Eric Freeman and David Gelernter:

The U.S. is about to spend a small fortune on teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. The White House has promised $200 million a year to expand K-12 computer-science education. Several large tech firms have pledged another $300 million to the effort. That’s a good investment in theory, but the American education system is in no position to make the most of it.

The last time the U.S. made a serious change to science and math teaching was the 1960s. The Soviets had shocked the world in 1957 by launching…