Welcome to Our New STEM Resource Center

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Improving the pipeline to STEM related fields goes deeper than just student testing levels. While the rankings may be one source of judging how knowledgeable our students are in a subject, there are in my eyes three elements necessary: the knowledge of the material, the inspiration to pursue a lifetime dedicated to this material, and a prolonged desire to stay motivated and continue learning. While rankings are great for triggering alerts, higher proficiency rankings cannot be the only goal. Outreach programs, after school activities, classroom mentors and all the great existing programs are part of improving this weakened pipeline. (I practice what I preach: I am a full-time structural engineer, the author of "From Sundaes to Space Stations", the New England regional Future City Competition coordinator, the volunteer outreach coordinator for the Boston Society of Civil Engineers and on several other STEM related committees.)

Reed Brockman of MA 9:45AM September 01, 2011

This site could become a focal point and hence a great resource for educators interested in advancing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. But, let's have less presentation of view points, especially if they have been eloquently articulated by many others in the past, and more guidance and discussions on how teachers can actually implement STEM curricula in their classrooms and schools.

Dr. Sivand Lakmazaheri of VA 9:28AM August 31, 2011

One way to accomplish all this is to create stronger connections between the educational process, particularly for younger students, and the career paths offered by the employers who need those skilled workers into the future.
Monster is working with it's corporate customers, workforce investment boards, government, educators, and NGOs to enable exactly this type of collaboration through a program called iSucceed. We are enhancing the connections within the ecosystem.
In essence, 'some' of the difficulties facing educators today can be solved by eliminating the academic silos and enabling young people to build context, vision, and relationship capital around the work they're doing in school. By providing role models, informative workshops for students and parents, and connectivity to people in the working world, we empower them to map and pursue their pathways into in-demand careers.

Andy Vaughan of NY 9:18AM August 31, 2011

Underscoring the importance of this effort, MIT President Susan Hockfield presents a compelling op-ed in today's New York Times. In it, she posits that to make our economy grow, we need a new era of high-tech advanced manufacturing. (http://tinyurl.com/3sfcycs).
Truly, the challenges we face in the 21st century--from the stable supply of energy in a carbon constrained world to the delivery of new products based on the fusion of engineering and the life sciences--cannot be accomplished by individuals or technology on its own.
We need to cultivate technically astute people who can apply their skills to guide the development of economically, socially, and environmentally acceptable solutions to technical problems.

Bruce Mendelsohn of MA 3:14PM August 30, 2011

It really helps to spell out an acronym instead of assuming that everybody knows it.

Mr. Brown of TX 1:40PM August 30, 2011

Thanks for this resource, which the US definitely needs. We want students coming to MIT, and to our engineering leadership program (http://web.mit.edu/gordonelp) with basic skills and proficiency in STEM.

Bruce Mendelsohn of MA 9:25AM August 30, 2011