In the wake of the school shootings last month in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 17 people, key leaders in both the Senate and the House have introduced legislation they believe will improve school safety and bring more mental health counselors to schools.

Senate HELP Chairman Senator Lamar Alexander has introduced a bill (School Safety & Mental Health Services Improvement Act) that would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and allow states and districts to use ESSA Title IVA funds to “improve school safety infrastructure,” including “physical security, technology, and training of school personnel to recognize and respond to threats of school violence.”

POLITICO reported that Alexander told members of CCSSO during their legislative meeting that “states could use the funds for mental health, hiring more school counselors and steps for violence prevention, and that funds could be used for armed systems, improving entrances and exits of schools, installing security cameras and other infrastructure upgrades if you chose to do that.”

Alexander’s bill would also allow states to use Title II teacher training funding “to hire and improve the professional development of school counselors” and creates a Presidential Task Force to better coordinate resources between the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice, Interior and Homeland Security. It also updates Titles II and IV to clarify existing allowable school safety activities, including bullying and harassment prevention, crisis response, and other programs designed to reduce and prevent school violence.

A bill that would authorize a Justice Department school violence prevention program has also been introduced in both the House and Senate and House action is expected. The “STOP School Violence Act,” H.R. 4909 (115), would allow the Justice Department to issue grants to states and districts to train police agencies, school personnel and students and to develop reporting systems and other programs, and fund security measures in schools, such as metal detectors.

On Wednesday, March 7, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, site of last month’s school shooting, where she told attendees that school districts should have the option to arm teachers. 

President Donald Trump has called for armed and trained teachers in the schools, citing examples of programs that stress extensive training and safety already established in Texas and Florida. These ideas have been repeatedly opposed by teacher unions and school psychologists.

Increased Title IV Funding for School Safety and Mental Health Services?

Members of Congress are also calling for increased funding for Title IVA so that schools have funds available for school safety measures.

During his meeting with state leaders last week Alexander hinted that there “might be additional money” for the additional Title IV programs in the upcoming fiscal 2018 omnibus appropriations bill.

Both House leaders of the Education and Workforce Committee—Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx and Ranking Member Rep. Bobby Scott—urged that funding grants to states that support student services should be a “top priority” after the Florida school shooting and urged congressional appropriators to prioritize funding for the  ESSA Title IVA,  Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (SSAEG).

In a March 8 letter, 28 Democratic senators asked appropriations leaders for the highest possible funding for the ESSA TitleIVA SSAEG grant to support school climate and safety programs and address the opioid epidemic. “As of the date of this letter, there have been 12 shootings in American schools this year, according to an analysis by CNN, and we are only two months into 2018. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2016 there were 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States, equivalent to 174 individuals dying each day, and 92,000 children were removed from their homes in FY16 because at least one parent had a substance abuse issue. Congress cannot ignore these disturbing trends.”

As you will recall the Title IVA SSAEG is a formula based program that allows states and districts to determine the use of funds as long as programs support student health and safety, a well-rounded education (which includes science and STEM programs) and the effective use of technology.

Trump Issues Report on Science and Technology

The White House released a report last week that highlighted the Administration’s successes in science and technology during President Trump’s first year in office.

On STEM education, the report states, “On September 25, President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Education to prioritize high-quality STEM and computer science education when awarding competitive grant funding. The memorandum also establishes a goal of de-voting at least $200 million annually in grant funds for this purpose, which was matched by a private industry commitment of $300 million.

“On February 28, President Trump signed the Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act into law. The INSPIRE Women Act called on the NASA Administrator to encourage women and girls to pursue STEM education and careers in aerospace by supporting related NASA initiatives. On July 26, President Trump donated his second-quarter salary to the Department of Education to host a STEM-focused camp for students. The Trump Administration has also continued senior level attendance at STEM gatherings across the country, including the National Science Bowl, the U.S.A. Mathematical Olympiad, and the FIRST Global Challenge.”

The achievements cited in the report also include the Administration’s efforts with energy dominance, the opioid epidemic and space exploration.

