices and myself as the narrator. Running time is 9 minutes. You can hear samples of the audio book at iTunes and at the Audible sites. Both the audio and hard copy versions of Negative Nine make a great gift for the children in your life. I recommend it for ages 3-7 and a bit younger and older depending on personality ; )

Book two in the Early Math Series will lauch in November of this year.

Link: http://www.modavox.com/Voiceamericacms/WebModules/HostModaview.aspx?HostId=354&ChannelId=1&Flag=1

I was honored to be on The Parents' Hour hosted by Dr. Arline Kerman Friday, May 9th at 10am EST (7am PST) to discuss the failing state of math and science education in the United States. I joined this fantastic host for a full hour of discussion and enlightenment on what we can all do to help the next generation. If you are near a computer (which you are, if you are reading this!), click the link above to go to her page on the Voice America network and tune in via your computer to the podcast of the episode.

Link: http://www.trendfactorpress.com

COMBATING THE COUNTRY’S FAILING STATE OF MATH AND SCIENCE EDUCATION, D.C. AREA FIRM TREND FACTOR PRESS LAUNCHES A NEW GENRE OF EARLY LEARNING BOOKS

Planting the seeds of a smarter generation - Dr. Amy Vanderbilt's innovative new book, Negative Nine, gives parents and teachers the power to do what the educational system alone cannot.

The failing state of Math and Science education in the United States continues to spawn an outcry for federal and state level reform of our educational system. But one Northern Virginia firm is taking a decidedly different stand by giving individual parents, and teachers the power to turn this trend around.

Vanderbilt, founder of Trend Factor Press and mother of two, has joined forces with her nine-year old daughter, Sabrina, to write a unique book called Negative Nine. The first in a series of innovative early learning fiction books, Negative Nine, plants the seeds of the concept of negative numbers in the minds of children 0-10. Dr. Vanderbilt said, “You cannot rely on the school system to give your kids everything they need, but you as the parent, the aunt or uncle, the grandparent or the individual teacher can give them the advantage of early learning.”
She notes that, “Every one of us as individuals can make a big impact on the next generation by doing nothing more than showing kids the beginnings of these concepts from a young age. Then when they do eventually see these ideas in school, it will be second nature. The biggest payoff will come when you see that your kids love math and science as much as they love art and music.”

With every passing year we see more and more skilled technical positions being outsourced to other countries; largely because technical talent in the U.S. is getting harder and harder to find. Dr. Vanderbilt, a mathematician and speaker, began this series as a way to give her own children the advantage of planting these seeds early. And it is working. Other parents heard about the idea and encouraged her to publish the series so that even the most math-phobic parents and teachers will have a simple and easy way to give the children in their lives that same advantage. Subsequent books in the series will be published over the next two years covering topics such as zero, infinity, fractions, logic, and more.

Negative Nine is available on Amazon.com and at Trend Factor Press.