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Symposium on science standards draws 30 states!

October 2, 2013

by Margaret Ashida, director of the STEMx TM network

Last week I joined more than 250 leaders in science, education and assessment at a national  Invitational Research Symposium on Science Assessment.  Over 30 states brought teams to our nation’s capital to engage with academia, industry and government on the goal of improved student assessment and achievement, pertaining to the Next Generation Science Standards which have already been adopted by 7 states.  The lead convener of the symposium, the K-12 Center ,  has posted all of the research papers and presentations online along with video from closing segments on the work ahead in policy and practice. They’re even hosting a webinar distilling Symposium findings in November.

The Next Generation Science Standards were developed by states, for states, in alignment with the National Research Council’s Framework for K-12 Science Education.  It includes elements important to STEM education: real-world practices, concepts and ideas; coherency across K-12; focus on deeper understanding and application; integration of science and engineering and alignment to math and literacy standards; and an intent to prepare of all students for college, career and citizenship.

The nineteen STEMx Network Collaborators share the belief that states have the greatest power to effect transformative change in education.  Our culture is one of open innovation where expert STEM practitioners in education, business, government, and community collaborate in developing, sharing and spreading high quality frameworks, practices, and new knowledge of what works in STEM education.  Just as the K-12 Center enabled last week!

Margaret Ashida is the director of the STEMx network. If you’d like to learn more about the STEMx network, send us a note using the Contact Us page.

Celebrating the 2023 STEM Innovation Forum

By Rob Evans • November 1, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .

STEM Innovation Forum: Agenda and New Sponsors

By Rob Evans • October 3, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce
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