Prepare and Inspire: STEM Education for America’s Future. (September 3, 2010)

A year in preparation, a committee of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) co-chaired by Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and University of Maryland, College Park, theoretical physicist Jim Gates, presented its draft version of Prepare and Inspire: STEM Education for America's Future to the full Council for consideration. The final version is scheduled for release toward the end of the month.

Physicist Jim Gates introducing --
Prepare and Inspire: STEM Education for America’s Future

In discussing the report Professors Lander and Gates noted:

• the United States needs many more specialized schools that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM);

• special recognition should be given to "master" STEM teachers--“not the rare award, but perhaps 5% of the teacher corps”--so that they could help improve the performance of their colleagues;

• the effective use of technology means a lot more than giving schools computers;

• the fact that the federal government provides only about 8% of total funding for elementary and secondary education, however, means that it must work closely with states to achieve these and other goals;

• to date the federal government hasn’t been organized with a coherent strategy and leadership capacity for K–12 STEM education;

• science should soon follow reading and math as subjects that have been adopted by a growing majority of states that have signed onto the common standards movement;

• in addition to a solid preparation in STEM areas: “Inspiration is also needed, at all levels, and we have to make sure that every element of our educational system is set up to both prepare and inspire.”

As co-chair Jim Gates explained, the report is the result of a year of discussions and consultations among some 20 experts both within and outside PCAST and is the first of two reports on STEM education. The second, dealing with STEM in higher education, has yet to be undertaken.

PCAST’s work on K–12 STEM education, however, is not complete. Eric Lander told the Council: “We expect to meet with the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation in the next 6 to 12 months” to see how PCAST can help those and other federal agencies to implement the report, "We want to stay on top of this.”