ATTENTION
(STEM) Education
CAUCUS STAFFERS:
August 2008 News
Briefs on STEM Education
In this Issue:
8.
Newly introduced STEM Education Legislation
Note – last month a link was broken to an article on elementary engineering. Here
is the corrected link:
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/06/12/an_elementary_approach_to_engineering/
Sixteen
years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math class is tough!" girls are proving that
when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys. In the largest study of its
kind, girls measured up to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research
was released Thursday in the journal Science.
2. Report:
Though a growing number of schools and classrooms have access
to computers and the Internet, much of it has not resulted in significant changes
in the way students are taught, concludes
a new report conducted by the two national teachers’
unions.
In
the past couple of years, as participation in the government's Academic Competitiveness
and National Smart Grant programs has run well below expectations, the Education
Department has offered reasons for why more low-income students are not taking advantage
of the new college aid.
6.
ECS Creates New Resources for Policymakers
The Education Commission of the States, (ECS) recently launched two key resources
for policymakers. One of the resources is a
STEM database,
providing 50-state information on 10 indicators related to quality of and access
to high school-level STEM programs. Another tool for policymakers is the
CTE database
which provides 50-state data on 13 state policy indicators linked to program access
and quality, including: the use of employability skill assessment tools, the inclusion
of CTE courses in graduation requirements, and funding mechanisms, among others.
STEM database:
http://www.ecs.org/hsdb-stem
CTE database:
http://www.ecs.org/hsdb-cte
7.
Encouraging young people to make a difference in the world through
an engineering career is more likely to attract them than emphasizing the challenge
of math and science skills, says a new report from the National Academy of Engineering
that identifies messages for improving public understanding of engineering.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12187
8. 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
S.3324 Title: Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Education for the 21st Century Act of 2008
Sponsor:
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [ID-CT] (introduced 7/24/2008)
Cosponsors:
1
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 7/24/2008 Referred to Senate committee.
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions.
H.RES.1390 Title: Expressing support for the designation
of a 4-H National Youth Science Day.
Sponsor:
Rep Cardoza, Dennis A. [D-CA-18] (introduced 7/30/2008)
Cosponsors:
14
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 7/30/2008 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.6661 Title: Nanotechnology Innovation and Prize
Competition Act of 2008
Sponsor:
Rep Lipinski, Daniel [D-IL-3] (introduced 7/30/2008)
Cosponsors:
2
Committees: House Science and Technology; House Energy
and Commerce
Latest Major Action: 7/30/2008 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the Committee on Science and Technology, and in addition to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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.
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 Online:
June 25, 2008
Features
Though
a growing number of schools and classrooms have access to computers and the Internet,
much of it has not resulted in significant changes in the way students are taught,
concludes
a new report
conducted by the two national teachers’ unions.
Released
in June by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers,
the report is based on a survey of nearly 2,000 K-12 public school educators from
across the nation and examines technology use in schools throughout the country.
The study found that despite long-term investments, significant disparities in school
and student access to technology still exist, particularly in urban schools. And
schools that do have a high level of access to the Internet and other instructional
technologies such as laptops often are not using those technologies in ways that
significantly improve student learning, the report says.
“There’s
a technological highway, but for far too many it’s a one-way highway,” says Reg
Weaver, the president of the 3.2 million-member NEA. And often, Weaver says, even
when a classroom is connected to the Internet, it may have a limited number of computers,
or equipment that is unreliable.
The
survey found that 83 percent of educators reported having five or fewer computers
in their classrooms, and that more than half reported having no more than two computers.
“In
schools, we find that they’ll give kids old equipment, but still say they have a
computer,” Weaver says. “But the outside world no longer deals with this kind of
equipment.”
That
is the case despite years of spending on efforts to connect classrooms to the Internet.
Congress established the E-rate program in 1996 to connect schools and libraries
to the online world, and the initiative has spent more than $19 billion to do so.
The
report shows that many schools still have not figured out how to use technologies
such as Internet search engines, educational software, and computers in innovative
ways. In fact, most educators surveyed said they use computers regularly, but primarily
for administrative tasks, such as electronic gradebooks or keeping attendance records.
More
than three-quarters of educators surveyed said they use computers for administrative
tasks daily, and about half said they use them to communicate with other educators
daily. But only 40 percent reported using technology to monitor student progress,
only 37 percent used it for research and information gathering, and only 32 percent
used it to teach lessons. Fewer than a fifth said they used technology daily to
post student and class information on the Internet or to communicate with parents
via e-mail.
Despite
those figures, 89 percent of respondents said they considered technology—which was
defined in the study to include a wide range of tools from computers and software
to VCRs and audio recorders—essential to teaching and learning.