Read the full report here.

Also last week . . .

Fifty seven House Democrats sent a letter to Education Secretary DeVos on March 7, expressing their disappointment regarding implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, saying she was approving states plans that violate the federal law, and urging her to review all state plans to ensure they are compliant with ESSA.

At issue is whether DeVos has approved (or is about to approve) state plans which will rate schools on school-wide averages and will not adequately count the performance of certain groups of historically underserved students, including low-income students, African American students and Hispanic students. The law requires that the performance of individual groups of students must be counted in school ratings. More here.

And Education Secretary DeVos has released the Department’s final priorities for issuing funds through existing discretionary grant programs and as expected, STEM education and computer science are included as one of the 11 priorities. Read more 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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This week in education news, new survey finds half of parents are not “very confident” in their ability to help their children with science; U.S. News STEM Solutions partners with USA Science & Engineering Festival; Pearson is selling off its U.S. print and digital curriculum business to focus on assessments and virtual schools; new research suggests that increasing access to STEM courses in high school may be no cure-all for producing more college students who take STEM classes or major in STEM fields; the New Teacher Center released the 2018 Teacher Induction Program Standards; a new study by 3M reveals that science is underappreciated; and a new report finds that the gender gap in STEM education is still prevalent.

Half of Parents Not ‘Very Confident’ They Can Support Children’s Science Learning

Only about half of parents are “very confident” in their ability to help their children with science, according to a new survey. Compare that with the 7 out of 10 parents who feel they can help their children develop reading and writing, math, and social-emotional skills. Not surprisingly, parents with lower levels of education felt less confident about their ability to help their children with science concepts at home than did parents with higher levels of educational attainment. Read the article featured in Education Week.

The Prevalence Of Collaboration Among American Teachers

Teacher collaboration is an important component of long-term career development for educators across the United States. For example, collaborative activities (such as peer observation and co-planning meetings) can provide opportunities for teachers to engage in informal mentoring with more-experienced and more-effective colleagues, experiment with new instructional approaches, and co-construct understandings of policies and practices — which, in turn, can shape their teaching practice. However, many factors impede support of teacher collaboration. Read more about the study conducted by the RAND Corporation.

U.S. News STEM Solutions Partners with USA Science & Engineering Festival to Host “Workforce of Tomorrow” Conference

U.S. News STEM Solutions is joining with the 5th USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, presented by Lockheed Martin, to host its Workforce of Tomorrow National Conference April 4-6, 2018 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The co-located Festival and Conference will bring together educators, scientists, performers, business and government leaders — as well as children and families — to create an inspiring and exciting week of events to advance STEM education and careers in America. Read more about the partnership and conference.

Educators Carefully Watch Pearson As It Moves To Sell Curriculum Business

Millions of U.S. students use Pearson’s curriculum products in their classrooms, but soon those print and digital resources will no longer fall under the education publishing giant’s business umbrella. The London-based company announced recently it will sell off its U.S. print and digital curriculum business to focus on assessments and virtual schools, leaving educators wondering what that means for day-to-day instruction. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Many Preschool Teachers Are Scared Of Teaching STEM. Here’s A Solution That Might Help

Everyone knows that 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds ask a lot of questions. But that unrestrained curiosity can unsettle preschool teachers who feel they lack sufficient understanding of science, technology, engineering and math, often referred to as STEM. Hari Sreenivasan reports from Chicago on efforts to boost science learning among some of the youngest students by boosting teacher confidence. Watch the segment featured on PBS Newshour.

