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Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin
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This Week's Topics:
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SETDA, representing all 50 states and DC, recently released the "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)" report addressing the need to provide all children with an education that includes a solid foundation of rigorous science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instruction. The report provides over ten solid examples from across the country where states, districts, or schools are successfully implementing STEM education into the curriculum. The report highlights the need for societal changes in America if we are to successfully compete and lead the world in the next generation. The US will not be able to meet its workforce needs as early as 2015 based on the need for 400,000 new graduates in STEM related fields. Yet, today's students continue to pursue degrees in non-STEM careers. Key recommendations gleaned from the successful examples highlighted in the STEM Report include:
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association for state directors of technology and their staff members providing professional development and leadership around the effective use of technology in education to enhance competitiveness in the global workforce. More details are at www.setda.org. . |
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| Nobody can doubt the importance of water and water resources in our world, whether it is clean drinking water or sufficient water to serve as a resource for sanitation, irrigation, or fire protection. But as our cities grow and expand, what can be done to conserve and reuse such a valuable resource? Beginning this fall, thousands of middle school students will tackle that specific question in the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition. Future City aims to stir interest in science, technology, math, and engineering among young people. Students work in teams under the guidance of a teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor to design and build a city of tomorrow. They must also conduct research for an essay on a pressing social need. This year, the essay centers on ways to improve water use by creating a home system that minimizes the use of municipal or externally supplied water for its daily requirements. Solving a problem with such global implications as water conservation is certainly no easy task, as many of the engineers, scientists, and researchers currently working on such issues can confirm. So then why place that same task into the hands of middle schoolers? "Every year we present these kids with really tough, really pressing engineering issues and they continually astound us with their knowledge, ideas, and solutions for the future," says Bill Knight, Future City National Program Manager. "I think we sometimes feel more like the students by the time we see what all these kids can do!" Future City Competitions will be held in January 2009 in 40 regions across the country. First-place winners from each qualifying regional competition receive an all-expense-paid trip to the 17th annual Future City National Finals in Washington, D.C., February 16-18, 2009 during National Engineers Week. National grand prize is a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. More than 30,000 students from 1,100 middle schools are expected to participate nationwide. School deadline for the 2009 Future City Competition is October 20, 2008. For more information on entering or volunteering in the Future City Competition, visit www.futurecity.org. Any and all interested schools, teachers, students, or engineers are encouraged to participate. . |
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The Visualizing Science with Adapted Curriculum Enhancements (ACE) program is a joint effort between the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) and the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania to develop an instructional framework for science teachers and/or itinerant teachers to assist students in grades 7-12 who are visually impaired in understanding abstract scientific concepts. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Educational Sciences. The research elements of the project will be conducted in Colorado and Pennsylvania, and participants will include approximately 24 teachers. Sites include the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, and other schools in Colorado, western Pennsylvania, and eastern Ohio. The ACE program has three primary components: 1) Understanding the spectrum of visual disabilities; 2) Determining the needs of visually impaired students in the classroom; and 3) Implementing ACE visualization techniques: models, tactile graphics, and observation instructions/descriptions. Eligible teachers are science teachers and itinerant teachers of children with visual impairments in grades 7-12 who have access to at least one visually impaired student. Triangle Coalition member, McREL, is a nationally recognized, private, nonprofit organization located in Denver, Colorado that is dedicated to improving education for all students through applied research, product development, and service. More details are at www.mcrel.org. . |
