Committee Democrats Stress Importance of the Federal Government’s Role in STEM Education Programs
(Washington, DC) – Today the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing entitled, “Stem in Action: Inspiring the Science and Engineering Workforce of Tomorrow.” The hearing was the second in a series to highlight science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education activities. The stated purpose of this hearing was to highlight public/private partnerships and initiatives that are successfully inspiring the future STEM workforce; however, the hearing primarily focused on private-sector led STEM competitions. Testifying before the Committee were Mr. Tony Norman, President and CEO of Innovation First International, Inc.; Ms. Nancy Conrad, Chairman and Founder of the Conrad Foundation; and Mr. Michael D. Gallagher, President and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association.
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) opened her remarks, “As I’ve said so many times before, we truly have a STEM education crisis in this country. I don’t need to remind this audience about how poorly too many of our students perform on tests of math and science proficiency, or how important it is to the future of our country that we do something to address this serious problem. By “we,” I mean all of the stakeholders: Federal agencies, States, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and parents. We must all work together to leverage our respective strengths and resources to tackle this issue. STEM education in this country is truly a complex and grand challenge that no one entity can solve alone.”
Witnesses and Democratic Members emphasized the important role the federal government can play in improving STEM education. They cited programs for K-12 students and teachers supported with both funding and in-kind resources by NASA, NOAA, and NIST, and the important education research funded by the National Science Foundation. They also discussed the importance of federally funded research in building the foundation for the educational technologies developed and sold by the companies represented by the witnesses.
Committee Democrats questioned witnesses over what measurements and metrics they use to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs. While all the witnesses pointed to the potential for competitions to excite students about possible careers in STEM, they were unable to cite any specific data on the extent to which the competitions led to improved learning outcomes.
Ms. Johnson said, “[W]e also know from a recent National Academies report on informal STEM learning and a hearing we held on that same topic in the 111th Congress, that there remains a big gap in understanding about how students learn outside of the classroom and to what extent informal experiences influence their long-term interest and success in STEM…Here there is a clear and unique federal role in developing the necessary body of knowledge. The National Science Foundation is the leading entity in this country for funding research on STEM learning in both formal and informal environments, including competitions. The results of NSF funded research over many decades have helped and will continue to help ensure that education practitioners are incorporating effective practices with measurable results.”
Ms. Johnson closed her opening remarks by saying, “We’re all in this together. I commend the witnesses and your colleagues in the private sector for your efforts in helping to improve STEM education in this country. But I would also like to repeat a request that I made at our last STEM hearing, that we not continue to ignore the unique and important role of the federal government in improving STEM education in this country.”
Related Content
Next Article Previous Article