This message is being circulated at the request
of Caucus Members. We are happy to circulate to Caucus staff information on letters,
legislation, or events relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
Education.
Reminder: The Caucus does not endorse any specific initiatives or legislation but
instead strives to inform Members and staff about matters related to STEM Education.
ATTENTION Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math
(STEM) Education
CAUCUS STAFFERS:
March 2009 News
Briefs on STEM Education
In this Issue:
5. Newly introduced STEM Education
Legislation
"Right now women
make up half of the workforce and yet they're very, very low in those fields," said
Mel Cossette, National Resource Center of Material Science.
Local colleges are
starting the conversation, holding special events to let young women know about
the vast opportunities in tech and because of the shortage in the field - security
has its privileges.
4. Report
Details Efforts to Evaluate Federal STEM Education Programs
(NSTC Report December 2008)
In late 2008, the National
Science and Technology Council of OSTP released a report, “Finding Out What Works:
Agency Efforts to Strengthen the Evaluation of Federal STEM Education Programs.”
The report can be accessed via the link above.
5. 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.53 Title: Recognizing the achievement of
parity among African Americans in computer science.
Sponsor:
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] (introduced 2/12/2009)
Cosponsors:
1
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 2/12/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
H.R.820 Title: Nanotechnology Advancement and New
Opportunities Act
Sponsor:
Rep Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-15] (introduced 2/3/2009)
Cosponsors: (none)
Committees: House Science and Technology; House Energy
and Commerce; House Ways and Means; House Homeland Security
Latest Major Action: 2/20/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science
and Technology.
H.R.957 Title: Green Energy Education Act of 2009
Sponsor:
Rep McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] (introduced 2/10/2009)
Cosponsors:
2
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 2/10/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.1144 Title: Fulfilling the Potential of Women
in Academic Science and Engineering Act
Sponsor:
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] (introduced 2/24/2009)
Cosponsors:
7
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 2/25/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education.
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 staff
(x55701) in Mr. Dan Lipinski’s office.
By Michelle
R. Davis and Kathleen
Kennedy Manzo
Technology
experts are advising school officials to look closely at the new federal economic-stimulus
package for indirect as well as direct sources of aid for technology projects.
The
$787 billion stimulus bill, signed into law last week, includes $650 million for
an existing educational technology program and opens additional opportunities to
find money for such purposes as improved broadband access for rural schools and
enhanced data-management systems.
Advocates
for school technology were disappointed that funding for the federal Enhancing Education
Through Technology program was downsized by more than a third in the final
bill from a proposed $1 billion. But they noted that the measure contains several
other pots of money slated for technology, along with other money—though not earmarked
for education technology—that might help meet technology goals.
“If
you think this is the time to get ahead of the curve and to show education technology
can be creative, then there are opportunities” in the stimulus package, said Keith
R. Krueger, the chief executive officer of the Washington-based Consortium for School
Networking. “If we don’t do this, then shame on us, and we’re going to get rolled
over.”
The
$650 million in the Enhancing Education Through Technology fund will be added to
the program’s current $267 million budget for fiscal 2008 and will be spread over
two years. A minimum of 25 percent of that money must be spent on professional development;
the rest may be spent on the program’s goals of improving K-12 student achievement
through technology.
See Also
For more stories on education
technology, see
Digital Directions.
The
program had been slated for elimination by the Bush administration, and its funding
was progressively cut over the last eight years. The stimulus money brings the program’s
funding close to what it was when President George W. Bush came into office in 2001.
“We’re
seeing a significant group of representatives and senators who feel that the current
pattern of decline [of the fund] is OK, and it’s not something they’re willing to
invest in,” said Donald G. Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology
in Education, based in
Even
so, technology experts said, there are other places for educators to look for technology
money in the massive bill, known as the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act
.
“We’re
working on how to maximize the potential of this funding,” said Mary Ann Wolf, the
executive director of the Glen Burnie, Md.-based State Education Technology Directors
Association. The money doled out for education technology in the stimulus plan highlights
a “systemic approach to tools, resources, curriculum software, and professional
development.”
Congress
also provided $250 million for the existing statewide longitudinal data systems
program, for the development of these state data management and warehousing systems.
The goal is to allow states and school districts to be able to crunch accurate student
data and use that information for decisionmaking, said Mark Schneiderman, the director
of education policy for the Software & Information Industry Association, a Washington
trade group.
