On Tuesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Adviser to the President Ivanka Trump teamed up for a STEM-related reading event at the National Museum of American History and later worked on some STEM-focused projects with the students. Read more here.

The following day, President Trump donated his second quarter salary to the Department of Education to help fund a STEM-focused camp for students. The donation, totaling $100,000, was accepted by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos at the daily White House Press briefing, more here. 

STEM Education Focus of Congressional Hearing

On Wednesday July 26, STEM Education Coalition Executive Director James Brown testified before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology at their hearing on “STEM and Computer Science Education:  Preparing the 21st Century Workforce.”

The hearing focused on the importance of STEM and computer science education to meeting a wide range of critical current and future workforce needs. In his written testimony, Brown covered three key issues: how states are incorporating STEM as they work to implement the Every Students Succeeds Act; the changing nature of STEM careers; and the emergence of informal STEM education.  View the hearing and read the testimony here, and learn more about the STEM Education Coalition here. (NSTA chairs the STEM Education Coalition.)

James Brown, Executive Director, STEM Education Coalition; Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer, Code.org; Representative Barbara Comstock (R-VA), Chair of the Research and Technology Subcommittee; A. Paul Alivisatos, Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost, Vice Chancellor for Research, and Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; and Dee Mooney, Executive Director, Micron Technology Foundation at the July 26 hearing on STEM Education.

Making the Most of ESSA: Opportunities to Advance STEM Education

ESSA to support STEM education. The report, which can be found here, is similar to the Achieve report released a few weeks ago on STEM in ESSA, which found (among other things) that 10 out of 16 states are including science assessment as part of an academic achievement or proficiency indicator. 

New Title IV Coalition Website Now Available

Check out the new Title IV-A Coalition website, a great resource for teachers and other education stakeholders. The website has a ton of resources and information on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) flexible block grant program under Title IV Part A, which provides states and districts with funding for activities in three broad areas:

• Providing students with a well-rounded education (e.g., college and career counseling, STEM, music and arts, civics, IB/AP);
• Supporting safe and healthy students (e.g., comprehensive school mental health, drug and violence prevention, training on trauma-informed practices, health and physical education); and
• Supporting the effective use of technology (e.g., professional development, blended learning, and purchase of devices).

More Title IV resources are also at the NSTA website here.

Stay tuned, and watch for more updates in future issues of NSTA Express.

Jodi Peterson is the Assistant Executive Director of Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her via e-mail at jpeterson@nsta.org or via Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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