ATTENTION
(STEM) Education
CAUCUS STAFFERS:
June 2008 News Briefs
on STEM Education
In this Issue:
6.
Newly introduced STEM Education Legislation
The latest results
from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP)
program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school
students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American
and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between
African-American and white students in elementary and middle-school science.
In elementary school,
science is one of several subjects that compete for lesson time, unlike in middle
and high schools, where specialists teach a variety of science courses. The subject
also is neglected at times, educators say, because science test scores are not used
to grade schools under No Child Left Behind. School districts have numbers of ways
of dealing with the situation.
In
The testing of the
robots last week was the culmination of the school's participation in the Sea Perch
program, which teaches students about math, engineering, science and robotics, as
well as teamwork and problem-solving skills.
5.
Obama Introduces Bill on STEM Issues
(Education Week 6/3)
That ubiquitous
acronym—short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education—has
become a major topic in recent years among federal lawmakers, who argue that improving
student skills in those subjects is vital to future American prosperity.
Now, STEM is the
subject of a bill sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama of
6. 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.CON.RES.366 Title: Expressing the sense of Congress
that increasing American capabilities in science, mathematics, and technology education
should be a national priority.
Sponsor:
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] (introduced 6/3/2008)
Cosponsors:
8
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 6/3/2008 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.6039 Title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality
Act to authorize certain aliens who have earned a master's or higher degree from
a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics to be admitted for permanent residence.
Sponsor:
Rep Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-16] (introduced 5/13/2008) Cosponsors:
22
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 5/13/2008 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
H.R.6104 Title: Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics Education Act of 2008
Sponsor:
Rep Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-15] (introduced 5/21/2008)
Cosponsors:
39
Committees: House Education and Labor; House Science
and Technology
Latest Major Action: 5/21/2008 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the
Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
H.R.6135 Title: To establish a program for providing
scholarships for nuclear science and nuclear engineering students, and for other
purposes.
Sponsor:
Rep Upton, Fred [R-MI-6] (introduced 5/22/2008)
Cosponsors:
25
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 5/22/2008 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
S.3047 Title: Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics Education Act of 2008
Sponsor:
Sen Obama, Barack [D-IL] (introduced 5/21/2008)
Cosponsors:
3
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 5/21/2008 Referred to Senate committee.
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions.
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.
Friday, May 30,
2008
The
debate over why girls do worse than boys on math tests—is it their nature or their
nurture?—has continued in the three years since Lawrence H. Summers, then president
of Harvard University, provoked an uproar by coming down on the side of nature.
He suggested that the underrepresentation of women in science and engineering might
reflect innate differences in mathematics ability. Now a new analysis finds that
national culture, not innate ability, can account for some test differences.
Four
scholars found that on math tests, the gap between girls and boys shrinks to nil
in countries with greater parity between sexes, measured by factors such as economic
activity. Their study appears in the new issue of
Science.
The
researchers, who hail from three universities in
But
looking beyond the averages, the researchers found that the results varied by country.
And when they compared the gaps in mathematics scores to various measures of gender
inequality, they found a possible reason for those national variations. In the countries
that had the greatest gender inequality, such as
In
addition to economic activity, the gender-equality measures included women's education,
female political participation, and responses to several survey questions, such
as one asking whether respondents agree with the following statement: "When jobs
are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women."
Paola
Sapienza, one of the authors, who is an associate professor of finance at Northwestern
University's Kellogg School of Management, said her team did not know whether gender
inequality caused the gap in mathematics test scores—perhaps by undermining girls'
self-confidence or by depriving them of female role models in science—or if the
two were simply correlated.
What
is clear, Ms. Sapienza says, is that girls are not simply worse than boys in math.
"The main lesson I take from this analysis is that the gender gap in mathematics
in favor of boys is not a universal feature," she says.
Claudia
Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard, called the analysis a "particularly
compelling" demonstration of that lesson. She and others have done similar work
looking at math scores within the
Copyright © 2008 by
The Chronicle
of Higher Education
Published Online:
June 3, 2008
Published in Print:
June 4, 2008
Federal File
Is
there room for “STEM” on the stump?
That
ubiquitous acronym—short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education—has
become a major topic in recent years among federal lawmakers, who argue that improving
student skills in those subjects is vital to future American prosperity.
Now,
STEM is the subject of a bill sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama of
His
proposal and a companion bill in the House, sponsored by Rep. Michael M. Honda,
D-Calif., have Republican backers. The measure aims to “give students the resources
and curriculum they need” to prosper in the future economy, Mr. Obama said in a
May 21 statement.
The
federal government currently spends an estimated $3 billion across several agencies
on STEM education, but those efforts, Rep. Honda said in a statement, are neither
“coordinated, nor coherent, nor cooperative.” The legislation would create a national
“research repository” to highlight strong federal STEM education programs.
The
bills would also establish a new office and an assistant secretary for STEM education
in the Department of Education, and create a multistate consortium to develop common
STEM content standards.
“If
you ask anybody, is there a clear direction related to all these activities related
to STEM, I don’t think anybody has a handle on it,” Rep. Honda, a former high school
science teacher, said in an interview. ("Few
Federal Math and Science Programs Deemed Effective," May 16, 2007.)
While
he hoped his bill would be judged on its merits, Rep. Honda said he didn’t mind
the reflected light cast on it by having Sen. Obama on board.
“It
doesn’t hurt,” he said.
At
a campaign stop last week at the
“Already,
Vol. 27, Issue 39, Page 17