Which event caused american schools to place a greater emphasis on science and math in 1950's and 60's

The space race during the Cold War. There were tensions between the Soviet Union and U.S. when U.S.S.R launched Sputnik into space. Both countries were anxious to see who would go to space first. U.S. definitely wanted to be first so in order to get to space, science and math had to be advanced. In the end, U.S.S.R got to space first.