Although
those are the two most obvious sources of aid for educational technology, Mr. Krueger
said administrators should not overlook other provisions of the stimulus package
with potential benefits for technology.
For
instance, he pointed out that the Title I program for disadvantaged students received
$13 billion under the measure, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
received $12.2 billion to be spread over two years. Both those programs have important
technological components for tools such as databases and learning software.
“In
special education, there are assistive technologies; most [individualized education
programs] are now managed electronically; and there is instructional software designed
for students with learning and physical disabilities as well,” Mr. Schneiderman
said. “Under Title I, you’ve got other types of instructional software and computer-based
formative assessments.”
In
addition, the legislation contains $53.6 billion for a state fiscal-stabilization
fund. Once that money gets to the local level, Mr. Schneiderman said, it can be
used for most educational purposes authorized under federal law, including technology.
Much of the money in that fund is likely to go toward averting staff layoffs and
programmatic cutbacks, but some could be used for school modernization or other
technology purposes.
At
the same time, money to prevent layoffs and for professional development could actually
make a difference in how well technology works in districts, said Bailey F. Mitchell,
the chief of technology and information for the 32,000-student Forsyth County, Ga.,
schools. In his district, technology-support jobs are being threatened by local
budget cuts, he said, and funding for professional development to help teachers
use technology to transform instruction is also in question.
“We’re
a little worried about those support structures around technology,” Mr. Mitchell
said. “If we are getting money for new equipment, I wouldn’t say we would be unappreciative,
but we would be scratching our heads as to the appropriate response on the support
side.”
Included
in the $53.6 billion for a stabilization fund is a $5 billion incentive-grant fund
under the purview of the
“There’s
a chance for it to go to ed-tech leadership, but it can also be used to ensure that
teachers have basic digital skills,” Mr. Knezek said of the incentive-grant money.
Besides
the Education Department’s portion of the stimulus package, programs under other
agencies could also provide aid for educational technology.
The
National Science Foundation, for instance, received $100 million for its education
and human-resources foundation, which could be used for instructional technologies
developed to aid science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics, or STEM, initiatives. And two separate programs, one under the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and one under the U.S. Department of Commerce, received
$7.2 billion in funds to expand telecommunications access in rural areas.
Chuck
Ehler, the superintendent of the 675-student Rushford-Peterson schools in rural
Mr.
Ehler hopes the money will help his district maintain some of its current technology
programs, but also go toward the purchase of interactive whiteboards, for elementary
classrooms, and the expansion of online offerings for students.
Vol. 28, Issue 22, Page 7
Published Online: February
3, 2009
Published in Print: February
4, 2009
Solar-powered
cars have barely begun to inch out of test laboratories onto the difficult road
to commercial viability.
But
miniature versions of that technology are already being churned out at
Students
at the
Some
schools are creating elective science courses on alternative energy, or expanding
lessons on that topic within existing science courses. Others have launched applied-science
or career-oriented classes, or those that focus mostly on technology, as is the
case at Whitmore Lake, located in a 1,200-student district a half-hour west of Detroit.
The
Green Tech class has drawn some of the school’s top students, as well as struggling
learners, said Jen Taylor, who teaches the class. Some teenagers are intrigued by
renewable technology; others are convinced it will become more important to society,
and employers, in the years ahead.
“It’s
really exciting to students, even those I never would have thought would be into
it,” Ms. Taylor said. For some, “it’s a realization that this [area] is where there’s
going to be a job,” she said. “I hope I’m preparing some of them for a line of work.”
Jake
Kerrigan, 16, said he was drawn in because of his overall interest in science and
a curiosity about alternative power. He signed up for the elective around the time
that gas prices in
Green
Tech offered the chance to look at “the direction we’re heading in the world,” the
junior said, “and how we’re going to transition from our wasteful way of life.”
The
Green Tech class introduces students to the mechanics and economics of renewable
technologies, including solar, wind, geothermal, and hydrogen fuel-cells. Hands-on
activities are an integral part of those lessons. Mr. Kerrigan’s favorite task was
the construction of models of solar-powered cars. That assignment ended with an
all-class race in the school parking lot.
Working
in groups, Mr. Kerrigan and his classmates spent four periods working on the car,
which was about 9 inches long and 7 inches high. They used materials such as cardboard
and straw, and small wheels, axles, and gears. Mr. Kerrigan and his team mounted
a small solar panel on their car’s roof, experimenting with its angle so it would
capture maximum light—a design issue they had studied in class. They used real solar
panels that the school purchased from Solar World, a Colorado-based company.
