STEM Ed Update 12/2/2016

Please enjoy this week's STEM Ed update.

Coalition Update:

Memo to President-Elect Trump's Transition Team The STEM Education Coalition sent its transition memo entitled, "STEM Education, Good Jobs, and American Prosperity," to President-Elect Trump's transition team. The document outlines a broad range of policies endorsed by the Coalition. It also includes recommendations for the first one-hundred days of President-Elect Trump's term. The Coalition appreciates the opportunity to share its views with the President-Elect and his team.

Read the full memo here.

Top Article:

Betsy DeVos Named Secretary of Education

U.S. News & World Report

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Betsy DeVos, a billionaire Republican donor who for decades has pushed to expand charter schools in her home state of Michigan, to be his secretary of education. "Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate," Trump said in a statement announcing her selection Wednesday. "Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families."

Read more here.

Stay in the Know:

Latest STEM Education Policy News Across the U.S.

Eight States Have Fewer Than 10 Girls Take AP Computer Science Exam

EdWeek

More girls are taking the Advanced Placement exam in computer science, but there are still several states where girls lag far behind boys when it comes to this subject.

That's one of the chief findings of a state-by-state analysis of the newly released data from the College Board by Barbara Ericson, the director of computing outreach and a senior research scientist at the College of Computing at Georgia Tech.

Read more here.

State Comes Together to Improve STEM Programs

Centre Daily Times

Pedro Rivera called Centre County the "epicenter" for science education defined by STEM - science, technology, engineering and math. The state Department of Education secretary spoke to about 50 people Tuesday morning at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center during a meeting with the state STEM committee and stakeholders invested in enhancing science education. And he said a place like Penn State is an ideal place to start.

Read more here.

Around the Community:

Apple's Hour of Code Activity

In celebration of Computer Science Education Week from Dec 5 to 11, Apple has released a new Hour of Code challenge, right in the Swift Playgrounds app for iPad. The challenge, which only takes an hour to complete, lets students use real Swift code to guide a character through a dynamic 3D world. Students will learn how to give simple commands, write functions, and run loops. The Hour of Code Challenge in Swift Playgrounds is a great way to start exploring teaching, writing and learning code. Sign up for a hands-on Hour of Code workshop in your local Apple Store. Or, host your own activity in class or after school with the Swift Playgrounds app and our Hour of Code Facilitator Guide.
Read more about Hour of Code here, read about Apple's expanded curriculum for Swift playgrounds and iPad here, and read about Apple's new professional learning provider here.

Grant Opportunity from the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation has allocated $6,000,000 to award for projects as part of their 'Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies' program. The purpose of the Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies program is to integrate opportunities offered by emerging technologies with advances in what is known about how people learn to advance three interconnected thrusts: Cyber innovation, learning innovation, and advancing understanding of how people learn in technology-rich learning environments.

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

-------------------------------------------------------------