5/24/2013 - Education Week
Rhode Island has become the first state to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards, when its state board of education voted unanimously to approve them. It is one of the 26 "lead state partners" that helped to develop the standards in collaboration with several national organizations. At least two other states, Kentucky and Maine, have signaled that they would likely vote on adoption this spring, and many more may well follow suit later this year, including California and Kansas.
5/24/2013 - Chicago Tribune
On May 23rd, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) introduced the 21st Century STEM Competitive Jobs Act, along with Representatives Joe Courtney (CT-2), Anna Eshoo (CA-14), Elizabeth Esty (CT-5), Joe Kennedy (MA-4), Jim Langevin (RI-2), Carolyn Maloney (NY-12), Jim McGovern (MA-2), Gloria Negrete McLeod (CA-35), Jared Polis (CO-2), Tim Ryan (OH-13) and Louise Slaughter (NY-25). This legislation would help prepare students for careers in high-demand technical fields by supporting collaboration between schools and employers.
5/22/2013 - Education Week
Programs build partnerships to provide the kinds of high-tech skills students need for college and careers.
5/22/2013 - Yahoo!
Students in Grades 6-9 Tackle Real-World Challenges in Their Local Communities for a Chance to Advance to National Judging Event and Earn Up To $8,000 in U.S. Saving Bonds
5/22/2013 - THE Journal
Even though computers are pervasive in everyday life, many educators question the value of children becoming articulate in the language of technology—programming. But as STEM and Common Core concepts—with their emphasis on math, science, and critical thinking skills—begin to shift curricula across the K-12 spectrum, coding is sparking renewed interest.
5/22/2013 - Education Week
Teacher education institutions risk becoming obsolete if they do not do a better job preparing future teachers to use digital curricula, experts say.
5/22/2013 - Educationnext.org
The flipped classroom is a form of blended learning in which students learn online at least part of the time while attending a brick-and-mortar school. Either at home or during a homework period at school, students view lessons and lectures online. Time in the classroom, previously reserved for teacher instruction, is spent on what we used to call homework, with teacher assistance as needed.
5/22/2013 - The Chronicle of Higher Education
People who have taken dozens of massive open online courses share their advice for those teaching them.
5/21/2013 - District Administration
Recognizing that American K12 students have fallen behind foreign students in their grasp of scientific principles, educators have devised a new set of teaching guidelines that will radically change the way science is taught in classrooms across the United States—including recommendations that climate change and evolution be taught as core elements of scientific knowledge.
5/21/2013 - Education Week
Students who successfully complete an Advanced Placement computer science class in Washington state will get a math or science credit toward graduation, rather than having it count as an elective, under legislation Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed last week.
5/20/2013 - Cape Gazette
Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences in Georgetown sponsored six Grade 6 teams in the national eCybermission competition, sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association. Each team identified a problem in the community and then applied research, experimentation and engineering to try to solve the problem. Students designed and tested creative ways to harness renewable energy, reduce stress and make sports safer.
5/20/2013 - The Union Leader
Ellen O'Donnell doesn't just teach her Deerfield Community School seventh- and eighth-graders scientific theory. She takes them outside to show them the world they're studying so they can see how the classroom concepts relate to real life. For her efforts, O'Donnell has received the 2013 Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Science Teachers Association.
5/19/2013 - The Austin American-Statesman
Despite steady gains in mathematics and science achievement, fewer than 75% of 2012 Texas high school graduates demonstrated college readiness in math, based on Texas Success Initiative indicators. Even fewer African-American (59%), Hispanic (68%), and economically disadvantaged (63%) students demonstrated the proficiency levels required for success in college level math. At the same time, national studies show the fastest growing high skill/high wage careers require a higher level of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills.
5/17/2013 - NSTA Reports
The following excerpt is from Including Students With Disabilities in Advanced Science Classes, by Lori A. Howard and Elizabeth A. Potts, edited for publication here.
5/16/2013 - Education Week
Rhode Island may prove to be the first state to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards issued in final form last month. The state board of education is expected to vote on the standards at its next meeting, on May 23.
5/16/2013 - Huffington Post
A central Florida teenager who was accused of igniting a chemical explosion on school grounds—and who became the subject of a grassroots social media campaign on her behalf—will not face criminal charges, authorities said Wednesday.
5/15/2013 - Education Week
With the completion of new standards intended to reshape science education, the real heavy lifting now begins.
5/15/2013 - The New York Times
If engineers cannot restore a mechanism that keeps the Kepler spacecraft’s telescope pointed, one of the most romantic and successful of NASA’s missions could come to a premature end.
5/15/2013 - BBC News
Human cloning has been used to produce early embryos, marking a "significant step" for medicine, say US scientists.
5/14/2013 - Science Friday
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that were released last month outline the science content that students are expected to master at each grade level in the U.S. They’re the culmination of a long process—supported by 26 states and led by the non-profit organization ACHIEVE—to improve America’s K-12 science education and develop consistent performance expectations state to state.
5/13/2013 - NSTA Reports—Meg Streker
Understanding Asthma
5/9/2013 - NSTA Reports—Mary Bigelow
Ms. Mentor answers science teachers' questions about students who claim tests are unfair and classroom arrangement in an elementary classroom.
5/8/2013 - The Christian Science Monitor
Opinion writer Lindsay Wells says "Many teachers aren’t feeling much love this Teacher Appreciation Day. But I still believe it is possible to be a good teacher in America—and worth the effort to try. The shift toward data-driven instruction and innovation creates an environment where the 'hacker generation' can thrive."
5/8/2013 - ScienceInsider
Eugenie Scott has spent 26 years helping teachers do what's right for their students in the name of science. And while the need to defend the teaching of evolution and climate change certainly hasn't disappeared, Scott announced today that she is stepping down later this year as the founding CEO and "the public face" of the National Center for Science Education.
5/7/2013 - NSTA Reports—Debra Shapiro
As the spring semester ends, preservice graduates and some inservice teachers will begin looking for science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) teaching positions. Recently, members of NSTA’s pedagogy e-mail list shared tips for a successful career search.