A U.S. Makeover for STEM Education: What It Means for NSF and the Education Department

[Glen Newton]

From ACM TechNews
(http://technews.acm.org/archives.cfm?fo=2013-04-apr/apr-22-2013.html):

"A U.S. Makeover for STEM Education: What It Means for NSF and the
Education Department
Science Insider (04/18/13) Jeffrey Mervis

A proposed restructuring of U.S. federal science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs would
significantly raise the status of the U.S. Department of Education
(ED) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The proposal would
have ED supervise federally funded activities to enhance elementary
and secondary school science education, while NSF would oversee
undergraduate and graduate STEM education. The Obama administration
aims to cut 78 programs and consolidate another 49, but it has
proposed 13 new programs and requested 7 percent more funding for STEM
education in 2014 compared to 2012 expenditures. ED's Camsie McAdams
says the department has proposed an Office of STEM and expects to hire
more staff to handle any new programmatic efforts, and it is depending
on strong alliances with NSF and mission science agencies. "The
reorganization protects the investments across all agencies that serve
underrepresented groups, including ED's investments for
minority-serving institutions," she notes. NSF's Joan Ferrini-Mundy
notes the president's budget request contains no substantial drop in
funding for programs in K-12 or informal science, and there is a
strong concentration on public engagement through ED and the
Smithsonian Institution's present activities."
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/04/a-us-makeover-for-stem-education.html?ref=hp

Can someone tell me why we _never_ hear of / see these kinds of
debates in Canada?

Related (also from ACMTechNews):
"Starting Early to Nurture Tomorrow's Scientists and Engineers
Capital Business (04/22/13) Marjorie Censer

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is channeling millions of dollars
into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
programs, including an expansion of an initiative to train STEM
educators. Last month, the institute allocated a five-year, $22.5
million grant to the UTeach program, which enables undergraduates to
obtain a bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline and a teaching
certificate in four years. UTeach features a curriculum designed to
produce better teachers, with a focus on giving students specialized
training in the STEM major of their choice as well as getting them to
work with students in the classroom. About 36 U.S. schools have
implemented UTeach, and it is required at each school that the program
be run by faculty members as well as master teachers. Ten research
universities will be allowed to join UTeach through the Hughes
Institute's funding, says the institute's David Asai. He notes there
are two aspects to the program's appeal for the institute--it trains
more undergraduate students in STEM work in the short term, and
nurtures better science and math students who may pursue STEM degrees
in college and enter STEM careers in the long term."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/starting-early-to-nurture-tomorrows-scientists-and-engineers/2013/04/19/b68398d0-a604-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_story.html

-Glen

--
-
http://zzzoot.blogspot.com/
-
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss

[Russell McOrmond]

On 13-04-22 11:51 AM, Glen Newton wrote:
> Can someone tell me why we _never_ hear of / see these kinds of
> debates in Canada?

  Education is provincial jurisdiction in Canada, and people stare at
the Feds thinking that they are supposed to "solve" all problems?  Being
married to a science teacher I know sci/tech education discussions are
ongoing, but also know most people won't ever be made aware of it.

--
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
 rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
 http://l.c11.ca/ict

 "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
  manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
  portable media player from my cold dead hands!"
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss

[Glen Newton]

Russell,

Do you really think anyone on this list does not know that education
is a provincial power in Canada?

In the US, it is not centralized and split across Federal, state, and local:
"Unlike the systems of most other countries, education in the United
States is highly decentralized, and the federal government and
Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining
curricula or educational standards (with the recent exception of the
No Child Left Behind Act). This has been left to state and local
school districts." -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education#Functions

So, despite the messiness of jurisdictions in the US, these kinds of
debates take place.

-Glen

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 12:06 PM, Russell McOrmond <[hidden email]> wrote:

> On 13-04-22 11:51 AM, Glen Newton wrote:
>> Can someone tell me why we _never_ hear of / see these kinds of
>> debates in Canada?
>
>   Education is provincial jurisdiction in Canada, and people stare at
> the Feds thinking that they are supposed to "solve" all problems?  Being
> married to a science teacher I know sci/tech education discussions are
> ongoing, but also know most people won't ever be made aware of it.
>
> --
>  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
>  Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
>  rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
>  http://l.c11.ca/ict
>
>  "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
>   manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
>   portable media player from my cold dead hands!"
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss

--
-
http://zzzoot.blogspot.com/
-
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss

[Russell McOrmond]

On 13-04-22 12:52 PM, Glen Newton wrote:
> So, despite the messiness of jurisdictions in the US, these kinds of
> debates take place.

  You say "despite", I'm suggesting "because".

  And yes, many Canadians are not aware of jurisdictional issues in
Canada, and many don't follow all the debates happening at every level
of government.  The media doesn't report much that isn't federal given
many of the smaller offices are being closed/etc, so learning what is
happening isn't going to happen without people looking.


--
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
 rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
 http://l.c11.ca/ict

 "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
  manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
  portable media player from my cold dead hands!"
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss

[Glen Newton]

I wasn't talking about "many Canadians":  you changed the _subject_: I
was talking about the people on this list. If people on this list do
know about provincial vs federal jurisdiction, then I don't know what
to say....


Despite vs Because: I am willing to not disagree with you on this one.... :-)

-Glen

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 1:17 PM, Russell McOrmond <[hidden email]> wrote:

> On 13-04-22 12:52 PM, Glen Newton wrote:
>> So, despite the messiness of jurisdictions in the US, these kinds of
>> debates take place.
>
>   You say "despite", I'm suggesting "because".
>
>   And yes, many Canadians are not aware of jurisdictional issues in
> Canada, and many don't follow all the debates happening at every level
> of government.  The media doesn't report much that isn't federal given
> many of the smaller offices are being closed/etc, so learning what is
> happening isn't going to happen without people looking.
>
>
> --
>  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
>  Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
>  rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
>  http://l.c11.ca/ict
>
>  "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
>   manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
>   portable media player from my cold dead hands!"
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss

--
-
http://zzzoot.blogspot.com/
-
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss