The California STEM Learning Network (formerly CSI Net) is the outgrowth of a yearlong
project to design a blueprint for STEM education in the nation's most populous state. The
project is a joint venture of California Polytechnic State University and CCST, working in
partnership with The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL), the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation and the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. Work began in 2008 when
the Gates Foundation engaged Cal Poly to prepare a new plan for STEM education in California.
On April 6 & 7, 2010, CSL-Net presented the first draft of the blueprint for STEM education
at a meeting hosted by CCST Board Member Steve Mayo at the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena. The summit had over 100 attendees representing leaders and agents
of change from private industry, educational enterprises, higher education institutions, and
foundations. The key recommendations include creating:
- A STEM Council comprised of program providers and representatives
from the education and business sectors to advocate on behalf of CSL
Net and to help secure the resources needed by network participants;
- A STEM Collaborative that convenes leaders from state agencies, state
and federally funded STEM programs, K-12 and higher education, and
the policy sector to identify ways of leveraging existing resources, and to
build consensus around policy recommendations to ensure STEM
success;
- Regional STEM Champions affiliated with CSL Net who will work
with a broad coalition of stakeholders at the local level to increase
STEM learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom; and
- Core staff at a Network Operations Center who will ensure effective
communications among all the groups and coordinate the work of the
three tiers of the Network.
The S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and Gates subsequently committed funding. This summer,
the project has begun an implementation phase and effective June 30, 2010, CCST transferred
the fiscal and managerial functions to the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in
California (CENIC).
