Requirement: Powered by Career and College Ready Students “We need to foster scientific inquiry and mathematical process from the start.” - Great Lakes Bay Region Superintendent every year. Students are the foundation upon which a robust STEM talent pipeline sits. a high-performing STEM Current student Finding #2: region is one in which students are equipped with achievement levels in key STEM the foundational skills needed to pursue STEM skill areas indicate that the GLBR degrees and careers. In order for the GLBR to will be challenged to produce a become a thriving hub of STEM talent, the k-12 strong STEM workforce pipeline education system must produce students with strong Compared to the rest of the world, and STEM skills and competencies, especially in math especially other industrialized nations, U.S. students have below-average and science. It must also provide effective curricula math proficiencies. In a 2012 Program and programming, in and beyond the classroom, for International Student Assessment which promote STEM literacy, empower teachers to (PISA) examination of math literacy, the U.S. ranked 35th out of 65 countries excite students and deliver a strong STEM in the proportion of 15-year-old education, and have a steady supply of students who were highly competent, scoring at proficiency level 5 and STEM educators coming into the system above.26 their education. Early exposure ranks poorly among its peers in both math and reading. Based on the Strong math, Finding #1: National Assessment of Educational science and literacy skills are Progress (NAEP) scores, Michigan to math courses has been shown to the core competencies required students have below-average math and influence high school students’ interest for a strong STEM workforce reading proficiency levels compared in studying STEM fields25. In addition, with average U.S. proficiency levels. In early math achievement influences Nearly 97 percent of all STEM jobs 8th grade reading and 8th grade math, students’ belief that they can succeed require foundational math skills with Michigan ranks 32nd and 38th in math, which, in turn, influences most requiring proficiencies by 7th respectively, while in 4th grade reading whether students choose to pursue grade24. This makes math one of the and 4th grade math, Michigan ranks STEM fields. foundational building blocks for a 38th and 42nd, respectively. child’s future success. Like literacy, numeracy is a critical skill that Within the U.S., Michigan children must develop throughout
Requirement: Powered by Career and College Ready Students “We need to foster scientific inquiry and mathematical process from the start.” - Great Lakes Bay Region Superintendent Students are the foundation upon which a robust STEM talent pipeline sits. a high-performing STEM region is one in which students are equipped with the foundational skills needed to pursue STEM degrees and careers. In order for the GLBR to become a thriving hub of STEM talent, the k-12 education system must produce students with strong STEM skills and competencies, especially in math and science. It must also provide effective curricula and programming, in and beyond the classroom, which promote STEM literacy, empower teachers to excite students and deliver a strong STEM education, and have a steady supply of STEM educators coming into the system every year. Finding #2: Current student achievement levels in key STEM skill areas indicate that the GLBR will be challenged to produce a strong STEM workforce pipeline Compared to the rest of the world, and especially other industrialized nations, U.S. students have below-average math proficiencies. In a 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) examination of math literacy, the U.S. ranked 35th out of 65 countries in the proportion of 15-year-old students who were highly competent, scoring at proficiency level 5 and above.26 Finding #1: Strong math, science and literacy skills are the core competencies required for a strong STEM workforce Nearly 97 percent of all STEM jobs require foundational math skills with most requiring proficiencies by 7th grade24. This makes math one of the foundational building blocks for a child’s future success. Like literacy, numeracy is a critical skill that children must develop throughout their education. Early exposure to math courses has been shown to influence high school students’ interest in studying STEM fields25. In addition, early math achievement influences students’ belief that they can succeed in math, which, in turn, influences whether students choose to pursue STEM fields. Within the U.S., Michigan ranks poorly among its peers in both math and reading. Based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, Michigan students have below-average math and reading proficiency levels compared with average U.S. proficiency levels. In 8th grade reading and 8th grade math, Michigan ranks 32nd and 38th respectively, while in 4th grade reading and 4th grade math, Michigan ranks 38th and 42nd, respectively.
GLBRA_STEM-Impact-Initiative-Full-Report_final.docx