High Schools Are Adding More STEM Classes. It May Not Be Enough

For more than a decade, politicians have raised concerns that not enough U.S. students are specializing in STEM subjects, leaving the country reliant on talent from overseas to fill engineering and tech jobs. All of that has led to a tremendous amount of attention on the “STEM pipeline” and how to improve it. Now, new research suggests that one of the popular policy solutions—increasing access to STEM courses in high school—may be no panacea for producing more college students who take STEM classes or major in STEM fields, raising big questions about what needs to change in K-12 to improve outcomes in the field. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Standards For Teacher Induction Programs Released

The New Teacher Center (NTC) released 2018 Teacher Induction Program Standards to provide school leaders with a framework for supporting new teachers during their first two to three years in the classroom. The standards state that “well-qualified, carefully selected, extensively trained” mentors are just as necessary for a new teacher’s success as an effective teacher is for the success of students. Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

Gender Gap In STEM Education Continues Despite Appeal Of High Wage Careers, Strong Job Growth Rate

STEM careers are equally appealing to female and male students, but the achievement gap between the two groups continues, with females again trailing males in terms of readiness for college STEM coursework, according to ACT’s newly released report, STEM Education in the U.S.: Where We Are and What We Can Do. Read ACT’s press release.

Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.

The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.

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

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Regardless of what grade level or subject are you teach, as you skim through the article titles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting your students or the inspiration to adapt/create your own.

All three journals this month include recommendations for the Best STEM Books for Students K–12.

Science Scope – Cells

From the Editor’s Desk: Sparking Student Interest in Hidden Worlds …cells are the essence of life, and to understand cells is to begin to understand ourselves…Knowledge of cells and the life processes they conduct is the basis for understanding tissues, organ systems, genetics, and the brain…Cells’ impact on the human body therefore warrants more than a circumspect lesson in the middle school classroom.

Articles in this issue that describe lessons include a helpful sidebar (“At a Glance”) documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, and cost; many follow a 5E format. The lessons also include connections with the NGSS, and many include examples of student work, assessments, and classroom materials.

• Could “The Martian” Really Have Grown Potatoes for Food? is the context for an investigation into how amounts of soil, nutrients, and water can limit plant growth.
• Mars is also the context for Cells on Mars as students compare the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells working with authentic tissue samples.
• Engineering Nanoparticles for the Body includes a 5E lesson on creating and using models (and their knowledge of the circulatory system and blood vessels) to determine the best way to deliver a nanoparticle in the body
• Go beyond a replica craft project to Cell Modeling Students Can Really Get Into Students create a model to explain and explore cell structure and diversity and display their models to others in a classroom museum. Photos of models are included.
• Classic Lessons 2.0: Diffusion in Action describes an activity that helps explain the cell surface area to volume relationship.
• In addition to the structure of a cell, activities address the processes that take place in the cell. Integrating Technology: Mapping Digital Game Analogies to Science Instruction looks at photosynthesis.
• Citizen Science: iNaturalist suggests how to incorporate the application with a “bioblitz” survey of living species in an area.
• If your students struggle with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning Teacher To Teacher: Scaffolds for Scientific Explanations has some suggestions and an organizer to assist students.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Scope on the Skies: Motions of the Earth and Beyond
• Listserv Roundup: Interactive and Digital Notebooks in the Science Classroom
• Disequilibrium: Sensory Illusions (5E lesson)
• Science For All: Making Science Memorable

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Animal/Plant Cells, Biodiversity, Biomedical Engineer, Cell Structures, Cell Theory, Circulatory System, Concept Maps, Diffusion, How Do Plant and Animal Cells Differ?, Limiting Factors, Nanotechnology, Organelle, Photosynthesis, Plant Growth, Senses, Stimuli

Keep reading for Science and Children and The Science Teacher

Science & Children – The Maker Movement

Editor’s Note: Making Sense of Makerspaces: Tinkering…allows students to play around with the materials and objects they encounter to determine their properties and how they work together. But students should then have the opportunity to make something out of the materials they have interacted with and understand…Ultimately, teachers should strive to have students create something that solves a problem or supports the accomplishment of a goal…Today, makerspaces are for everyone, each bringing to it their own experiences and building their science and engineering practices and understanding through tinkering, making, and engineering.

The lessons described in the articles have a chart showing connections with the NGSS and many include classroom materials, illustrations of student work, and photographs of students at work.

