Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are vital educational disciplines for California. In past years, CCST has analyzed the state's science and education system, as well as teacher preparation, in a bid to better assess next steps for the state. This year, to ensure that California continues to be able to field a talented and globally competitive STEM workforce, CCST has engaged in multiple related efforts to bolster science education in California, ranging from new analyses of teacher preparation to starting a blueprint to lay the foundation for transforming California's current STEM education structure into a 21st century K-12 and higher education system.

Building Networks: A Collaborative Effort

California is replete with innovative programs in STEM education excellence. However, they are encumbered by geography, limited by the current K-12 system, and are often not scalable. What is needed is a strong statewide collaborative network of interconnected P-20 stakeholders to craft and sustain a transformation of STEM education. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bechtel Fund, CCST and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have undertaken a 15-month planning effort to create a Reform and Advocacy Blueprint to elevate STEM education transformation to the top of California's public policy agenda.

CCST has hosted a series of symposia designed to inform and develop the blueprint, collaborating with The National Research Council Center for Education, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL), and the California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal TAC). The first of the meetings took place on February 2, 2009, when a group of California science and mathematics teachers, policymakers, researchers, and representatives from business, industry, and higher education met to consider how California could do a better job of preparing today's students to become the future STEM workforce.

The second and third symposia, hosted by CCST, the NRC and the NAE on February 18-19 (Integrating Science, Technology, and Mathematics Education) and April 29-30 (Building a Village: Learning from and Sustaining Successful Programs in Elementary Science Education), were strategic visioning meetings to address integrating STEM education through an innovation and learning network in California.

Elementary Science Teaching

In its 2007 report Critical Path Analysis of California's Science and Mathematics Teacher Preparation System, CCST found that, despite troubling performances of California 4th and 8th graders on national assessments, little attention has been paid to the preparation of elementary school teachers to teach science. The problem is that much of the discussion about science and math education focuses on high school, where single subject credentials are required to teach in the various disciplines. Not much is known about how California teachers are prepared to teach science in the lower grades.

With the support of the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, CCST has undertaken a project to provide a descriptive and qualitative review of how well elementary school teachers are prepared to teach science. The report will use new survey data from CSU documenting the preparedness of elementary school teachers to teach science, sorted by the teacher preparation programs from which they graduated, and analyze best practice programs as identified both by the survey data and stakeholder experts. The primary audience for the report will be state policymakers and accredited teacher preparation programs that prepare teachers for the multiple subject credential.