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| Triangle Coalition member, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), in partnership with the Amgen Foundation; Agilent Technologies Foundation; Astellas Pharma US, Inc. ("Astellas"); and Bayer Corporation, have announced the 185 new middle and secondary science teachers from across the country who will take part as Fellows in the 2008 NSTA New Science Teacher Academy. Selected from hundreds of applications from across the country, the Fellows will participate in a year-long professional development program established to help reduce the high attrition rate among science teachers new to the teaching profession. Representing 49 states, the District of Columbia, and a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school, the 2008 Fellows were selected on the basis of several criteria, including displaying a strong interest in growing as a professional science educator. Fellows will receive a comprehensive NSTA membership package, online mentoring with trained mentors who teach in the same discipline, and the opportunity to participate in a variety of web-based professional development activities, including web seminars. In addition, each fellow will receive financial support to attend and participate in NSTA's 2009 National Conference on Science Education in New Orleans. For this academic year, Agilent Technologies Foundation and Bayer Corporation will each fund the participation of 10 science teachers as Agilent Foundation-NSTA Fellows and Bayer-NSTA Fellows, respectively. Astellas will support 15 science teachers from the Chicago area as Astellas-NSTA Fellows. The remaining 150 science teachers will be supported by the Amgen Foundation and named Amgen-NSTA Fellows. Co-founded by the Amgen Foundation, the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy was created to help promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence and improve teacher content knowledge by providing professional development and mentoring support to early-career science teachers. For a list of the 2008 Fellows or to learn more about the NSTA New Science Teachers Academy, visit www.nsta.org/academy. In early March, the online application for the 2009 Fellows will become available. . |
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U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently unveiled five education indicators that will complement No Child Left Behind by providing a snapshot of national trends. These indicators -- Achievement, Achievement Gap, High School Graduation, College Readiness, and College Completion -- show educational performance over time to inform future debate on reform. "Test scores are up and the achievement gap is narrowing," said Secretary Spellings. "According to the Nation's Report Card, since 2000, more kids are learning reading and math. In math, especially, we're making great progress. And the children once left behind are making some of the greatest gains. That includes low-income children, students with limited English proficiency, and students with disabilities." "Yet, we still have a long road ahead," Secretary Spellings added. "And, if past trends continue, three in 10 of all high school students -- and half of all Hispanic and African-American students -- will not graduate from high school on time. Think about that. Think of the untapped potential." For more information on the Leading Education Indicators, click here. . |
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| The Motorola Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2008 Innovation Generation grants, which provide $4 million to 92 K-12 education programs across the country. The grants support sustainable solutions that strengthen the U.S. position in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by cultivating a workforce of critical thinkers. "We've reached a threshold in our global competitiveness in math and science where the need to spark and sustain students' interest in these critical skills is paramount," said Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola Foundation. "Building a diverse pipeline of critical thinkers, skilled scientists, and engineers is a by-product of our efforts that not only will benefit Motorola and our industry, but it also will support a sustainable workforce and bolster the country's competitive advantage in the global, knowledge-based economy." Motorola has provided more than $20 million in funding since 2005 to enable students to invent and learn as part of hands-on, interactive after-school programs, science and math clubs, camps, and mentoring programs. The Foundation's focus on STEM education in the U.S. directly addresses obstacles to achievement by engaging students -- particularly girls and under-represented minorities -- in the practical applications of the concepts engineers and technologists employ every day at Motorola. The latest research shows that jobs requiring science, engineering, or technical training will increase 24 percent between 2004 and 2014 to 6.3 million. The disparity between the growing demand for critical thinkers and the country's ability to adequately prepare students to fill these jobs has been widening for decades. The most recent global survey of 15-year-olds' performance in science shows 24 percent of U.S. students surveyed at the lowest level of performance -- below the level at which students begin to demonstrate the ability to successfully participate in the workforce. The lack of skilled graduates in these fields poses a significant threat to sustained U.S. competitiveness in the global, knowledge-intensive economy. Of 2008 Innovation Generation grantees, 43 percent target African-American students, 23 percent serve Hispanics, and 35 percent engage girls specifically. To see a full list of grantee recipients or to learn more about Motorola's Innovation Generation grant program, visit www.motorola.com/giving. |
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TCEB Sponsors
3M To find out how your organization can sponsor the TCEB or support the Triangle Coalition in other ways, visit www.trianglecoalition.org/support.htm __________________________________________________________________________ |
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