K-12 Educators Enlisted for ‘Grand Challenges’
Posted on March 22nd, 2010 by Jaimie Schock
The National Academy of Engineering has launched its Grand Challenges K-12 Partners Program, where colleges of engineering across the U.S. can join a regional partners program. The colleges would provide primary and secondary schools with engineering materials and curricula appropriate for various grade levels, offer professional training to teachers, and host regional STEM conferences.
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Tags: College, Grand Challenges, National Academy of Engineering, Resources for Teachers
President Obama has proposed major changes for the nation’s space program. His budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would cancel the agency’s program to send astronauts back to the Moon, invest in new space technologies and turn to commercial companies for transportation beyond low-Earth orbit. But the plan has drawn skeptical and at times hostile questioning from members of Congress.
Educators have drafted proposed national standards for K-12 science, math, English language arts, history and social studies. The push for nationwide benchmarks is backed by the Obama administration and 48 states.
Since 2003, Washington D.C.’s fourth grade math scores have increased at triple the national rate. Educators there think one big reason is the adoption of the Everyday Mathematics curriculum, which emphasizes problem-solving in the students’ own worlds, and frequent practice of math skills via games.
Across America, there has been a burgeoning school-garden movement for several years. But the national standout is a Fort Worth nonprofit called REAL School Gardens, created six years ago and backed by billionaire financier Richard Rainwater.
If America wants to get back to inventing and making things, it must change K-12 student attitudes toward science and math. So says James E. West, a research professor of electrical and computer engineering and inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. 
Two national publications devoted cover stories last week to public school teaching. The New York Times magazine focuses on new research into what makes an effective teacher. Newsweek presents the case for firing bad teachers.
The U.S. Department of Education has issued a plan for more widespread and intense use of technology by educators. Goals include “connected teaching,” employing teams of interconnected educators in lieu of a single classroom teacher; ensuring that students and teachers can connect to learning sites anytime, in or out of school; and technology-based standards and assessments that measure 21st-century skills and expertise.
Toyota has announced nearly $550,000 in grants to 79 K-12 educators across the country as a part of its 2010 TAPESTRY program.
