The federal government spends $3.5 billion a year, all told, on 252 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs spread across 13 agencies. But “perhaps somewhat surprisingly,” there’s no wasteful overlap, a White House official says.

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Filed under: K-12 Education News | 3 Comments »

Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, STEM education

In a keynote speech held Monday at The Brookings Institution in D.C., acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca M. Blank unveiled new research on employment and education of racial and ethnic minorities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields released by her department that morning. The speech was followed by a panel discussion with representatives from academia and industry that touched upon K-12 STEM education.

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Tags: Department of Commerce, National Academy of Engineering, STEM education, STEM majors, STEM teacher training, STEM teachers

What prompts today’s undergraduates to pursue STEM majors rather than business, law, the arts, or other fields of study? Job prospects? Passion? How about you, and what they’re learning in your classroom? According to a new study, college students decide to concentrate in science, technology, engineering, and math in high school or before – and more than half cite “a teacher or class” as their top reason.

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Tags: Harris poll, Public Policy, Science Teachers, STEM majors, STEM Perceptions, STEM teachers, why students pursue engineering

Its impact is visible everywhere, from airport security to the war in Afghanistan. But 10 years after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the 9/11attacks have had little effect on U.S. schools or instruction. In fact, a forthcoming study finds that fewer than half the states explicitly identify the 9/11 attacks in their high school standards for social studies.

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Tags: 9/11, Curriculum, instruction, September 11, social studies, terrorism

The Common Core State Standards just took a big step toward becoming classroom practice. Some 44 states and the District of Columbia adopted these new standards in English language arts and mathematics over the past year. Now, STEM teachers are getting the first details of the key content students must master when common assessments roll out in 2014.

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Tags: assessments, Common Core State Standards, Math, math content, math standards, Math teachers, Mathematics, PARCC, Public Policy, SMARTER Balanced consortium

On a hike through the Catskill Mountains in New York, Aidan Dwyer, a seventh-grader, noticed that the branches of oak trees seemed to follow a pattern. Inspired, he created a tree-like arrangement of small solar panels capable of generating 20-50% more energy than a traditional flat designs.

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Tags: Energy, Energy and Environmental Technology, Green, Green Technology, Ideas & Inventions, Research, Solar Energy, Solar Engineering, student invention, Student research, Technology

Education reformers oversell the importance of highly skilled teachers and undervalue the benefits that come from teacher collaborations, according to a University of Pittsburgh specialist in organizations. An article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review says students “showed higher gains in math achievement when their teachers reported frequent conversations with their peers that centered on math, and when there was a feeling of trust or closeness among teachers.”

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Tags: Education Policy, Research on Learning, Teacher Training, Teachers

Attention, STEM majors. The nation needs more middle and high school science teachers — and there are several new initiatives to encourage you to sign up for training. Indiana’s Valparaiso University, for instance, just received a $500,000 federal grant to train science undergraduates as educators. The program will include paid summer internships and student-teaching stints.

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Tags: education programs, National Science Foundation, Public Policy, STEM majors, STEM teacher training, Teacher Training, undergraduate

Georgia is the latest Race to the Top winner to devote some of the federal money to improving STEM education. Governor Nathan Deal announced that he’s giving $19 million to schools and programs that focus on science, mathematics, engineering and technology, and help better prepare educators to teach those subjects.

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Filed under: K-12 Education News | Comments Off on Race to the (STEM) Top

Tags: charter schools, Education Policy, Georgia, Race to the Top, STEM education