STEM: Preserving Our Nation's Most Valuable Resource
Although the U.S. still has the strongest scientific and technological enterprise and the best research universities in the world, numerous business and government leaders are voicing concern that we are in danger of losing our economic advantage if we fail to re-commit ourselves to increasing the pipeline of U.S. talent into the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This pipeline of talent into STEM fields begins with early educational experiences and opportunities. Our K-12 education system must continue to contribute to the Nation's most valuable and renewable resource: Our children.
“Yes, improving education in math and science is about producing engineers, researchers, scientists, and innovators who are going to help transform our economy and our lives for the better. But, it’s also about something more. It’s about expanding opportunity for all Americans in a world where an education is the key to success. It’s about an informed citizenry -- in an era where many of the problems we face as a nation are, at root, scientific problems. And, it’s about the power of science to not only unlock new discoveries but also to unlock, in the minds of our youngest people, a sense of promise, a sense that with some hard work -- with effort -- they have the potential to achieve extraordinary things.”
-President Barack Obama (11/23/09), announcing the Educate to Innovate campaign
Finding a Solution to the Problem
In Gifted Education, this problem is a cry to action. Gifted Education can provide insight into the pedagogy and practice of serving the needs of high-ability students. Having an adequate, diverse, and well-trained supply of scientists and engineers depends on what thousands of high-ability students in K-12 decide every year to do with their lives, which is influenced by access to varied, challenging coursework taught by highly skilled teachers.
Access to high-level coursework means ensuring opportunities for advanced classes beginning in middle schools, but as early as the elementary years. Options included magnet school programs, statewide specialized schools, online alternatives, and postsecondary options in schools that do not offer a range of advanced math and science courses. Click here for an in-depth look at this issue.
Access to highly skilled teachers means having teachers who are highly competent not only in the content area in which they teach, but also in the education strategies necessary to support advanced learners including differentiation, acceleration, and curriculum modification. Click here for an in-depth look at this issue.
Preparing for "Our" Future
The National Association for Gifted Children and The United States Department of Education are equally dedicated to ensuring the success of our most highly able students. Working together towards this common goal could prove beneficial to both parties. NAGC has both the tools and resources, backed by over 50 years of research, that the Department of Education needs to fulfill its expectations. Please explore the links below to develop an understanding of what NAGC can provide in the context of what the Dept. of Ed seeks. The links to the right contain a variety of Books, Professional Papers, Gifted Child Quarterly Articles, Recent News Items, and other links supporting STEM education.
NAGC
NAGC's STEM White Paper
Click here for pdf's of the Executive Summery and Approved White Paper
NAGC's Fact Sheet: Creating a Pipeline of Talent in Math and Science
Click here for Evidence of the decline in STEM education
Crucial Commentaries from two extraordinary leaders in the field of Gifted Education
Putting it into Perspective: The National Defense Education Act, Current STEM Initiative, and the Gifted
Read this historical perspective piece by Jennifer L. Jolly, published Spring 2009 vol 32, no 2 Issue of Gifted Child Today.
Permission to reprint granted by Prufrock Press www.prufrock.com Click title for pdf.
United States Department of Education
The Department of Education's Race to the top Grants
The Department of Education's Educate to Innovate campaign.
Secretary Arne Duncan's Speech to The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Annual Conference
“It is time to transform early learning from a system of uneven quality and access into a system that truly and consistently prepares children for success in school and in life. And, it is time to learn from the success of high-quality programs, even as we take on the challenge of raising the bar for early learning programs in the 21st century.”
To read the complete speech and explore the issue more, click here.
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