Explorations in STEM PreK-12 Education Final Report

This obligation stems from NSB’s statutory authority, laid out in the NSF Act of 1950, which states that the Board and the Director have a duty to “recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and education in science and engineering.” The Board can approach this issue from a policy angle, both internally-facing through a focus on NSF policies and programm. [...] These priorities are not just limited to Talent Development in general but affect the Board’s commitment to fostering a diverse and equitable STEM education system – reaching the Missing Millions, students and teachers of low socio-economic status (SES), and students in all parts of the country. [...] Equity – focused on the systemic barriers that prevent access to high-quality STEM education and educators, particularly for students and educators of color, rural students and teachers, those with disabilities, and students and educators in high-poverty schools IV. [...] needs ‘all hands-on deck’ to modernize its education system and reinvest in public K-12 and post-secondary education in order to support the STEM skills that workers will need throughout their careers.” To ensure that the preK-12th grade STEM educational space is integrated in the Board’s broader focus on Talent Development, ESKE was launched to identify specific NSB value-add to the national STEM. [...] 23 | E x p l o r a t i o n s i n S T E M p r e K - 1 2 E d u c a t i o n F i n a l R e p o r t , 2 0 2 3 On Standards, Assessments, and Data Availability STEM standards were discussed broadly in the context of curriculum literacy / content and teacher education, and specifically, with the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).