STEM Ed Update 6/17/2016

Please enjoy this week's STEM Ed update.

Top Article:

NASA, White House Promote Gender Equality, Obama Prefers Outreach, Environmental Science Than Space Exploration

Science World Report

NASA became host to a summit yesterday, June 15 from 1 to 3 pm at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The assembly was for women in general who are in the direction of pursuing science, engineering, technology, academic or STEM programs and careers.

The White House Council stated that the assembly was a large-scale effort to rally advocates of gender equality, highlight accomplishments and identify enduring challenges to address and take action.

Read more here.

Stay in the Know:

Latest STEM Education Policy News Across the U.S.

Report: California public colleges not producing enough STEM degrees

EdSource

California's public colleges and universities are failing to graduate enough students with degrees in health fields and the so-called STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and math - to meet the state's growing job demands, according to a new report.

The report by The Campaign for College Opportunity said California ranks near the bottom nationally in the rate of bachelor and associate degrees in those subjects at a time that it has far more STEM entry-level jobs than any other state.

Read more here.

Simple Numbers Game Seems to Make Kids Better at Math

ScienceDaily

Although math skills are considered notoriously hard to improve, Johns Hopkins University researchers boosted kindergarteners' arithmetic performance simply by exercising their intuitive number sense with a quick computer game.

"Math ability is not static -- it's not the case that if you're bad at math, you're bad at it the rest of your life. It's not only changeable, it can be changeable in a very short period of time," said Jinjing "Jenny" Wang, a graduate student in the Krieger School of Arts and Science's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Read more here.

Around the Community:

Apple Announces Everyone Can Code

Apple is excited to announce Everyone Can Code, a new approach to coding that gives everyone the power to learn, write, and teach code.

Apple created Everyone Can Code because they believe coding is an essential skill and one that everyone should have the opportunity to learn. Learning to code teaches you how to solve problems, work together in creative ways and build amazing things that bring your ideas to life.

Read more here.

High School Girls Recognized for Math, Science Accomplishments

Celeste Rohlfing, chief operating officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), presented Sandia National Laboratories' 25th annual Math and Science Awards to 28 young women from San Francisco Bay Area high schools. Rohlfing, a chemist at Sandia for 11 years, was one of the original founders of the awards.

Read more here.

Campaign for Afterschool Toolkit
Election season presents an important opportunity to put afterschool on the radar of policy makers and the public in a visible and meaningful way. During election season, voters' concerns are brought to the forefront of the public debate.

But what concerns will be raised? Ultimately, the voices of people like you in local communities drive candidates' campaigns. This toolkit will help you bring afterschool into the conversation.

Read more here.

Join the Coalition!

We at the STEM Education Coalition hope you have enjoyed this week's edition of the STEM Ed Newsletter.

Any organization may join the Coalition, and there is no cost to become an Affiliate Member. Affiliate members are listed on our website, receive periodic communications on policy matters, and will be signed up for the weekly newsletter.

Your organization can also apply to join the Coalition's Policy Council, where they play an active role in setting the public policy agenda for the Coalition and are invited to participate in frequent interactions with policymakers.

If you would like to join the Coalition at any level, please read our message to prospective members or email us at [email protected].

We appreciate your continued support and involvement.

Our Coalition's Co-Chairs

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