Raising the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students
On December 7, 2022, the Department hosted some 225 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) stakeholders from 30 states and territories for the YOU Belong in STEM National Coordinating Conference, and launched the “Raise the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students” initiative. This new Administration initiative will help implement and scale equitable, high-quality STEM education for all students – regardless of background – from prekindergarten to higher education to ensure career readiness and global competitiveness.
The initiative unites government, non-profit and professional organizations, industries, philanthropies, and other community stakeholders to take bold actions toward breaking down long-standing barriers for student success in the STEM fields. The Department is focused on three goals, building on the historic investment of $120 billion for K-12 education in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and other federal education funding:
- ensure all students excel in rigorous, relevant, and joyful STEM learning;
- develop and support STEM educators to join, grow, and stay in the STEM field; and
- invest in STEM education strategically and sufficiently, using ARP funds and other federal, state, and local funds.
In pursuit of these goals, the agency published a Dear Colleague Letter for state and school district leaders outlining how federal education funding may be used to enhance STEM teaching and learning. This document can be helpful to other STEM stakeholders in their efforts to support STEM teaching and learning.
The agency also announced a partnership with Beyond100K to help identify the key challenges to fully staffing schools with STEM teachers who reflect the diversity of their students and create classrooms of belonging. It will also work to better understand and predict the supply and demand of STEM teachers at the state and local levels and co-sponsor a series of national communities of practice to support states, districts, and other education organizations in developing and implementing innovative solutions to the STEM educator shortage.
Further, the Department called on all states, districts, schools, and STEM-connected organizations and industries to make specific, tangible commitments aligned to these goals. In less than 2 months, more than 275 organizations in nearly every state and territory, have made public commitments. For example:
- The Arizona Education Foundation is addressing the STEM teacher shortage with its “teachSTEM” program, introducing Latinx, Native American, and African-American students to the variety and value of STEM careers, including teaching STEM.
- Black Girls Drone commits to introducing 1,000 Black, Latinx, Hispanic and justice-impacted girls in Texas to the earning potential and opportunity of becoming drone literate for a career and higher education in Aviation, Aeronautics, Drones, Rockets, Entrepreneurship, and Engineering.
- Brown Toy Box will collaborate with funding partners to provide culturally affirming play-based learning, professional development opportunities, products, and programs to Title I schools serving historically Black learning communities throughout the country.
- Youth Engineering Solutions, will develop a suite of professional learning resources and programming, based on the Model for Equity-Oriented pK-12 Engineering, to support 1,800 K-8 educators, in classroom and in out-of-school settings, by January 2025.
- By 2025, the STEM Next Opportunity Fund is committing more than $15 million to support increasing access to high-quality out-of-school STEM learning and to ensure that more young people, especially girls, young people of color, and young people growing up in poverty, have access to the joyful, affirming, and inspiring STEM experiences they deserve.
In case you missed it:
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Public Health and STEM at the CDC
View the Archive Here
Please join the Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to learn about their STEM-related resources for students, teachers, and early career professionals. CDC’s goal is to help educators bring public health to the classroom to foster educational excellence and inspire the next generation of STEM learners to pursue public health careers.
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 The University of Texas at Austin is celebrating a milestone after helping 600 Texas teachers earn a computer science teaching certification. The program, called WeTeach_CS, was formed in 2015 with the support of a U.S. Department of Education Math-Science Partnership grant. The goal was to prepare in-service educators to teach computer science.
“STEM and computer science careers are the fastest-growing careers in the country and can be ladders of economic opportunity not just for students, but for entire families,” said Carol Fletcher, director of Expanding Pathways in Computing at UT Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center. “Regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status, every student deserves an opportunity to learn computer science skills.”
With the support of organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education, Microsoft, Beyond100k and the Siegel Family Endowment, WeTeach_CS created the Certification Incentive Program, which provides a $1,000 stipend to any Texas educator who earns a computer science teaching certification. For more information, read TACC’s profile on WeTeach_CS’s 600th certified teacher, Vasquez-Nevarez. TACC continues to support CS teacher certification through an EIR grant from the Department in partnership with Jobs for the Future and the Texas Education Agency.
