Honda and Obama Introduce Critical eSTEM Education Act
Rep. Honda announcing eSTEM Education Act, with Rep. Ehlers and students in the background.-eSTEM Education Act informational, Rep. Mike Honda’s office, April 2008
_____________________________________________This afternoon, in response to the above findings and to reports such as the National Science Board’s “National Action Plan for STEM Education,” Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) each introduced versions of the “Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (eSTEM) Act of 2008.” Original cosponsors of the House version of the bill include Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Ranking Member on the Science Subcommittee on Education. Triangle Coalition, along with over 20 other organizations, such as the National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA) and the American Chemical Society (ACS), support and welcome the historic legislation.
The House (HR 6104) and Senate bills (S 3047) are very similar according to both Honda and Obama's offices. Both would aim to, as stated in their shared title, “provide for the coordination of the Nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives.” Rep. Honda confirmed this basic intent of the bill, stating, “The intent of this bill is to increase the coordination, collaboration, and coherence of STEM education initiatives for the students of today and the citizens and workers of tomorrow.” The legislation would attempt to do this, more specifically, through the development of the following four initiatives:
-“Committee on STEM Education” at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to oversee coordination of Federal STEM education programs;
-“Office of STEM Education” and new Assistant Secretary for STEM Education position at Department of Education;
-“State Consortium on STEM Education” to bring together stakeholders to better coordinate STEM education between participating states;
-“National STEM Education Research Repository” to improve dissemination of research and promising practices for STEM education.
The summary below is divided into overviews of the four above components (based on the draft version of the bill available at the time of publication).
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“Committee on STEM Education” at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to oversee coordination of Federal STEM education programs
The bill defines the role of the Committee on STEM Education as one of coordinating “all efforts of all Federal Agencies that relate to STEM education, from the pre-kindergarten level through the graduate level.” At least one representative from each of the relevant Federal Agencies would be a part of the Committee. The Committee would meet at least once quarterly, and would be run by a director and at least two additional staff.
In order to coordinate the STEM education efforts of all relevant Agencies, the Committee would be required to inventory all such efforts and assess their effectiveness. The Committee would also develop annual goals for STEM education and share those goals with relevant Federal Agencies and with the four Congressional committees (two in each house) which deal with education and/or science. The efficacy of Federal Agencies at meeting the goals would also be evaluated by the Committee.
The bill even calls for the Committee to propose a “coordinated interagency budget” for STEM education to the Office on Management and Budget, aligned with the goals they develop. The Committee would also provide national-level updates on the status of STEM education by issuing a biennial report and by hosting an annual meeting, both on the status of STEM education (the meeting would be a part of the “National Science and Technology Summit” called for in the America COMPETES Act). The report would specify the “efforts and outcomes of each Federal Agency at improving STEM education.” Lastly, the Committee would be tasked with forming a five-year projection of the STEM workforce in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and others.
“Office of STEM Education” and new Assistant Secretary for STEM Education position at Department of Education
The legislation would also form a new office at the Department of Education, expressly focused on STEM education and administered by a new “Assistant Secretary for STEM Education.” The office, as with the above Committee on STEM Education at OSTP, would certainly help augment the prominence of STEM education on the national level. The Assistant Secretary would coordinate all STEM education efforts within the Department, specifically managing the following programs: Math and Science Partnerships, Math Now, Minority Science and Engineering Improvement, and Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow. The Assistant Secretary would also be the primary liaison from the Department on the Committee on STEM Education at OSTP.
The Assistant Secretary would have a number of other roles, including:
-increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines;
-promoting the formation and use of “quality, scientifically-valid STEM teacher preparation programs that lead to a baccalaureate degree with concurrent teacher certification, teacher professional development, and to provide technical assistance to support STEM learning;”
-supporting institutions of higher education and informal STEM education programs to improve teacher preparation and professional development (including a focus on inquiry-based teaching);
-consulting monthly with the below State Consortium on STEM Education in regard to the development of policy and general technical support;
-conducting a biennial “listening forum” to bring together a wide range of stakeholders who are particularly focused on engaging individuals underrepresented in STEM fields; and
-sharing all appropriate STEM education-related materials from the Department of Education with the below National STEM Education Research Repository.
The Assistant Secretary would also be charged with conducting an annual independent evaluation of STEM education programs within the Department, to be submitted to appropriate House and Senate committees. This evaluation would be required to include analysis of the effects of these programs on:
-the numbers of those seeking STEM degrees, disaggregated by subject and student group;
-student achievement “with consideration of problem solving, critical thinking, working collaboratively, and inventiveness”;
-improvement of STEM teacher “quality, quantity, and retention”; and
-“improving promising teaching practices that show evidence of fostering student innovation.”
“State Consortium on STEM Education” to bring together stakeholders to better coordinate STEM education between participating states
The State Consortium on STEM Education would be an interesting entity that would aim to bring together a number of relevant state-level players in STEM education to accomplish a variety of goals. In terms of its formation, it would be voluntary and, according to the legislation, have to include “at least 5 States representing not less than 5 of the 9 regional divisions of the United States.” The bill would authorize an initial grant of not more than $20 million for the formation of the Consortium and annual grants of $2 million for every state that joins beyond the initial five.
