Committee Democrats Congratulate ExploraVision Contest Winners; Stress the Importance of STEM Education
(Washington, DC) – Today the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing titled, “STEM Education in Action: Learning Today…Leading Tomorrow”. The hearing is the first in a series to highlight Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education activities. This hearing focused on the winning teams from the ExploraVision contest, a science competition for grades K-12 in which students are asked to research a technology of their choice and explore what that technology could be like in 20 years. ExploraVision is sponsored by Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Appearing before the Committee were students and team mentors from four winning ExploraVision Teams.
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)opened her remarks by congratulating the students and acknowledging their teachers, parents, and mentors. She also expressed her concerns regarding the overall state of STEM education in the United States. She said, “Unfortunately, too many students across the country do not have opportunities to participate in inspiring STEM activities or to receive a high quality STEM education. The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) study found that less than half of our nation’s students are demonstrating solid academic performance and proficiency in science. This is a startling statistic when you consider the many recent expert reports warning that our competitive edge will be lost if we do not vastly improve STEM education in this country.”
Ms. Johnson continued by stressing the important role that the federal government plays in improving STEM education. She pointed to federal STEM programs at the Department of Education, NASA, NOAA, NIST, EPA, and the Department of Energy. She particularly emphasized the National Science Foundation (NSF) as being the “premier STEM education research organization in the country.” She said, “For decades, NSF has been a leader in improving our collective understanding of how students learn, and how we can develop the most effective and inspiring curriculum and train the most effective and inspiring teachers.”
Committee Democrats all congratulated the winning teams on their accomplishments, and stressed the importance of increasing access to programs such as the ExploraVision contest for all students across the country.
Ranking Member Johnson closed her opening remarks by saying, “We have an education crisis in this country, and there is a very real possibility that we will lose our competitive edge and that our children will no longer have the opportunities that we had if we do not remain committed to investing in and improving STEM education.
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