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June 20th, 2011
The Honorable Tom Harkin The Honorable Michael B. Enzi
Chair Ranking Member
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions Pensions
United States Senate United States Senate
731 Hart Senate Office Building 379A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1502 Washington, DC 20510-5004
Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi:
As members of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition, we are writing you with our recommendations for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), otherwise known as the No Child Left Behind Act. We look forward to working closely with you and the members of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) as you reauthorize this critical law.
Our Coalition is a broad alliance of education, business, professional, and science and technology organizations working aggressively to raise awareness in Congress, the Administration, and other organizations about the critical role that STEM education plays in enabling the U.S. to remain the economic and technological leader of the global marketplace of the 21st century.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 15 of the 20 fastest growing occupations projected for 2014 require preparation in STEM subjects. If our nation is to keep up with our international peers, we absolutely must step up our efforts to improve STEM education.
Our Coalition includes a wide range of stakeholders who are deeply committed to ensuring that STEM education is a top priority in the revised ESEA. We urge you and your colleagues to strongly consider the following recommendations to improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We support:
• The inclusion of student performance in science alongside math and reading as a core element of the accountability system;
• Robust and dedicated programs to provide effective STEM-related professional development and preparation for educators and other educational innovation activities under Title II.B;
• Strengthening STEM-focused formula-funded programs that provide resources to each state for high-need students and areas, complemented with competitive grant programs in STEM education to promote ambitious reform efforts;
• Federal efforts to empower each state to develop its own comprehensive STEM education action plan – including its own definition of STEM needs – that will include input from a wide range of business, professional, and education stakeholders;
• The integration of STEM-focused curricula, projects, and programs as high-priority allowable uses of funds under other ESEA programs that support classroom and field teaching and learning as well as out of school experiences such as afterschool and summer programs;
• A strong emphasis in K-12 learning environments on hands-on, experiential, inquirybased and learner-centered student experiences and activities, including engineering design processes and digital access for STEM students and educators to help foster 21st Century skills;
• Federal efforts to encourage and foster ongoing collaborative state efforts to adopt “common core” or other high-quality standards in math and science;
• Targeted efforts to promote STEM subject master teachers and teacher specialists; and
• Federal efforts to expand the diversity of the STEM pipeline and workforce, including targeted initiatives to promote the inclusion of underrepresented minorities and women in STEM fields.
Our Coalition values our relationship with you and your HELP Committee colleagues. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance as you advance the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Please contact James Brown, Executive Director of the Coalition at (202) 223-1887 or jfbrown@stemedcoalition.org with questions, comments, or for further information.
Respectfully,
National Science Teachers Association American Society of Civil Engineers
American Chemical Society Battelle
ASME Business-Higher Education Forum
Education Development Center, Inc. Campaign for Environment Literacy
Hands on Science Partnership Committee for the Advancement of STEM
Microsoft Corporation Specialty Schools
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics IEEE-USA
Alliance for Science and Technology Afterschool Alliance
Research in America (ASTRA) American Association of Colleges for
American Society for Engineering Education Teacher Education (AACTE)
3-D Community Services and Housing National Council for Advanced Manufacturing
ACHIEVE3000 National Council of Structural Engineers Associations
American Association of Physics Teachers National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics
American Geophysical Union National Defense Industrial Association
American Institute of Biological Sciences National Institute of Building Sciences
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and National Science Education Leadership Association
Petroleum Engineers, Inc National Wildlife Federation
American Institute of Physics New York Hall of Science
American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Northrop Grumman Corporation
Colleges NV STEM Education Coalition
American Museum of Natural History Pathways into Science
American Nuclear Society Payson Unified School District #10
American Society for Microbiology Project Exploration
American Statistical Association SACNAS
Arkansas STEM Coalition School Management and Revitalize Training Group
Association of Science Materials Centers School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA)
Association of Science-Technology Centers Scientifically Connected Communities (SC2) at New
Automation Federation Mexico State University
Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber SkillsNET Corporation
Beaver County STEM Education Advocacy Coalition South Carolina's Coalition for Mathematics & Science
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) SparkFun Electronics
C-54 Productions, LLC SPIE, the International Society for Optics and
California Healthcare Institute Photonics
Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) STEM Education Center, University of Minnesota
Center for STEM Education at the University of North Students 2 Science, Inc.
Carolina Technology Student Association
Center for Teaching and Learning The 21st Century Partnership for STEM Education
Council of State Science Supervisors The American Institute of Aeronautics and
Delaware Foundation for Science and Mathematics Astronautics (AIAA)
Education The AWE Project (Assessing Women and Men in
EAST Initiative Engineering)
Engineers Without Borders – USA The Council of Presidential Awardees in Mathematics
Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. The Laboratory School for Science and Technology
ETA/Cuisenaire The National Society of Professional Engineers
Funutation Tekademy LLC The Ohio Academy of Science
Girls Inc. The Opitcal Society
In Reach, Inc. Triangle Coalition
Institute of Industrial Engineers Urban STEM Strategy Group
International Technology and Engineering Educators Vernier Software & Technology
Association (ITEEA) Wings of Eagles Discover Center
International Technology and Engineering Educators
Association Council for Supervision and Leadership
(ITEEA-CSL)
Iowa Mathematics & Science Education Partnership
KDSL-Know Do Serve Learn
Knowledge Alliance
Maryland Academy of Sciences at The Maryland
Science Center
McGraw-Hill Education
Michigan Mathematics and Science Center Network
Minnesota High Tech Association
MITS, Inc
Muses3, LLC
National Association for Gifted Children
National Center for Science Education
National Commission on Teaching and America’s
Future