ATTENTION
(STEM)
Education
CAUCUS
STAFFERS:
April
2007 News Briefs on STEM Education
In
this Issue:
4.
New Website Showcases Successful Female Scientists
6.
Newly introduced STEM Education Legislation
1.
New Diversity and Innovation Caucus Launched
Last
month, seeking to promote and articulate the strong relationship between
An
influential science teachers' group is launching a project to help educators
identify the most crucial concepts in that subject, a move that comes as
political and business leaders are calling for greater consistency in how
science and mathematics are taught nationwide.
A
new website sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences showcases the
accomplishments of contemporary women in science and to highlight for young
people the varied and intriguing careers of some of today's most prominent
scientists.
Science
and social studies are being squeezed out of many elementary school days. In
March 2006, the Center on Education Policy found that 71 percent of school
systems reported reducing elementary school instructional time in at least one
other subject to make more time for reading and math, which are the only
subjects that must be tested in accordance with No Child Left Behind.
Recently Introduced STEM Legislation
This
is a record of recently introduced legislation related to STEM Ed. but does not
represent Caucus endorsement of any legislation
H.R.1453
Title: Scientific Communications Act of 2007
Sponsor:
Rep Matsui, Doris O. [D-CA-5] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors:
3
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/14/2007 Referred to House
subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science
Education.
H.R.1467
Title: 10,000 Trained by 2010 Act
Sponsor:
Rep Wu, David [D-OR-1] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors:
4
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/14/2007 Referred to House
subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science
Education.
H.R.1492
Title: Innovations for our Nation's Vital
Educational Needs for Technology Act
Sponsor:
Rep Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-15] (introduced 3/13/2007) Cosponsors:
(none)
Committees: House Science and Technology; House
Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 3/19/2007 Referred to House
subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science
Education.
H.R.1568
Title: Henry Ford Scholarship Program Act
Sponsor:
Rep Knollenberg, Joe [R-MI-9] (introduced 3/19/2007) Cosponsors:
(none)
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 3/19/2007 Referred to House
committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
H.R.1657
Title: To establish a Science and Technology
Scholarship Program to award scholarships to recruit and prepare students for
careers in the National Weather Service and in National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration marine research, atmospheric research, and satellite programs.
Sponsor:
Rep Rohrabacher, Dana [R-CA-46] (introduced 3/22/2007) Cosponsors:
(none)
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/22/2007 Referred to House
committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.1716
Title: To authorize higher education curriculum
development and graduate training in advanced energy and green building
technologies.
Sponsor:
Rep McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] (introduced 3/27/2007)
Cosponsors:
5
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/27/2007 Referred to House
committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.1728
Title: To authorize the National Science Foundation
to establish a Global Warming Education Program.
Sponsor:
Rep Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-15] (introduced 3/28/2007) Cosponsors:
9
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Referred to House
committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
S.757
Title: National Mathematics and Science Consistency
Act
Sponsor:
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [D-NY] (introduced 3/5/2007)
Cosponsors: (none)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
Latest Major Action: 3/5/2007 Referred to Senate
committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
S.810
Title: A bill to establish a laboratory science
pilot program at the National Science Foundation.
Sponsor:
Sen Menendez, Robert [D-NJ] (introduced 3/8/2007) Cosponsors:
(none)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
Latest Major Action: 3/8/2007 Referred to Senate
committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
S.833
Title: COMPETE Act of 2007
Sponsor:
Sen Coleman, Norm [R-MN] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors:
1
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2007 Referred to Senate
committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
H.CON.RES.76
Title: Honoring the 50th Anniversary of the
International Geophysical Year (IGY) and its past contributions to space
research, and looking forward to future accomplishments.
Sponsor:
Rep Udall, Mark [D-CO-2] (introduced 3/1/2007) Cosponsors:
7
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 House
committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee Consideration and Mark-up
Session Held.
H.CON.RES.95
Title: Honoring the career and research
accomplishments of Frances E. Allen, the 2006 recipient of the A.M. Turing
Award.
Sponsor:
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [D-CA-6] (introduced 3/20/2007) Cosponsors:
(none)
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/20/2007 Referred to House
committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
The
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education Caucus' primary
mission is to promote all areas of STEM Education including K-12, higher
education and workforce issues in Congress. At its core, the caucus functions
to increase the visibility and importance of STEM Education and educate Members
of Congress and their staffs on the technical issues and public-policy options
surrounding STEM education. The Caucus serves as an information source and a
catalyst for improving STEM education.
If
you would like to join the Caucus, please contact Julia Jester (x53831) in Mr.
Ehlers' office or Wendy Adams (x52161) in Mr. Mark Udall's office.
Published:
February 26, 2007
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An
influential science teachers' group is launching a project to help educators
identify the most crucial concepts in that subject, a move that comes as
political and business leaders are calling for greater consistency in how
science and mathematics are taught nationwide.
