While the acronym STEM is powerful, unfortunately it really boils down to mathematics instruction in California schools, as LEA’s scramble to prepare pupils for narrowly focused accountability exams (which focus on math and English, not science, history, social science or career technology). I hope school officials will recognize the real value of STEM programs is their hands-on, real-world revelant instrucational approach, and not simply morph STEM programs into math remediation courses (to “Race to the Test”).
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After a brief hiatus, SVEF’s education blog, Thoughts on Public Education (TOP-Ed), is back in a new format. The blog will focus on deep analysis of education issues, especially as they relate to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). These entries will attempt to translate complex education topics for readers as well as invite bloggers representing different perspectives to respond to our entries. We will also invite guest contributors to share their ideas about education along the way. We invite you to stay tuned to the new TOP-Ed.
We thank journalists John Fensterwald and Kathryn Baron for their work on TOP-Ed over the past three years. Their tireless efforts have successfully established TOP-Ed as a forum to present and discuss key education issues of the day. We wish them the best of luck continuing their excellent brand of journalism at EdSource and encourage you to keep up with them at edsource.org.
While the acronym STEM is powerful, unfortunately it really boils down to mathematics instruction in California schools, as LEA’s scramble to prepare pupils for narrowly focused accountability exams (which focus on math and English, not science, history, social science or career technology). I hope school officials will recognize the real value of STEM programs is their hands-on, real-world revelant instrucational approach, and not simply morph STEM programs into math remediation courses (to “Race to the Test”).
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