NGSS Resources Available from ETS
The K–12 Center at ETS recently collaborated with a dozen other organizations for an Invitational Research Symposium on Science Assessment, which brought together many of the individuals at the forefront of K–12 science education and reform. Resources, including commissioned papers by experts in science assessment; three dozen slide presentations; and videos of the closing sessions are now available at The K–12 Center website. NSTA Executive Director David Evans was a panelist during one of the closing sessions, and his presentation is available online.
New Bayer Survey on STEM Jobs and Workplace Finds Rising Demand and Competition for STEM Degree Holders
More new science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs are being created than new non-STEM jobs today, the competition is fierce to fill open STEM jobs, and very few STEM degree–job candidates are from minority groups, reports a new Bayer Making Science Make Sense Survey of participating Fortune 1000 companies. Read the report: Bayer Facts of Science Education XVI: U.S. STEM Workforce Shortage—Myth or Reality? Fortune 1000 Talent Recruiters On the Debate.
Shell Science Teaching Award
The Shell Science Teaching Award deadline is fast approaching, on November 8. This award is open to all K–12 classroom science teachers with a minimum of eight years of experience. Teachers can win $10,000 and an expense-paid trip to NSTA’s National Conference in Boston next April. The application can be found here.
Last Week to Enter the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Contest
This is the last week to enter Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, a video contest that awards more than $2 million in technology and prizes to middle and high schools throughout the United States. Samsung is accepting entries from 6th–12th grade teachers through October 31.
The first round of the competition involves answering three short essay questions. Applicants who move forward in the competition must address the challenge, “Show how STEM can be applied to help improve your local community.” Samsung will award state and national winners, and a teacher and student representative from each of the five grand-prize winning schools will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC. Learn more and enter.
AGI Report on Status of Earth Science
Earth science education in U.S. middle and high schools suffers from significant gaps between identified priorities and lagging practice, according to a report from the Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding at the American Geosciences Institute (AGI).
The report, Earth and Space Sciences Education in U.S. Secondary Schools: Key Indicators and Trends, offers baseline data on indicators of Earth science’s status since the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released last April. Although the NGSS state that the Earth and space sciences should have equal status with the life sciences, physical sciences, technology, and engineering, the report shows that school districts and other organizations don’t grant the Earth sciences this status. This report is the first original offering of AGI’s Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding, which recently launched an online hub of geoscience education and outreach resources. Read the report.