Students
in Green Tech also study carbon dioxide emissions and each technology’s potential
to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. They’ve examined energy
proposals such as the “Pickens Plan,” oil magnate T. Boone Pickens’ proposal to
expand greatly
Ms.
Taylor created her class with help from Creative Learning Systems, a Longmont, Colo.-based
company that helps schools design lessons. The company emphasizes hands-on activities
and the in-class integration of science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM,
topics. Creative Learning Systems piloted lesson plans at
Like
many educators, however, Ms. Taylor has also been forced to track down many renewable-energy
resources on her own, mostly because no single set of materials meets her needs.
She has drawn from a number of Web sites, including that of the National Energy Education Development Project.
That organization, located in
One
likely reason teachers are searching for classroom resources on renewable energy
is that the topic has not yet made it into many state academic standards, said Jo
Ellen Roseman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington.
State
standards, which guide teaching and tests, tend to set expectations for students
to learn basic principles of energy. But guidelines about conservation and renewable
energy are much less common, she said. Ms. Roseman helped write science standards
at the AAAS that have served as models for many states. She now directs the AAAS’
Project 2061, an effort to improve science education and literacy.
In
districts and schools where renewable-energy courses have taken hold, their popularity
can be attributed not only to public concerns about climate change and the environment,
but to a conviction that the number of “clean energy” jobs will increase, said Karen
Heys, the senior director of education at the National Environmental Education Foundation,
a Washington organization that promotes environmental awareness in schools and society.
“It’s
one of the few growth industries right now,” Ms. Heys said.
As
evidence, she pointed to a 2008 survey of 1,300 employers conducted by her organization.
Sixty-five percent of respondents said they valued job applicants’ knowledge about
“environment and sustainability,” and 78 percent said they believe it will increase
as a hiring factor in the future.
Her
organization has seen the number of visitors to its Web site seeking energy-related
curricular materials rise sharply. In addition, when the organization made energy
issues the theme of its annual
National Environmental Education Week in 2007, it saw the number of its
“partner” organizations—schools and other groups that agree to help promote environmental
awareness—spike to more than 1,400, from 330 the previous year, Ms. Heys said.
Despite
rising interest in “green” curriculum, it is not unusual for teachers covering energy
topics to draw criticism from students and parents who accuse them of promoting
an environmentally oriented political agenda.
Ms.
Taylor has heard those objections. When she first began teaching Green Tech, she
heard students refer to it as “the hippie class” or the “tree-hugger class.” One
of her students, she said, was adamant that global warming was a hoax, despite strong
scientific evidence that it is occurring and that humans are contributing to it.
She
says she tries to address those concerns by focusing on the science and the broader
financial and economic realities of alternative energy. Renewable technologies,
for example, are more expensive than fossil fuels in many applications despite renewables’
environmental benefits.
That
teaching strategy makes sense, said Ms. Roseman of the AAAS. Renewable-energy technology
may be “on the edge of science,” in the sense that it is changing quickly, she said.
But educators still can have engaging and scientifically accurate discussions of
those technologies, their benefits, and limitations, she said.
“Acknowledge
what scientists know, and what they don’t know,” Ms. Roseman advises teachers.
The
chance to study fast-emerging technologies—and the opportunity to try building one
of them from scratch—was an easy sell to Jake Kerrigan at
His
team’s construction of a solar-powered car brought thrills and frustrations. While
some of their classmates constructed box-shaped vehicles, Mr. Kerrigan’s team set
out to build a relatively sleek model, with an “I” shape, which would operate on
rear-wheel power.
“Lighter,
longer, skinnier,” was how he described it.
One
absolute necessity was to make sure the wheels were straight, for efficiency’s sake.
They also had to overcome a major engineering glitch with the wiring. If it was
too far from the solar panel to the wheels, they discovered, the car wouldn’t have
enough power.
Until
the day of the race, the car wasn’t working. But with a few final adjustments, it
took off, powering forward at “about a jogging pace,” said Mr. Kerrigan. That was
fast enough to claim first place.
“Everything
just came together,” its co-creator said.
Coverage
of mathematics, science, and technology education is supported by a grant from the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, at
www.kauffman.org.
Vol. 28, Issue 20, Pages 1,13
Julia Jester, Ph.D.
Deputy Legislative Director
Office of Congressman Ehlers
RHOB 2182
phone (202) 225.3831
fax (202) 225.5144