Federal support for science education is provided by both the
Department of Education and by NSF's Education and Human
Resources Activity. Last year, new Math and Science Partnership
initiatives were established in both NSF and the Education
Department, to encourage states, universities and local school
districts to work together to improve science and math
instruction. In the President's FY 2003 budget, $12.5 million
(equal to FY 2002 funding) is requested for Math and Science
Partnerships within the Education Department, and $200 million (a
25% increase) is requested for the NSF Partnerships. NSF and the
Education Department plan to coordinate their funding of such
partnerships.
In the Education Department, the Eisenhower Professional Development
program, which in past years provided funding specifically for science
and math improvement, was consolidated into a larger Teacher Quality
program for improving teaching in all fields, and the Partnerships replace
Eisenhower as the only source of dedicated funding for science and math.
In NSF, funding has been redirected from some other education programs
to support the Partnerships. Other NSF education programs that would
receive increases are Graduate Education (up 21.7%) and Elementary,
Secondary and Informal Education (up 3.7%). Below are explanations of
selected education programs, from the Education Department and NSF budget
documents:
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS: $2.85 billion, equal
to FY 2002 funding. According to Education Department budget documents,
"The No Child Left Behind Act consolidated funding from the Class
Size Reduction and Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants
into a new 'Improving Teacher Quality State Grants' program.... States
may support other activities to improve teacher quality, including changes
to teacher certification or licensure requirements, alternative certification,
tenure reform, merit-based teacher performance systems, differential
and bonus pay for teachers in high-need subject areas, and teacher mentoring
programs."
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS: $12.5 million, equal to
FY 2002 funding. "The request continues funding at the 2002 level
for this program, which is designed to improve academic achievement
in mathematics and science by promoting strong teaching skills for elementary
and secondary school teachers. The program provides grants to partnerships
of State educational agencies, higher education institutions, and school
districts for activities such as the development of rigorous mathematics
and science curricula, distance learning programs, and incentives to
recruit college graduates with degrees in math and science into the
teaching profession."
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
According to NSF budget documents, "In FY 2003, NSF's highest
priorities in the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Activity
are increases in funding for the Math and Science Partnership
(MSP), graduate student support, and the Centers for Learning and
Teaching (CLT). MSP addresses critical concerns of the
Administration and the Congress that math and science learning
and teaching must be improved for all preK-12 students in the
U.S. Graduate stipends are no longer considered to be attractive
by many students because they are viewed as inadequate to
compensate for the cost of education and mounting student debt,
and to offset opportunities for higher salaries offered by
employers to STEM [science, technology, engineering and math]
baccalaureate degree holders. CLT is designed to meet major
national needs to strengthen the human infrastructure for
science, technology and math education, to increase the number of
well-qualified K-16 educators, and to provide research
opportunities in science and math education and education reform.
"Within the constraints of the overall EHR Request, it is not
possible to accommodate the priority increases while increasing
or even maintaining all programs in the existing portfolio at the
FY 2002 Current Plan levels. In fact, the increases requested
for the three priorities necessitated cuts in other programming.
This required difficult decisions on where reductions could be
taken while minimizing the adverse impact on program outcomes."
There are eight Subactivities within Education and Human
Resources:
MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP: Up 25.0% to $200.0 million. "A
cornerstone of the President's education reform agenda, the strategic
focus of MSP is to engage the nation's higher education institutions,
local, regional and state school districts and other partners in preK-12
reform. MSP calls for a significant commitment by colleges and universities
to improving the quality of science and mathematics instruction in the
schools and to investing in the recruitment and professional development
of highly competent science and mathematics teachers.... Institutions
of higher education who partner in MSP are expected to tap their disciplinary
departments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
as well as their education departments.... [MSP] will not be an isolated
set of local partnerships, but will become part of the NSF and national
STEM education portfolio of interconnected sites whose experiences will
help generate the capacity of the nation to serve all students well.
Further, by involving the MSP awardees in a nationwide network of educational
researchers and practitioners, the program will contribute to the development
of a greater U.S. capacity to analyze and learn from the experience
of large-scale change and to apply this knowledge to preK-12 STEM teaching
and learning."
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM REFORM: Down 10.9% to $40.25 million. "Systemic
reform projects provide access to high-quality science and mathematics
educational resources for many of the nation's children who are educationally
disadvantaged.... They emphasize helping states and local school districts
to ensure that all students have the opportunity to perform to high
standards in math and science and to use performance data to calibrate
progress and inform future directions.... As a result of the redirection
of funds to the new Math and Science Partnership initiative in FY 2002
and FY 2003, NSF does not anticipate any new competitions for this Subactivity.
Funds will support existing awards, including the possibility of supplements,
where warranted."
EPSCoR: Down 17.6% to $75.00 million. "EPSCoR is a State-NSF
partnership to stimulate sustainable improvements in R&D competitiveness
through the development and utilization of science and technology (S&T)
resources that reside in a state's major research universities."
ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY & INFORMAL EDUCATION: Up 3.7% to $171.44
million. "ESIE's comprehensive programming develops research- based
models and innovative resources that strengthen the teaching and learning
of high-quality [STEM] education."
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: Down 4.8% to $135.60 million. "This
subactivity provides leadership and leveraged project support for efforts
that promote the engagement in inquiry-based learning by all undergraduate
students including disciplinary majors, prospective preK-12 teachers,
prospective technicians, and non- majors/citizens in an increasingly
technological society.... Emphases include integration of learning technologies,
faculty development, and preparation of teachers. The FY 2003 reduction
of $6.81 million redirects funds for other priority items including
the Math and Science Partnership (MSP), graduate student support, and
the Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLT)."
GRADUATE EDUCATION: Up 21.7% to $128.38 million. "The Graduate
Education subactivity aims to recognize and support a diverse pool of
outstanding individuals in their pursuit of advanced [STEM] education;
to reform graduate education; and to build stronger links between higher
education and K-12 education.... Individuals are supported through research
and teaching fellowships and traineeships at the graduate level. The
increase of $22.88 million reflects the Foundation's commitment to increasing
graduate stipends to a level that will attract the high quality students
necessary for the nation's future and to increasing the number of supported
graduate students."
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT: Down 7.4% to $90.21 million. "The
Human Resource Development Subactivity aims to increase the participation
and advancement of underrepresented groups and institutions at every
level of [STEM] education through the promotion of racial and ethnic
diversity, gender equity, and access for persons with disabilities."
RESEARCH, EVALUATION & COMMUNICATION: Down 1.3% to $67.20
million. "Research on learning, teaching, and technology generates
important discoveries, advancing our understanding of knowledge acquisition,
instructional practice, and systemic reform. It establishes proofs-of-concept
for developing and applying learning technologies to [STEM] learning
and teaching at all education levels..... Evaluation efforts that systematically
assess the impact and results of all major EHR programs are supported
in REC, contributing to improved program performance."
Enlarge text
Shrink text
Print
E-mail
Digg this
Del.icio.us
Furl