Science, mathematics and technology education in the US: a perspective from the "frontlines of the classroom to national policy"

Abstract. In the past decade significant emphasis has been placed on increasing the involvement and influence of the professional scientific community in America's K-12 classrooms. The origins of this thrust have arisen from a variety of real and perceived crises occurring in America's K-12 classrooms. Projections for the nation's future workforce needs indicate an increased demand for science and technically literate workers, while fewer of the nation's students are pursuing advanced degrees in these academic areas of expertise. In an effort to address these issues and to impact the overall understanding and quality of science, math and technology education, several of the federal agencies have increasingly included a percentage of research funding devoted to the objective of improving the quality of kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12, see Table 1) formal education and informal public outreach. To this end, NASA's Space Science Enterprise in particular has demonstrated a successful implementation approach and has been a national leader in forging strong partnerships with the education community to address these concerns.