Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

With national initiatives in place to increase educational standards (specifically the No Child Left Behind Act) there comes the inevitable need for progress assessment.  Many class subjects lend themselves well to a more traditional “multiple choice” testing format, but science assessment has struggled to employ this technique effectively.  Science education combines a mixture of rote memorization, which can be tested by traditional methods, with an understanding of the scientific method, problem solving, and deeper scientific inquiry, which are difficult to summarize for the purpose of answering “A, B, C or D”.

The National Research Council (NRC) recently reaffirmed the importance of science in K-12 education by recommending that science receive the same emphasis as that currently being given to math and reading under the No Child Left Behind Act. The NRC’s Committee on Highly Successful Schools or Programs for K-12 Education released their suggestions due to the growing number of jobs, both inside and outside of the scientific community, requiring knowledge in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.  The chair of the committee, Adam Gamoran, recently said, “the goal isn’t only to have a capable and competitive work force.  We need to help all students become scientifically literate because citizens are increasingly facing decisions related to science and technology – whether it’s understanding a medical diagnosis or weighing competing claims about the environment.”