At the same time, CalTeach enables those older students — college STEM majors — to become credentialed teachers during their undergrad experience. “We are producing mathematicians, scientists and engineers who have chosen to teach,” says engineering professor and Berkeley CalTeach do-director George Johnson.
Among the benefits of the program is the fact that it offers an opportunity for STEM majors to give teaching a try and determine whether or not it’s for them. Furthermore, “Learning the subject and learning to teach it at the same time really means unpacking the subject,” says Shelly Seethaler, staff director of CalTeach at UC San Diego. “You can’t just plug in formulas for gas, temperature and pressure and come up with answers. You also need to be able to explain, gas, temperature and pressure, and what’s going on and why.”
Via www.universityofcalifornia.edu
For Stephan Turnipseed, winning a seventh grade science fair was transformative experience. The current LEGO Education President keeps the framed certificate won at the time of his science fair victory close at hand to remind him of the power of discovery, which his company harnesses so well to the benefit of generations of students. “Our dramatic ability to engage and motivate students, and unlock creativity [is] dramatic,” Turnipseed says, “Our strongest presence is in the STEM area.”
With the lofty goal of reaching one quarter of America’s students, the National Park Service is assuming a leadership role is supporting environmental literacy. Through virtual field trips, teacher professional development and partnerships — as well as facilitating access to the parks for students — Park Service leaders aim to reach students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to benefit from all that our national parks have to offer. “The benefits of multiday, residential, outdoor education programs are very well documented and well embraced, but they are expensive to provide and require a lot of resources,” said Julia Washburn, the Park Service’s associate director for interpretation and education. “This means they are typically a deeper experience for fewer kids. Shorter single-day, field-trip experiences are less expensive, and can serve more students, but their impact, while still beneficial, isn’t as great.”
While Massachusetts students came out on top in 4th and 8th grade math and reading as measured by the recently-released National Assessment of Educational Progress exam (aka “the nation’s report card”), there’s work to be done to address a persistent gap in achievement between white and minority students. Governor Patrick and state Secretary of Education Paul Reville have some plans in the works that aim to do just that.
It stands to reason that the more time a student spends learning a subject, the better that student will perform on tests of that subject matter. A recently-released report from the National Center on Time & Learning erases any doubt about it — where science is concerned, at least.