August 15, 2014 
Welcome!

Here's this week's edition of the STEM Ed Update.

  
Top Article:
Bridging the STEM Summer Learning Gap
Cisco
For most students, summer is a time of carefree play, fun and lazy days. However, research shows that there is a price to be paid for taking an annual break from education.  This is particularly true of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills. Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months, according to research presented by the National Summer Learning Association.
  
Stay in the Know:
Latest STEM Education Policy News Across the U.S.
Back to School with STEM
Teaching Community

Summer is over and you are back for the first faculty meeting of the year. You've already exchanged pleasantries with your peers and the meeting is getting ready to start. Your principal or Head of School starts the meeting by welcoming all of you to another "terrific" school year and starts off with the vision for the year. "This year we will be focusing on the STEM initiatives!!!"

Read more here.

Want a Tech Job? Study This. Advice from Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr and More
Washington Post Magazine

Aaron Saunders, chief executive of Clearly Innovative, took a traditional route to a tech career: He earned a computer science degree at Ohio Wesleyan, studied marketing and information technology en route to an MBA from NYU, then hopped through jobs as an application architect for Lotus Development, a designer of Web strategy for Time Warner Cable, and a manager for the redesign of an e-commerce site. Now, at 50, Saunders is mentoring students who will be hired into jobs that didn't exist when he entered college 32 years ago.

Howard to Harvard: An Inside Look at Mentoring in STEM Education
Huffington Post

In the ongoing effort to boost diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers, many of the vanguard programs and key advocates we rely upon go unrecognized. One of the challenges in this area involves finding mentors who understand the complex issues surrounding urban youth. In order to prepare the future generation of STEM leaders, we must also increase the access to research labs and hands-on experiences in the biomedical sciences.

Read more here.

The Case for Starting Statistics Education in Kindergarten
Quartz
The US appears focused on math education, especially when it comes to curing American innumeracy. Yet we are in an age when enormous new data sources are now available in academia, business, and government. Elliot Schrage, vice president of communications at Facebook, argued that our kids should study "statistics, because the ability to understand data [will] be the most powerful skill in the twenty-first century." Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, noted "I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians. And I'm not kidding." The National Science Foundation reported that the employment rate was highest (at 99%) for PhD mathematicians and statisticians compared to other scientific fields. Therefore, in addition to math education, shouldn't we be focused on statistics education?

Read more here.

Study: Uncivil Work Environment Pushing Women Out of the Engineering Field
Washington Post

"Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been" - Albert Einstein. Workers with skills in science, engineering, math and technology are among the most in demand and highest paid of any sector. They are seen as key drivers of innovation, problem-solving and economic growth, who will help shape the future. And most of them are men.

Read more here. 

  

From Around the Community

DOW's STEMtheGAPTeacher Challenge Awards 25 Grants  

Professional development days, project-based learning exercises and career exploration with industry employees are just a few of the suggestions on how to STEMtheGAP™ from teachers across the U.S. After receiving 312 submissions to Dow's STEMtheGAP™ Spring Teacher Challenge, the company awarded 25 educators with $1,000 grants for their outstanding ideas and feedback surrounding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Learn more here. 

 

World Maker Faire

The Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth, is part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new! With something for everyone in the family, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering that celebrates the Maker Movement and the DIY spirit. The fifth annual World Maker Faire will host more than 750 projects and demonstrations as makers gather to share what they are making and how it's shaping the future. From robotics to food making and crafting to 3D printing, and so much more-come to World Maker Faire to share in the excitement of making.

Purchase tickets today.

 

Engineering Education Service Center - 100,000 Book Give Away 

The 100K Book Give Away is a low cost motivational give-away for your STEM outreach programs, engineering camps, competitions, professional development events, or workshops. Last year, with the help of nine amazing Universities and organizations, we gave away 8,000 copies of "Is There an Engineer Inside You?: A Comprehensive Guide to Career Decisions in Engineering," the best selling book on engineering careers to students who showed an interest in becoming engineers or technologists as well as teachers, schools, counselors and parents.

Apply to receive books for your STEM event

  
1st Annual Hackathon Hosted by Miss Alabama

Miss Alabama, Caitlin Brunell, is calling all technology innovators, developers, app designers and marketers to convene August 23-24, 2014 for the first annual Caitlin's Closet Hackathon. As a graduate from the University of Alabama with a minor degree in Computing Technology and Applications, Caitlin understands the power of placing social change in the palms of the hands of millions of people interested in paying it forward.

Read more here.  

 

We appreciate your continued support and involvement.   
  
Sincerely,


The STEM Education Coalition

STEM Education Coalition
info@stemedcoalition.org
2000 M Street NW
Suite 520
Washington, DC 20036

 

Our Coalition's Co-Chairs  

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