Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA)

STEM Summit Focuses on Fueling the Education Pipeline

The NSF Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) cosponsored the Massachusetts Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Summit in October 2004. The theme of the summit conference was "Fueling the Pipeline for the Massachusetts Innovation Economy." Participants focused on improving the quality of STEM education for K-16 students—those who are "in the pipeline" and moving toward eventual careers in industry, academia, and elsewhere in the economy. Speakers included Dr. William Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the CEOs of several major Massachusetts corporations and a number of state legislators.

The summit assessed the current state of STEM education in the state, focussing on successful projects that fuel the pipeline by improving student performance in math; preparing students for testing in science, technology and engineering; training, recruiting and retaining qualified STEM teachers; and encouraging women and minorities to enter STEM education and careers.

Other sponsors of the summit included Raytheon Corporation, Analog Devices, and the Millipore Foundation, the Massachusetts Department of Education, and the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

The summit sparked great enthusiasm among precollege educators. For example, Missy Taft, a participant in CASA's summer 2004 Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program and one of hundreds of K-12 teachers present, told the Summit organizers, "Today was one of the most rewarding days of my entire teaching career! I brought home so many resources that it will take days to read it carefully and digest it. One thing we all feel, those of us down in the trenches teaching all day long, is the need for strong connections to colleagues at the university level. People are starving for K-16 partnerships. The conference was very helpful at pointing out varied and interesting ways to facilitate those partnerships. "

To learn more about this topic:
See the Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere web site at http://www.casa.umass.edu/educationandoutreach/k-12/stem.html

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A panel at the STEM summit: Karla Baehr,
Superintendent of the Lowell, MA School District
(at the podium); Ioannis Miaoulis, President, Boston
Museum of Science (hidden behind the podium);
Michael Silevitch, Professor, Northeastern University
and Director of CenSISS ERC; Allan Feldman,
Professor, School of Education, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst; Isa Zimmerman, Professor,
School of Education, Lesley University.

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Last modified: May 16, 2006