Technology v Education

The U.S. economy is a horse race between educationnand technology, and the gap is widening between rich and poor
Americans.

Have you noticed unskilled labor (white, black and Latino)nhas lost its bargaining power in the marketplace?

There are no jobs of last resort like ditch digging and pumpingngas because of automation (technology). China has permanentlyntaken over the manufacturing sector with automation and low-costnlabor.

Age 5 is The Cutting Edge

High school graduation in 1965 was nearly 80%; today it averages about
50%. Human capital is presently downsized because of the lack of advancednskills, not IQ, economic class or race.

How many graduates are awarded diplomas who cannot read and ncomprehend a complex sentence?

James Heckman of the University of Chicago says, by age 5 researchersncan accurately predict who will graduate high school and gain the skillsnto survive and thrive in the U.S. economy.

In his book, Schools, Skills And Synapses, Heckman says motivation levels,nemotional stability, self control and sociability are early education traits thatndecide the Haves from the Have-Nots in our Knowledge Economy.

These learning skills are absorbed at age three to six. Is half our societyndoomed to a life of poverty?

Skills Gap

When General Motors lays off a 40-year-old assembly line employee,ncan he/she be retrained to succeed in our high-tech society?

What does it take to spike knowledge-skills for those at the bottom ofnthe economic ladder?

Politics

Simply put, Obama wants to fund early childhood education, and
McCain wants to continue No Child Left Behind. The choice is nbetween training students in the personal skills required in the marketplace,nand forcing schools to test students without teaching them the essential problem-solving skills.

Reading, Math And Science.

Students who cannot read and understand complex sentences are also closed outnfrom Math and Science. The fundamental knowledge to fit into our KnowledgenEconomy is based on reading, learning and memory skills.

Speed Reading

The purpose of speed reading is not to read three books, articles and reportsnwhile your peers can hardly finish one, it is to train yourself (auto-didactic)nto absorb ideas and use them creatively in your career.

Testing Your Self

The single most important skill in reading is to read a chapter, and be ablento summarize the key points in your own words. We learn by reading andncontinuously testing our knowledge by answering seven questions about thenmaterial.

Who? What? When? Where? Why? Which? and How?

Both children from age five to high school, and adults who want to benretrained, can become competent in comprehension and long-term memory.

Corny But True

There are four personal traits required for Speedlea
ing success strategies.

Focus-Awareness-Curiosity- Initiative. We remember them by the easynacronym – Faci (pronounced face-y). Draw a little picture of a face and associate itnwith the four principles. Test yourself, do you remember the four principles?nna) Focus is based on controlling your mental visualizations. You brain is a lase
for separating the relevant information from the dross. Keep the essential factsnto decide what you have to work with to be creative and imaginative.nnb) Awareness is having knowledge of facts you are working with, it is mindfulnconsciousness. Use it to be a problem solver.nnc) Curiosity is asking the question – What-If? of each circumstance, andnfollowing it to a useful answer. The use of the six W questions plus the Hnis a matrix for solutions. nnd) Initiative is from Latin meaning to begin, enter. When you choose tonuse initiative, you are exerting leadership and forcefulness.

If you use FACI, you also absorb Motivation-Emotional Stability-Self-Controlnand Socialability. Today’s career required teamwork and learning how to nplay with others.

Endwords

Our experience is helping train kids and adults in SpeedLea
ing,nthe ability to read and remember three (3) books, articles and reportsnin the time others cannot absorb even one.

These principles have been taught to two million, including the White House nstaffs of four U.S. Presidents.

These strategies permit SpeedLea
ers to excel in both school and career.

Ask us how to ace your next promotion.

See ya,nncopyright © 2008
H. Bernard Wechsle
www.speedlea
ing.orgnhbw@speedlea
ing.org
1-877-567-2500n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------nnnnnnn nnn