The Consortium would bring together a variety of state representatives, including: governors, chief state school officers, STEM educators from three levels of pre-college education, representatives from higher education and informal education, professional organizations, businesses, and others.
What would the Consortium do though? Most prominently, it would develop “rigorous common content standards in STEM education for grades K-12.” However, an overview document from Rep. Honda’s office is careful to qualify the limits of this particular role:
“The Consortium is not an attempt by the federal government to establish national standards, rather it is an incentive to encourage and support a group of states to work together with local teachers, businesses, institutions of higher education and other stakeholders to address the workforce needs of an increasingly global 21st century.”
Additionally, the Consortium would be tasked with the following required roles:
-recognize and prioritize weaknesses in the STEM education system, along with strategies for addressing those weaknesses; both the weaknesses and solutions would then be communicated to the Committee for STEM Education at OSTP and the Assistant Secretary for STEM Education;
-develop a model STEM curriculum, emphasizing integration with other subject areas, such as “language arts, social studies, physical and health education, music and other performing arts, and environmental education”;
-develop innovative assessment practices for STEM education, including: “a substantial proportion of extended constructed response items, such as performance-based measures, that measure higher order thinking skills and understanding, application and transferability knowledge, problem solving, analysis, and synthesis, and include administration through a variety of modalities, such as audio-visual and interactive technology”;
-form strategies to increase participation of underrepresented groups in STEM education; and
-make effective strategies, programs and related resources available through the National STEM Education Research Repository described below.
The following are among the roles that appear not to be required but suggested tasks for the Consortium:
-establishing “partnerships between two-year colleges and minority serving institutions and research institutions to provide STEM students at two-year colleges and minority serving institutions (MSIs) expanded degree possibilities and opportunities to access research facilities and mentors”;
-“improving and aligning STEM pre-service teacher training among the member states,” including STEM teacher training degrees and STEM teacher credentials.
-promoting and forming curriculum tools and professional development for teachers that foster “innovation and inventiveness”;
-evaluating the impact of STEM professional development organizations;
-providing support for the development or strengthening of P-16 and/or P-20 councils; and
-developing “STEM Career Awareness Programs” in coordination with guidance counselors to reflect STEM career needs.
All activities undertaken by the Consortium would be required to be evaluated in a report to the Assistant Secretary, with the report analyzing the impact on STEM teaching and learning.
“National STEM Education Research Repository” to improve dissemination of research and promising practices for STEM education
Lastly, the bill would require the Secretary of Education to provide a grant to the National Science Digital Library “to establish a Science STEM Education Research Repository (NSERR) to coordinate and organize scientifically-valid STEM education research, and STEM education programs that demonstrate promising practices and exemplary programs, among governmental and non-governmental agencies.” Aware of the potential controversial nature of such an entity, the authors of the legislation stipulate that the NSERR should be unbiased.
The NSERR would be tasked with bringing together collections of STEM education formed through Federal Agencies, along with those developed by: “Science Education Resource Center, Research from Institutions of Higher Education, Regional Education Centers (labs, comprehensive centers, and technical assistance centers), Applied Math and Science Repository, State Initiatives, National Experts, and others.”
Additionally, in conjunction with “STEM education stakeholders,” the NSERR would develop criteria for the inclusion of materials in the repository. The NSERR would be required to make the information collected widely available and to provide summaries for each set of materials, including contact information and an example of an instance when the materials were used successfully.
There are said to be some chances that the bill may come up for debate in the House, though passage would be difficult this year. Nevertheless, we will continue to follow this landmark bill and offer relevant updates as they become available. Updates can be found here in our news section, as well as on our STEM Ed. Bill Database.
Update: After the publication of this news item, Sen. Obama's office provided us with the following quote from the Senator:
"Our students deserve the education and skills they need to compete in today’s global economy and to understand the increasingly complex issues that face our democracy, and we must do everything we can to provide them with the resources and curriculum they need to succeed. This critical legislation will help students develop critical thinking and effective problem solving skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by coordinating federal STEM education efforts, consolidating federal education initiatives, and supporting states in collaboratively organizing their efforts. I am proud to introduce this legislation with Congressman Honda, and look forward to moving it forward in Congress."
Additionally, Rep. Honda's bill now has a total of 52 cosponsors and Sen. Obama's has four, including Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Honda's press release on the bill is available here, and Obama's here, along with an Education Week article here.
Update 2: For a great informational site on the bill, take a look at this, set up by Rep. Honda's staff. You can comment on the bill, see the organizations supporting it, and even look over some great FAQ, such as:
- What is goal of the bill?
- What are the economic and public benefits of the bill?
- How is this bill different from America COMPETES Act?
- Will this create another layer of federal bureaucracy?
- Will this bill impose standards on the states?
- Would the bill make the Department of Education responsible for coordinating all Federal STEM Education Programs?
- How much does the bill cost?
Labels: eSTEM Education Act, hr6104, MSPs at ED, National standards, nsb national action plan, Rep.Honda, s3047, Sen.Obama