“Eybar Vasquez-Nevarez of Clint ISD Early College Academy was the 600th Texas teacher to earn a certification through WeTeach_CS.”
Photo credit: TACC
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New Math Infographics
The Regional Education Laboratory-Appalachia recently release two new infographics to aid educators and families in supporting student math achievement. The Sum Is Greater Than the Parts: Engaging Community to Promote Math Learning provides strategies and other tips in building a ecosystem of partnerships to support STEM learning. Promote a Mathematical Mindset includes numerous resources for educators and families to help PK-12 students build a love for math and mathematical mindset.
Engage Every Student Today Bulletin
The Engage Every Student Today Bulletin is a source of support for afterschool and summer learning programs, school districts, cities, and states as they answer U.S. Secretary Cardona's bold call to action for universal out-of-school time learning opportunities for every child who wants to participate nationwide. This bi-monthly bulletin will share timely resources and strategies to expand access to engage every student in high-quality afterschool and summer learning opportunities. You can subscribe here.
155 Years of Education Statistics
To celebrate 20 years of Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and 155 years since the creation of a federal agency to collect and report education statistics for the United States, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is releasing A Retrospective Look at U.S. Education Statistics. This report is a commemorative guide that is intended to provide a better understanding of the history and use of federal education statistics that have been collected and reported by this agency since 1868.
The “statistical profiles” in this report use updated historical trend data from 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait to offer an in-depth look at what each statistic measures, how it has been collected over the years, and what the data reveal about the statistic. The report also contains a reader's guide, downloadable reference tables, and a historical event timeline to help put historical trends in context. Finally, the section NCES Overview: Past, Present, and Future provides a historical overview of NCES’s mission, reporting, and data collection as well as an outlook on future directions for NCES reports.
Mapping STEM Opportunity: A Dissemination Workshop of the Call to Action for Science Education
The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) will host virtual workshop to focus on ways to use data to map opportunity and anchor decisions that can improve equitable access to science learning. Panelists will provide examples of how they analyze and use data and discuss ways that analyzing data can help advance equity goals. The workshop builds on the report, Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future, which outlines action steps different stakeholders can take for a better, more equitable science education, which includes documenting and tracking progress and data that inform decision making. Register today for the January 6 workshop.
eCYBERMISSION Competition Registration Closes Soon
The eCYBERMISSION Competition, sponsored by the Army Education Outreach Program, is a web-based STEM competition for students in grades 6-9. Each team needs 2-4 students, an adult team advisor, and a community problem to explore or try to solve. Prizes include valuable U.S. savings bonds. Teams choose one of two paths:
Team registration closes January 25,2023. Virtual Judge registration closes March 14, 2023.
Host a Clean Energy Career Talk in Your Classroom
Through a new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program, Solar Decathlon Pathways, high school educators and students have the opportunity to host a clean energy career talk with a Solar Decathlon alumnus now in a career related to clean energy and high performance buildings. Alumni will share their personal pathways to careers to inspire the next generation to join the clean energy workforce. Students will gain awareness about the many paths to a STEM career. Sign up to host a presenter in your high school before the end of February 2023.
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2023 NOAA B-WET Competitions Open Now
The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program has grant competitions open now. The B-WET program is an environmental education grant program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K-12 students and related professional development for teachers. This year’s competitions feature an emphasis on climate change education. Competitions are currently open in California, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and Pacific Northwest regions. Early 2023 deadlines vary.
New Convergence Report on STEM Teaching and Learning
Identified as one of four pathways to achieve the vision and goals of the 2018 Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan, engaging students where disciplines converge seeks to make STEM more meaningful and inspiring to students by focusing on complex real-world problems and challenges that require initiative and creativity. The White House report, “Convergence Education: A Guide to Transdisciplinary STEM Leaning and Teaching,” is based on an extensive literature review and stakeholder engagement by the Interagency Working Group on Convergence. It includes a definition and overarching guidance related to convergence education. Prior to publication, the Department held a webinar, The Pathway to Convergence, to help illustrate Convergence in the classroom.
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