Officials
of the National Science Teachers Association say their goal is to pinpoint
"anchors," or core ideas, that should be emphasized in the classroom, in
teacher training, and on state tests.
The
project represents something of a departure for the NSTA, which neither
develops nor promotes curricula, according to Executive Director Gerald F.
Wheeler. The new venture is not meant to take the association down that path,
he said, but rather to create a resource for teachers and others attempting to
organize science lessons and write exams.
NSTA
officials said they plan to start by examining states' science standards, which
vary greatly, and attempt to identify the grade levels at which core concepts
are taught now. The organization would then use two prominent, voluntary
national standards documents as reference points in devising anchors.
"We're
preparing to look at what states are doing and find some common standards," Mr.
Wheeler said. The idea, he explained, is to give science educators "something
we can rally around."
Located
in
The
NSTA believes the timing is right for the project, with federal lawmakers
having said that improving math and science instruction is a priority. States
are also preparing to implement tests in science under the No Child Left Behind
Act.
Last
fall, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, in
Focal
Points will serve as one model for the NSTA's effort, Mr. Wheeler said.
Primary
Sources
Two
science organizations, the National Research Council and the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, published standards more than a
decade ago that have strongly influenced the expectations states hold for their
students.
National
Science Education Standards
(1996):
Published by the NRC, this document sets standards for science content within
different grade spans. It also sets standards for teachers' professional
development and for effective strategies for how school, district, and state
officials seek to improve the quality of teaching and learning in science.
Benchmarks
for Science Literacy
(1993):
The AAAS document sets learning goals in science for students in grades K-12.
Its recommendations grew out of an earlier AAAS guide,
Science for All Americans, which described what students
should know in that subject before they graduate from high school. Those
documents were generated by Project 2061, an enterprise to improve Americans'
literacy in math, science, and technology.
SOURCE:
Education Week
Bruce
Alberts, who served as the chairman of the National Research Council when it
published a set of national science standards 11 years ago, said the NSTA's
project could provide science teachers with important guidance.
Although
he believes the research council's standards, published in 1996, are a valuable
resource, Mr. Alberts also said it is "unrealistic" to think that most
educators have the time or inclination to pick out the most essential material
in that document-which runs more than 260 pages, with appendices-for use in
their classes.
Mr.
Alberts said he hopes the NSTA undertaking could do more to encourage
elementary and middle schools to carve out time for science lessons. In his
opinion, the time for those lessons has been eroded in part by the 5-year-old
federal education law's emphasis on testing in reading and math.
"It is
very important to further refine the core of what everybody needs to know," Mr.
Alberts said of the NSTA effort. "It will have value if it's done well."
The
NSTA's decision to launch the "anchors" project was shaped partly by a survey
the association conducted last year. Of 1,600 members who responded, 86 percent
said state and national standards should focus on fewer concepts, with more
being added with each grade level.
Mr.
Wheeler said the project would aim to examine where state academic-content
standards-documents that spell out what students should know-currently discuss
key concepts, such as force and motion and gravity. Rather than establishing
recommendations for each grade, the anchors would most likelycover grade spans,
he said.
The
language and content of the anchors, NSTA officials say, would draw heavily
from two prominent-and voluntary-national documents: the NRC's "National
Science Education Standards," published in 1996, and "Benchmarks for Science
Literacy," released in 1993 by the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. The AAAS has also created "maps" that describe how different science
concepts connect and how students' knowledge should progress by grade.
Many
states have relied heavily on the research council and AAAS volumes in crafting
their own academic standards. The NSTA will seek input from many of the same
experts who helped write the research council and AAAS guides, Mr. Wheeler
said.
The
NSTA is beginning its work at a time when national leaders say they are
committed to improving math and science education and what they see as American
students' lackluster performance in those subjects. Some federal lawmakers,
policy organizations, and advisory groups have called for the establishment of
national standards in math and science.
Meanwhile,
the No Child Left Behind Act will require states to test students in science at
least once annually in grades 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12, beginning next school year.
States are not required, however, to include those test results in measuring
the yearly progress of schools, as they are in reading and math.
While
Mr. Wheeler said he believes most states are already "in full swing" in testing
students in science or designing such tests, he suggested that the NSTA project
can help states devise better assessments that emphasize important science
principles.
Although
he praised the project, Mr. Alberts predicted that the NSTA would find it
difficult to make judgments about the most essential science concepts.
"The
most difficult part is, what do you leave out?" said Mr. Alberts, now a
professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the
Linda
P. Rosen, a senior math and science adviser under former U.S. Secretary of
Education Richard W. Riley, speculated that state officials, and other
policymakers, were likely to become keenly interested in the NSTA'S suggestions
as more of them report their science scores under the No Child Left Behind law.
Ms. Rosen, now a consultant, is also a former executive director of the math
teachers' council.
"If
those results are disappointing, there will be real desire to look at these
anchors," she said. The NSTA project, she said, "will find a fertile audience."
Vol. 26, Issue 25, Pages 5,14