Triangle Coalition For Science And Technology Education

Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address focused heavily on education and specifically called for greater emphasis on STEM education. President Obama covered the full-spectrum of recent education issues including: Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind, international competitiveness, standards, the teaching profession, as well as STEM teachers, and more. In addition, four science students attended and sat in the box as guests of First Lady Michelle Obama.

President Obama stressed global competitiveness, pointing out that other nations, including China and India, are focusing greater efforts on educating their children in math and science. He also referenced lagging math and science proficiency among American students compared to their international peers. In December 2010, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results revealed that U.S. students ranked 17th in science and 25th in math out of 70 other international economies.

“We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,” the President stated. This statement comes only a few weeks after he signed into law the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 5116), which sets goals to do exactly that.

Race to the Top, the $4.35 billion grant competition, is the “most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation,” he said. The President has requested that Congress continue the competition in the FY2011 budget, which has not yet been approved. The President also applauded the states who have adopted the new Common Core State Standards.

In addition, President Obama called for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Many education policy experts are skeptical of the likelihood of this being accomplished in a highly divided Congress. President Obama, however, consistent with his optimistic tone, sounded confident as he said, “Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.”

Of course the budget was also a main topic throughout his remarks, but he cautioned law makers regarding edu-cuts. He compared gutting our investments in innovation and education to be like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine.

Teachers, or “nation builders” as they call them in South Korea, should be treated with the utmost respect, said the President. He referred to his recent announcement of a goal to recruit and train 100,000 great STEM teachers over the next ten years who are able to prepare and inspire students. This goal is aligned with the recommendations(pdf) recently made by the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST). In an appeal to young people, he said, “If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child — become a teacher. Your country needs you.”

Overall, the State of the Union Address was extremely favorable for STEM education, especially this statement, “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair.”

A panel of experts on national competitiveness recently urged Congress to make a sustained investment in STEM education and basic research in order to ensure America’s future in the global economy. Four of the same authors of the National Academies’ 2005 report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology at a hearing held earlier this week to offer recommendations included in the updated report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5.

Staggering facts and statistics in the report illustrate how drastically the United States is slipping behind the rest of the world in terms of economic and educational competitiveness, particularly in math and science. After assessing the progress of the federal government and private sector over the last five years since the original report, the authors conclude that America’s ability to compete for quality jobs has only gotten worse and will continue to decline unless substantial investments are made now.

The authors of the report call for the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act, which expired as of yesterday, upon the close of FY 2010. Many of the measures in the original 2007 COMPETES Act, which were largely based on recommendations from Gathering Storm, never came into fruition because they were not funded in appropriations.

In addition, the authors of the report also urge that the recommended funding levels and policy changes become “institutionalized” to ensure their longevity.

Testifying at the hearing, entitled Averting the Storm: How Investments in Science Will Secure the Competitiveness and Economic Future of the U.S., were distinguished guests, Mr. Norman R. Augustine, retired Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, Dr. Craig Barrett, retired Chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation, Mr. Charles Holliday, Jr., Chairman of Bank of America and retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, and Dr. C.D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., President Emeritus of the University of Maryland and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering.

While the House Committee has overall consensus that our nation’s success is dependent upon our ability to produce a STEM-skilled workforce, there is strong party divide over the means by which to achieve this. Retiring committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) is one of COMPETES’ strongest advocates, while Ranking Member Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) believes that we need to examine our current investments and do “a lot more than just throwing money at R&D.”

Dr. Craig Barrett agreed that while he would fully support the reauthorization of COMPETES, he believes that, in addition to government, the solution must involve society and the private sector as well.

Norm Augustine said, “For many years, I worked as an aircraft engineer and we often dealt with the dilemma of trying to make an overweight aircraft fly. We never solved the problem by removing an engine. Science funding is the engine of a thought-based economy. We cannot simply remove it.”

During questions, the hearing quickly changed gears and engaged what, at certain points, became a rather heated discussion over intellectual property rights, foreign student visas, corporate tax rates, among other issues, which all stem from the topic of America’s competitiveness.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) blamed the basis of the problem on the influx of foreign graduate students in American universities. “I think it’s a good idea to have American students, even if they’re just B plus students, instead of the A plus students from India and China,” he said.

Barrett responded that while he wishes the A plus students happened to be American, “B plus students are not what is needed to compete in an A plus world…You cannot have a Microsoft, a Cicso, Intel, or Dupont with just B plus players. You need the best talent from around the world to have those companies be successful in the international marketplace,” he said.

“If we do not recognize the significance of the declining course of U.S. competitiveness in S&T and innovation to our future prosperity and national security, we will not change the culture necessary to make S&T a higher priority,” stated Dan Mote, Jr.

While the House passed its version of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act (H.R.5116) in May 2010, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation released its own bill (S.3605) in July and no further action has been taken since.

“If this report tells us anything, it tells us that the worst thing we can do is let our efforts at reauthorization languish. Unfortunately, despite our best laid plans, the America COMPETES Act is set to expire tomorrow (September 30, 2010),” stated Chairman Gordon. “However, because of the wide breadth of support, I am hopeful that the COMPETES reauthorization bill will be enacted by the end of the year, and that Congress will have once again answered this call to action.”

Although Gordon is hopeful, other proponents of the bill are skeptical of the chances that it will move any further during the upcoming lame duck session.

Norm Augustine, Chairman of the Gathering Storm Committee said, “I can’t think of a stronger negative signal this Congress could send than NOT passing the COMPETES Act.”

