2 Million Minutes – How American H.S. Students Spend Their Time

As soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult.

How do most American high school students spend this time? Statistics for American high school students give rise to concern. Less than 40 percent of U.S. students take a science course more rigorous than general biology, and a mere 18 percent take advanced classes in physics, chemistry or biology. Only 45 percent of U.S. students take math coursework beyond two years of algebra and one year of geometry. And 50 percent of all college freshmen require remedial coursework.

Even more distressing are statistics offered by the National Center on Education and the Economy in its 2007 report “Tough choices or Tough Times.”  For every 100 ninth graders:

68 graduate from high school in four years.
40 enroll directly in college after graduation
27 are still enrolled in college one year after entering
18 earned an associate degree within three years or a bachelor’s degree with six years
82 don’t receive a college degree

How a student spends their Two Million Minutes – in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off — will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.

A new documentary, appropriately titled Two Million Minutes, takes a deeper look at how the three superpowers of the 21st Century – China, India and the United States – are preparing their students for the future. The film follows two students – a boy and a girl – from each of these countries from the viewpoint of kids preparing for their future.

Read more about Two Million Minutes
View the Two Million Minutes Trailer

And more about Skills Gaps


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Ira S Wolfe