iON Future: Exactly What STEM Needed

Every day, professionals in STEM careers help people get better, discover new things, save the planet, build the future, solve mysteries and play with some very neat tools. Makes you wonder why getting today's youth involved in STEM can be so difficult sometimes.  Well say hello to Change the Equation's iON Future: The STEM Exploration Game!

iON Future lets you explore STEM careers, identify the ones that best match your interests and then play your way to your dream STEM future. Can you say genius?! What kid doesn't enjoy a good, engaging computer game these days. I know I can't think of one. Combining iON Future with all the other platforms designed to ignite excitement in students about STEM, the United States is moving in the right direction.

iON Future dispels notions that STEM embodies the traditional science, technology, engineering and math careers that so many students find daunting and boring. In fact, the site includes careers like 3D animator, athletic trainer, automotive designer, librarian and science reporter. Any child can find something they're interested in and then discover how it relates to STEM. It's exactly what STEM education needed to supplement classroom efforts.

Check out the website, create an account with your child or play as a guest - you may even learn something new!

Building a STEM Nation with "MissionSTEM"

While we all know that STEM fields need to be the focus of education reform these days, the statistics never get easier to take in. In 2009, more than 1.5 million U.S.citizens earned bachelor's degrees, but only a mere 4.4 percent were in engineering and just a small 1.1 percent were in the physical sciences.  Further, only 2.4 percent of the undergraduate degrees earned were in computer science and mathematics represented just 1.0 percent of degrees.

Not surprisingly, the National Science Foundation 's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics reported that a very small 0.8 percent of all bachelor's degrees earned in 2009 were by women in engineering and 0.2 percent of those earned were by African Americans.

For a country that wants to maintain status as a world leader in STEM, these numbers aren't just startling, they're unacceptable. Just recently, NASA took these statistics to heart and set out to change them. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that NASA wants "the nation's STEM degree programs to be more welcoming, supportive and accessible to all students."

With that in mind, NASA launched MissionSTEM.nasa.gov, a Web site created by NASA'a Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, to assist colleges and universities in strengthening their STEM programs.  The site connects NASA with its grantees, professional STEM organizations and other interested stakeholders in order to creatively address issues like recruitment and retention of diverse students.

Way to go, NASA! Emerging programs like this one and Change the Equation's iONFuture are steps in the right direction for the nation's STEM future. Combined with NGSS efforts and political legislation, the United States should be starting to move up the competitive STEM ladder.

So, where will we find the future of STEM? As Bolden says, "We will find it in every community, in every university and college and in students of every socio-economic background. The talent is out there. It always has been."

Creating programs like MissionSTEM is just the start. The rest of the battle involves making the commitment to encourage and support American students to pursue their STEM dreams. 

STEM Teachers: Be an Einstein Fellow!

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program is now accepting applications for the 2013-2014 Fellowship Year. The Einstein Fellowship Program is available to current K-12 STEM educators with a demonstrated excellence in teaching and leadership.

Selected teachers spend 11 months in Washington, D.C., sharing their expertise with STEM program directors or policy makers. Einstein Fellows may serve in a Congressional office or in one of several government agencies such as the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  Fellows receive a monthly stipend and an allowance for professional travel and relocation. The fellowship year begins in late August 2013.

The goal of the Einstein Fellowship Program is to provide an opportunity for teachers to inform national policy and improve communication between the K-12 STEM education community and national leaders. The Einstein Fellowship Program was created in 1990 with support from the MacArthur Foundation; the 1994 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act gave the DOE federal responsibility for the Program. The Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education administers the Program for the DOE Office of Science’s in partnership with the other participating federal agencies.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, be currently employed full time in a public or private elementary or secondary school or school district, and must have been teaching in one or more STEM fields full time in a public or private elementary or secondary school for at least five of the last seven years.

For more information about the program and to learn how to apply, visit www.einsteinfellows.org. Applications for the 2013-14 Fellowship program are due by 11:00 pm EST on Dec. 5.

STEM Education is Worth It...Literally

Student loan debt stories can make anyone cringe. We all know someone that has six-figure loan debt and is still working on finding a job. Look at the numbers on this table! If you're looking at college from an investment standpoint, your conclusion should be clear: STEM majors are where you're going to find the most bang for your buck.

Click here to view a larger version of the table.

Talking to Teens About STEM

Can there really be anything more difficult for a parent than sitting down with your teen and relaying the dangers associated with drugs?

A recent study by Intel says yes! Intel, a member of Change the Equation, found that parents would rather talk to their teens about drugs than match or science. I know what you're thinking - because I'm sure it's the same thing I was thinking - but since a large percentage of today's parents don't have strong backgrounds in science or math, they struggle coming up with stories to relay to their children. They are, however, able to come up with stories about how they feigned off drugs.

Many parents said they'd welcome a "one-stop shop with materials to refresh their existing, but unused math and science knowledge so they can better help there kids."

There's one more problem here. Parents aren't normally able to suppress their own dislike for math, relaying it onto their children sometimes unintentionally. In a survey that Change the Equation conducted just two years ago, more than one third of Americans admitted that they often say they can't do math. Just about one third said they'd rather clean the bathroom than solve a math problem.

Could refreshing STEM skills and changing attitudes be an integral part to the current STEM revolution - I think yes!

Check out Change the Equation's website for more!

STEM Vital Signs: Texas

As a leading high-tech state, Texas businesses need more STEM talent to stay competitive than ever before. Despite economic downturn, STEM skills are still in high demand in Texas. In fact, there are 2.5 STEM jobs for every one unemployed person compared to 3.3 unemployed persons for every one non-STEM job. Hello, people! Improving student performance in STEM in K-12 is crucial to help not only the Texas economy grow, but the entire nation's.

There are some highlights here, though. Since 2004, the State of Texas, with private sector support, has invested more than $100 million to create 65 STEM Academies serving more than 25,000 students. Texas also recently adopted new math standards and more rigorous assessment and it's paying off. Texas students are spending more time on elementary science, are participating more in hands-on learning and are making progress in math. 

Change the Equation's 2012 Vital Signs measure the health of the K-12 STEM enterprise state by state. Vital Signs was created in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research and was made possible by generous support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

To look at Change the Equation's full report on the STEM Vital Signs in Texas, click here.

To find out what the STEM Vital Signs are like in your state, click here.