Check out the February 2017 issue of Science Scope, for more ideas on the Maker Movement.

• Guest Editorial: Elementary Engineering: What Is the Focus? This editorial address concerns   whether children can (or should) engage in the engineering process Children have their own creative ideas to build and are intrinsically compelled to act upon them. In their process of construction, children grapple with systems thinking, growing to understand that the effect of changing one part of the system may have unintended consequences for the performance of another. They problem solve and often communicate with peers to collaborate in their perseverance to be successful. In the process, children have the opportunity to wrestle with their ethical use of materials and navigate social relationships.
• School Maker Faires “showcase student work and work-in-progress to families and the community while also providing opportunities for attendees to make along-side students and teachers.” The article includes tables showing an alignment between maker activities and NGSS, suggestions for organizing a faire, and photos of several maker stations.
• Plastic Pollution to Solution includes a 5E unit that focuses on taking action on ocean pollution. Students share photos of their innovations.
• The teacher-authors of Mars Mission Specialist describe how they updated a model-rocket building lesson into a maker experience with a real-life context in design and problem-solving.
• 3D Pit Stop Printing incorporates the car design process with problem-solving, design, and manufacturing. They also share lessons learned and suggestions.
• Ready, Set, FLOW! traces the development of a classroom aquarium into a working aquaponics system designed and maintained by students.
• The Early Years: Open-Ended Maker Projects includes ideas for updating crafts to opportunities for young students to design and make their own structures.
• Formative Assessment Probes: Uncovering “Maker” Ideas About Sound suggests way to make sure that students understand what they are learning during a maker project.
• In addition to recommending trade books, Teaching Through Trade Books: The Force Is With You (or Against You) has two 5E lessons related to forces: Playground Physics (K-2) and Toying Around With Force, Motion, and Energy (3-5).
• A student’s background should not determine whether they participate in maker projects. Methods and Strategies: Equity and the Maker Movement highlights “five ways that we have found community ethnography as pedagogy for STEM-rich making to yield powerful outcomes for children.”

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• The Poetry of Science: Let’s Make a Robot
• Teaching Teachers: Designing an NGSS Learning Pathway
• Science 101: Why Do Helicopters Always Have Two Blades, and How Does That Help Cats?
• Science 102: A Faucet Phenomenon

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Engineering Structures, Forces and Motion, Oceans, Planets, Robots, Rocket Technology, Solutions to Pollution Problems, Sound, Space Exploration, Water Pollution and Conservation

The Science Teacher – Phenomenon-Based Learning

Editor’s Corner: Phenomenal Science: In PhBL classrooms, instruction begins with an interesting phenomenon that serves as the anchor for learning, providing context and relevance. Students explore, investigate, and explain the phenomenon, and make predictions.

The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS (including DCIs) and many include classroom resources and illustrations of student work.

• Planning and organizing are necessary skills in PBL. The Activity Summary Board uses visual organizers displaying the driving questions and the goal of the investigation and a tool to summarize what students are accomplishing.
• With the lesson in Shaking It Up, students apply what they learn about earthquakes to design emergency response strategies        
• The authors of A New Take on “Tried and True” describe activities in which students would use science to figure out how and why phenomena happen but which did not require a complete makeover of our curriculum. Their process could be used to repurpose your activities, too.
• There’s Something in the Water, as students may discover in this project as they study concepts such as porosity, infiltration, and aquifer contamination in the context of designing ways to protect groundwater sources.
• Students redevelop a fictional city in Boom. Bust. Build. The article includes six stages in the process used and has examples of student work.
• Focus on Physics: The Delightful Addition of Colored Lights suggests ways for students to explore light and color.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Career of the Month: Astronomer
• Right to the Source: Cemeteries
• Science 2.0: Organizing a Bit of the Google Ecosystem
• The Green Room: Waste Management

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Aquifers, Astrophysicist, Color, Earthquakes and Society, Electromagnetism, Germ Theory of Disease, Groundwater Contamination, Light and Color, Natural Disasters, Recycling, Waste Prevention