“Why
aren’t we seeing technology transforming education?” says Keith R. Krueger, the
chief executive officer of the Washington-based Consortium for School Networking.
“While teachers are feeling more and more confident with the technology they have,
they’re layering it on top of what they’re already doing, not doing things in new
ways.”
Ken
Kay, the president of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a Tucson, Ariz.-based
advocacy group focused on infusing 21st-century skills, including media literacy,
global awareness, critical thinking, and problem-solving, into education, says the
report points out how critical it is for all students to have access to computers
and other technology, both at school and in their homes.
While
the unions’ study found that the number of computers available for student use in
the classroom often did not differ significantly by location, the software, technical
support, and condition of equipment were more likely to be inadequate in urban schools
in comparison to rural and suburban schools.
Heidi
Glidden, the assistant director for the educational issues department at the 1.3
million-member American Federation of Teachers, says that in urban areas, technology
is often viewed more as an extra, not an integral part of teaching and learning.
“A
lot of times in the urban areas, it’s viewed more as a perk,” she says. “It can’t
be seen as an add-on.”
The
report encourages use of laptops and other portable computers and technology for
teachers and students, and it urges more creative methods to increase student access
to computers both inside and outside school.
Technical
support and professional development for educators is also key, the report says.
While almost all educators in the study reported that their districts required technology
training, much of it appeared to be geared to administrative, not instructional,
uses. Only slightly more than half the respondents felt that they had adequate preparation
for integrating technology into instruction.
“There’s
not as much training on how to infuse this into everyday instruction,” Glidden says.
“We need to figure out how to do this.”
Vol. 02, Issue 01
http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4095n.htm
Monday, August 4,
2008
In
the past couple of years, as participation in the government's Academic Competitiveness
and National Smart Grant programs has run well below expectations, the Education
Department has offered reasons for why more low-income students are not taking advantage
of the new college aid.
Initially,
department officials suggested the program was just having the usual problems with
getting started and noticed. And at a conference last month in
In
an
audit released on Friday, however, the department's own inspector general
is suggesting another factor: The department itself isn't doing enough to promote
the grants.
The
department "did not conduct sufficient follow-up with nonparticipating schools to
ensure those required to participate in the ACG and/or National Smart program were
doing so," the office of the inspector general said in the audit.
Low-income
college students are eligible for the Academic Competitiveness Grants, known as
ACG, in their freshman and sophomore years. They're eligible for the Smart grants
in their junior and senior years. Freshmen are eligible after completing a "rigorous"
program of study in high school, as defined by each state, with Education Department
approval. College students in later years must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average
and, for the Smart grant, be enrolled in one of several specific majors such as
engineering, science, or a critical foreign language.
Congress
approved spending $790-million on the grants for the 2006-7 academic year and up
to $4.5-billion through 2010. But only $242-million in ACG funds were given to 310,000
students in that first year, and only $206-million in Smart-grant funds reached
64,000 students. During the first 10 months of the 2007-8 year, the government gave
out just $284-million in ACG funds and $184-million in Smart grants, the audit said.
Some
education lobbyists have complained that Congress placed too many restrictions on
the grants. Ms. Spellings, at a department-sponsored conference last month in
But
the Education Department's inspector general said on Friday that it was able to
find many schools and colleges where administrators didn't realize they and their
students were eligible. The department often failed to pursue those institutions
after an initial attempt to alert them, the inspector general said.
The
department had a list of 640 nonparticipating schools that were potentially eligible
for the ACG program in the 2006-7 year, the audit said. More than half, a total
of 330, did not respond to a department contact. Checks at a random sample of 75
of those schools found 83 percent of them appeared to be eligible, the audit said.
And
among the 310 nonparticipating schools that did respond to the department's outreach,
administrators at 23 percent of them said they did not believe they were eligible.
Among those, 73 percent did in fact appear to be eligible.
The
audit reported similar or smaller levels of confusion and uncertainty after it performed
the same checks on colleges participating in the Smart-grant program.
The
office of the inspector general recommended the department do a better job of reaching
out to schools and colleges with eligible students. It also suggested the department
begin fining institutions or making them ineligible for the federal Pell Grant program
if they do not participate in the ACG or Smart grant programs when they have qualified
students.
Education
Department officials, in a written response to the audit, called it an opportunity
to improve their operations and said they "concurred with the finding and its associated
recommendations."
Department
officials also said in their response that a recent move by Congress to expand the
eligibility criteria for ACG and Smart grants "will reduce the administrative barriers
that may have contributed to school-participation rates during the first two years
of the programs."