STEM Ed Update 12/16/2016

Please enjoy this week's STEM Ed update.

Coalition Update:

Coalition Makes Recommendations on ESSA to State Policymakers

The STEM Education Coalition sent a letter to state policymakers across the nation. The letter outlines the Coalition's recommendations for the state-level implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA, passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress, puts a broad array of key decisions affecting teaching and learning back into the hands of states and districts. The Coalition calls upon states to utilize this authority and new high-leverage funding opportunities to make STEM education a high priority at the state and district level.

View the letter and read more here.

Top Article:

Congress Faces Range of Education Issues in Next Session

EdWeek

With President-elect Donald Trump waiting in the wings, the Republican majority in Congress will have the opportunity to tackle a host of education issues when its next session begins in 2017, from funding for disadvantaged and special education students and college access and affordability issues, to student-data privacy and career and technical education. At the same time, there will be significant turnover in some key positions: In addition to Trump's selection of school choice advocate Betsy DeVos to be education secretary, the House education committee will have a new leader, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.

Read more here.

Around the Community:

2016 Learning Zone Minecraft Oceans Competition

EUMETSAT is launching a Minecraft satellite-building competition for 6-16 year olds. The goal is for Minecrafters to build a model of the Sentinel-3 or Jason-3 ocean-monitoring satellites, or to get creative and design their own satellite and/or ocean monitoring system.
Read more here.

Dare 2B Digital Innovation Challenge Winners Released Dare 2B Digital and the Downey Unified School District announced the winners of the Dare 2B Digital Innovation Challenge. In this Challenge, young innovators who attend middle schools within Downey Unified were asked to form teams (2-5 students) and develop an innovative and feasible solution in one of five categories: Space & Transportation; Environment; Health & Wellness; Cybersecurity & Law Enforcement; and Media & Entertainment.
Read more here.

The New York Academy of Sciences Announces New STEM Education Certification Program

A new framework for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education that promotes 21st-century skills development was announced by the New York Academy of Sciences. The Global STEM Alliance (GSA) STEM Education Framework is based on the latest learning science and education research. It was developed by the New York Academy of Sciences, a 200-year-old institution dedicated to advancing scientific research, education, and policy, and SRI Education, a divisio n of SRI International and an established leader in STEM education research, instructional design, implementation, and evaluation.
Read more here.

Join the Coalition!

We at the STEM Education Coalition hope you have enjoyed this week's edition of the STEM Ed Newsletter.

Any organization may join the Coalition, and there is no cost to become an Affiliate Member. Affiliate members are listed on our website, receive periodic communications on policy matters, and will be signed up for the weekly newsletter.

Your organization can also apply to join the Coalition's Policy Council, where they play an active role in setting the public policy agenda for the Coalition and are invited to participate in frequent interactions with policymakers.

If you would like to join the Coalition at any level, please read our message to prospective members or email us at [email protected].

We appreciate your continued support and involvement.

Our Coalition's Co-Chairs

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