Nine states and the District of Columbia have won grants in the second round of the Race to the Top competition. The 10 winning applications are: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

To recap, Race to the Top is a $4.35 billion federal investment in education reform funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Earlier this year in round one, two states, Delaware and Tennessee, were selected to receive grants of approximately $100 million and $500 million, respectively, to implement their school reform plans over the next four years. The scores and amounts awarded to round two finalists are shown in the table below.

States that placed an emphasis on education programs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) were eligible to receive competitive preference priority points. Nine of the applicants, out of a total of 36, failed to receive credit for STEM education. Although this section was only worth 15 points (3 percent of the total score), only states that received these points ended up qualifying as finalists and all ten of the winning applications included strong plans for STEM education.

To highlight just a few STEM strategies of the winning states, here are some examples:

• DC plans to develop a DC STEM Learning Network to leverage regional and national partners, such as Battelle, and develop a strategy to strengthen STEM teachers at every grade level. (The formation of STEM networks are a commonality among many of the states’ applications.)

• Florida’s STEM initiatives include the cooperation of industry experts, museums, universities, research center, and other STEM-capable community partners to produce a STEM Plan. The state will also provide STEM Coordinators for Florida Struggling Schools and plans to support STEM teacher training programs at state universities.

• Hawaii mentions its challenge of attracting and retaining highly qualified STEM teachers and proposes several initiatives to increase the supply of effective teachers and connect them to industry, researchers, and higher education resources. Also, the state’s Women in Technology Project serves rural schools in geographically isolated islands and works in partnership with local businesses to encourage girls and other underrepresented groups to pursue STEM careers.

• Ohio’s proposal discusses how it will leverage the existing Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN), which is part of an emergent multi-state consortium of other statewide networks. It will use its established STEM schools as teacher training, professional development, and R&D sites available to schools.

• New York will enhance STEM access and education through leveraging partnerships with prestigious universities: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Clarkson University, and the University at Albany College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Like many of the other states, it will emphasize STEM by adopting world class standards in STEM disciplines, which will be supported by state-wide curriculum and professional development.

While this space is simply inadequate to give credit to all of the inspiring STEM initiatives, these are just a couple of the STEM strategies that were mentioned in the proposals. All materials including complete applications and peer reviewers’ comments and scores from both Phase 1 and Phase 2 can be viewed on the Department of Education’s website. In addition, the Department also revealed the identity of the Race to the Top reviewers, keeping its promise to full transparency.

As far as the states that did not receive STEM competitive preference priority points, here are some comments from the judges. Regarding Iowa’s application, a reviewer commented that “the proposal is silent on the kind of K-12 plan involving STEM that qualifies as a priority for the state.” For Alabama, while the proposal discussed several STEM initiatives already in place, reviewers found that these efforts were not incorporated throughout the rest of the application. Commenting on Maine’s STEM plan, one reviewer said the STEM activities were not “coherent or pervasive,” nor did the application specifically address the needs of underrepresented groups or women.

“We had many more competitive applications than money to fund them in this round,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The secretary is hopeful that there will be a Round 3 of Race to the Top, pending the additional $1.35 billion dollars the administration has requested in the FY2011 budget. “In the meantime, we will partner with each and every state that applied to help them find ways to carry out the bold reforms they’ve proposed in their applications.”

If any Triangle Coalition members are becoming involved with implementing the STEM strategies in the RttT states, please let us know about it (email: guelzowa@triangle-coalition.org.

Last week, U.S. Senators Gillibrand (D-NY), Kaufman (D-DE), Snowe (R-ME), and Congressman Tonko (D-NY) introduced the Engineering Education (E2) for Innovation Act, legislation that would increase student achievement in STEM, with its main focus on K-12 engineering education. Senators Cantwell (D-WA), Murray (D-WA), and Klobuchar (D-MN) also co-sponsored the bill (H.R.4709, S.3043).

Through competitive grant programs, the E2 for Innovation Act would fund the development and implementation of engineering education into K-12 curriculum and instruction in order to spark student interest in engineering. In addition, E2 would encourage broader participation of girls and underrepresented minorities, invest in afterschool engineering education programs, and also fund the research to measure the efficacy of such programs.

In a passionately delivered floor speech, Senator Kaufman stated, “I believe we are at a crucial moment for STEM education. Today’s engineers have a central role to play in developing the innovative technologies that will help our economy recover and promote real job growth. In turn, we must promote policies and programs that help to generate greater interest in STEM and actually lead to the production of a greater number of engineers.”

While science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is a priority of national education policy, initiatives focus almost exclusively on math and science, overlooking the engineering and technology education components. Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, expressed strong support for the E2 Act, stating, “One of the many reasons our nation does not seem to attract young people into engineering is that many seem to have no idea what an engineer does. Although we attempt to teach math and science in K-12, seldom do we expose students to engineering.”

The E2 Act would seek to increase the number of students who choose careers in STEM and to maintain the global competitiveness of the United States. According to The National Science Board, only 5% of college graduates in the U.S. major in Engineering, compared with 12% of European students and 20% of those in Asia. “If we are going to support an economy that is driven by our ability to solve problems through technology development, then we need to increase our students’ interest and understanding of engineering down to the earliest ages,” said Rep. Tonko. “This bill is a critical step to prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow and retain our standing worldwide as the home of innovation.”

Over 75 organizations have signed on in support of the bill, including National Society of Professional Engineers, National Center for Technological Literacy, Intel, IBM, and Lockheed Martin, as well as many Triangle Coalition members.