ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Dear all,

 

I've enjoyed following this conversation and appreciate everyone's
insights and thoughts.  I've been meaning to "jump in," but couldn't do
so until the weekend.

 

First of all, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are available
as of Friday for review and comment at:

www.nextgenscience.org 

 

Next, I think we need to feel good about how the evidence and
recognition for the value/importance of out-of-school STEM experiences
has increased over the years - although certainly more slowly than we
would like.  I was encouraged with the NAEP results that showed a
positive correlation between the science scores and out-of-school
experiences.

 

I want to bring to your attention another National Research Council
(NRC) report that helps build the case for out-of-school STEM
experiences.  Last year the NRC examined the evidence regarding what we
know about schools that are successful at teaching STEM subjects.  The
findings are in the report titled Successful K-12 STEM Education
(http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13158). The report has an
associated workshop document, which I find even more useful
(http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13230). 

 

While the charge to the committee was to specifically examine learning
in schools, there were two findings that point toward the importance of
out-of-school STEM experiences in what occurs in successful schools.  On
page 23, the report concludes "that although teacher qualifications
matter, the school context-its culture and conditions-matters just as
much, if not more, [including) multiple factors that strengthen and
sustain those learning communities (e.g., school and district leaders,
parents, and community)." The other finding was that successful STEM
high schools typically included mentors from and/or internships within
the community, which I am sure often includes connections to ISE
organizations/institutions.

 

Associated with the report, NSF has organized workshops to "rollout" the
results of the report at five locations across the country. Each
workshop includes an emphasis on the importance of out-of-school
experiences and has sessions that include staff from ISE institutions.
The national rollout was last September in Philadelphia.  The most
recent regional rollouts were in Seattle on February 28th at Pacific
Science Center and on April 10th  at the University of Illinois, Chicago
Campus.  There will be two more workshops, one in Reno, NV, and the
other in Baltimore, MD - both in the fall.  There is a website
associated with the rollout activities -
http://successfulstemeducation.org/content/successful-stem-education-ini
tiative. Once your are on the site, access to more resources and events
are on the top right of the page, plus more information about the NV and
MD workshops will go on the site once the information is known.

 

Finally, Congress has tasked NSF to develop evaluation strategies to
understand how well the country is doing at implementing the
recommendations in the report.  Again, the NRC is taking on this task
and is just starting the process to develop an  Evaluation Framework for
Successful K-12 STEM Education.  Little information is yet available
about this effort, although the study committee has been identified (see
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/committeeview.aspx?key=49447). One
of the positive aspect of this efforts is to make sure the evaluation
looks beyond cognitive assessment and examine both student interest and
motivation as part of the effort.

 

It may be only small steps, but it is good to see that the evidence is
building for the importance of students' interest and motivation, and
the value of ISE experiences.

 

Dennis

 

 

"Work hard to find something that fascinates you. When you find it you
will know your lifework" -- Richard Feynman

Dennis Schatz | PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER

Senior Vice President for Strategic Programs | P (206) 443-2867 | F
(206) 443-3631 | [log in to unmask] | www.dennisschatz.org

Pacific Science Center is an independent, not-for-profit educational
institution that inspires lifelong interest in science, math and
technology

 


***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]