Fostering STEM Trajectories

The event in the Spring of 2016 was produced by New America’s Education Policy Program and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop to gather input and ideas from researchers, practitioners, and policy analysts who focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in early learning settings and the early elementary grades. It is part of a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation that will result in a paper to be released by the end of 2016.

Additional Resources:

Day 1:

Opening Remarks:

Joan Ferrini-Mundy
NSF

Deborah Phillips
Georgetown University

Panel:

 LaRue Allen
New York University 

Andres Henriquez
New York Hall of Science

Kim Brenneman
Heising-Simons Foundation

Shelley Pasnik
EDC

Moderator: 

Lisa Guernsey
New America

Day 2: 

Panel:

Doug Clements

University of Denver

Vivien Stewart

Asia Society

Marshall “Mike” Smith
 The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Moderator:

Michael Levine
The Cooney Center

Blog posts and commentary about the event

Fostering STEM Trajectories: A Plan of Action
Cooney Center Blog
by Elisabeth McClure
June 13, 2016

Deepening Discussion of STEM in Early Learning, Part 1
EdCentral (New America’s Education Blog)
By Kristina Rodriguez
June 13, 2016

Op-Ed: Integrating STEM Learning in Early Childhood Education
U.S. News & World Report
By Rafiq Dossani
June 15, 2016

Deepening Discussion of STEM in Early Learning, Part 2
EdCentral
By Lisa Guernsey
June 20, 2016

Also of interest: This post on the Preschool Matters blog last year about STEM and early learning.

Toolkit from FrameWorks on “Telling the STEM Story”

Here’s where to find the FrameWorks Institute’s toolkit, Telling the STEM Chapter of the Education Core Story, which FrameWorks describes as “a collection of framing research, recommendations, and sample communications designed to help leading voices explain learning in science, technology, engineering, and math in such a way that builds public understanding and will on STEM issues, while also supporting a broader reframed narrative about education as a public good.”

New Early STEM page from the National Conference of State Legislatures

Matthew Weyer, an education policy specialist for NCSL, created this web page that includes a map of states with policy initiatives related to early STEM. It also includes background materials and translates research for policymakers.

Shelley Pasnik of EDC collecting video clips for library of what STEM learning looks like

Shelley Pasnik, director of the Center for Children and Technology and a vice president of the Education Development Center, offered to collect video and to create a resource for policymakers and educators to see STEM teaching and learning in action. Please email contributions to Shelley Pasnik. 

Recap of June 10 Congressional briefing on Early STEM

See this report from Carrie Lynne Draper of Readiness Learning Associates, who spoke at Education Through the Lens: Early Learning STEM, an event sponsored by Congressman Mike Honda (U.S. Representative California's 17th Congressional District) for members of Congress, their staff and policy stakeholders. Russ Shilling of the U.S. Department of Education led the panel discussion.

SciMath-DLL Resources from NIEER

The SciMath-DLL early childhood STEM professional development project team, led by Dr. Alissa Lange (PI), has created a video for the 2016 NSF STEM For All Video Showcase. The video highlights their efforts to improve STEM education for all children, including dual language learners (DLLs).

A New America paper on state policies: From Crawling to Walking

From Crawling to Walking: Ranking States on Birth- 3rd Grade Policies that Support Strong Readers, ranks states on 65 indicators in seven policy areas. The report found that most states are not taking a comprehensive approach when it comes to developing children’s literacy skills. Most of the policies analyzed in this report are directly applicable to children’s cognitive and social development, and are therefore also tied to early learning in science, technology, engineering, and math. Accompanying the research are interactive maps of state progress displayed via New America’s data visualization and policy analysis tool, Atlas.