States Increasing STEM Focus: Examples from Minnesota, Missouri

If the most important jobs of the future will be connected to science and engineering disciplines, then, the current thinking goes, the U.S. needs to have more scientists and engineers in its future workforce. To achieve this, more emphasis needs to be placed on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curricula, beginning with math and science education in the K-12 experience.



Improving career interest and test scores in math and science is taking on greater priority in a number of states. The Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota High Tech Association, for example, is in the middle of convening a dozen STEM forums around the state in October to explore several strategies for advancing STEM education. Titled Fueling the Pipeline: A Regional Forum for STEM Education, each three-hour meeting is intended to introduce participants to Minnesota's Plan for High School Redesign, hear from STEM local community leaders and engage in conversations to create new partnerships, and establish a pipeline of STEM activities around the state. More information is available at http://www.mhta.org.



STEM advocates in Missouri have taken a different tact. Recently, members of Missouri's METS (Math, Engineering, Technology, and Science) Alliance met with Gov. Matt Blunt to present and discuss strategies to enhance math and science education in K-12 schools and the states public universities. The Alliance, a group of 20 educators, government officials, and industry representatives, was convened in April by the governor to continue the work done by the Math and Science Summit over the previous year. In late August 2006, the group submitted an action plan that would address Missouri's lagging performance in recent assessments of student knowledge in math and science.



Last year, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute gave the state an F for its math curriculum standards, calling it unclear and non-challenging. The Institutes 2005 State of State Math Standards survey reported that the Missouri grade-level expectations lag behind those of the better state standards by a year or more. The report for all 50 states is available at: http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=338



The METS Alliance plan addresses five major goals to remedy this situation and increase the competitiveness of the states high-tech workforce, calling for the state to take the following specific actions:

• Form a permanent not-for-profit coalition to focus on math and science education, encourage partnerships, and monitor initiatives.
• Improve curricula and assessments to support focused, inquiry-based teaching models.
• Increase the rigor of college courses.
• Improve career education and counseling for math and science fields.
• Develop and maintain a web portal for math and science educators.
• Develop a standard suite of technology and curriculum resources for educators.

More information is available at http://gov.mo.gov/mets.



Additional Resource on State STEM Initiatives

The work being done by the METS Alliance is one of many examples of state STEM initiatives described in a September 2006 report from the Education Commission of the States. The report notes that the growing number of councils and commissions working on similar plans reveals that states are becoming increasingly aware of the need to compete nationally and globally for high-tech business by skilled math and science workforce. Access the ECS report at: http://www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouseid=7072