The Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. (CERC) released a report earlier this month: Benchmarking Connecticut 2007: A Comparative Analysis of Innovation and Technology. The report is dual focused. Using a host of indicators, it looks at the current concentration of technological and innovative capacity in Connecticut compared to all other states. Then it uses the same indicators to assess growth potential—certainly a key to the state’s future status in a global economy where technological and innovative capacity become increasingly important year by year.

Connecticut appears well placed among the nation’s leaders in most measures of current capacity. The story with regard to future growth is much less favorable. One area I found very interesting deals with what the report calls Human Capital. “Benchmarking” uses six measures to assess Connecticut’s strength in the “Human Capital” category, including the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 8^th grade mathematics test.

The following excerpts from “Benchmarking” summarize the Human Capital picture better than I could, so allow me to borrow:

“…Why Human Capital is Important

The effectiveness of human capital, or labor, is a critical component to the amount of output that an economy produces. Of course, the amount of equipment and labor that an economy has also contributes to the amount of output produced. However, with a well-established economy like Connecticut’s, simply increasing capital or labor has less of an effect on the output of the economy than it used to. So this is where human capital becomes important – growth in the effectiveness of labor can lead to output growth that is sustainable. The variables in this human capital category include:

• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading exam performance: Percent of public 8th-grade students who achieved at or above basic level

• Education affordability: Average annual cost of public, in-state, degree-granting, four-year higher education institutions as a share of median family income

• College attainment: Percent of population over 25 years of age with at least a bachelor’s degree

• Science and engineering graduate students: Science and engineering graduate students per 1 million people

• Science and engineering degrees: Science and engineering share of higher education degrees

• Doctoral scientists and engineers in the workforce: Doctoral scientists and engineers per 1,000 workers…”

…“National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam performance

Percent of public 8th-grade students who achieved at or above basic level. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

The NAEP exam is one indicator of whether today’s students, who will become tomorrow’s workforce, are mastering the basics of math. In 2007, 72 percent of Connecticut’s 8^th graders achieved at or above the “basic” level, as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics. This percentage was the 27^th highest in the country, and two points above the national average of 70. Connecticut’s percentage of students at the basic level has improved, at an annual average rate of 0.8 percent, between 1992 and 2007. This growth score is below the national average of 1.5 percent and the scores of several other states (Connecticut ranks 28th), which means that other states are catching up to Connecticut…” (End excerpts)

Most troublesome about this picture is that, when combined with the recent history of Connecticut losing so many of its 25-34 year olds to states in other parts of the country, it really sets up the possibility of a serious shortage of precisely the kind of specialized manpower necessary to spur technological growth and innovation. Connecticut can ill afford to wake up in that kind of future, however, far off it might be.

What’s the answer? There is no one answer, but we know that mathematics is the universal language of technology. That tells me that a big part of the answer is getting more and more students every year to the highest levels of achievement in math. Which, in turn, tells me now is not the time to reduce or delay the resources needed to get the job done. The dollar we save today may end up costing a lot more down the road.