Penn State organization makes recommendations on STEM to White House

ENGINE of Central PA STEM Learning Ecosystem, a Penn State-led STEM organization, is part of a group making recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration on how to improve STEM.

The group is comprised of 90 STEM Learning Ecosystems Communities of Practice nationwide. It wrote a report issuing five major recommendations for how the federal government, states, and communities can improve STEM learning.

“We were pleased to participate in this report and have great hope for positively shaping the future of STEM in Pennsylvania, which will have benefits for all of us, including our key industries,” Amanda Smith, Penn State executive director for ENGINE and director of K-12 Engagement, said.

The report, Restoring America’s Position as a World Leader by Reinvesting in STEM, was based on feedback from STEM leaders nationwide. Representatives of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, teachers, after-school educators, and families also participated.

Recommendations included creating an early learning system for STEM; revamping teacher evaluation systems to allow for performance-based measures that are better aligned to STEM postsecondary and career options; encouraging student participation in STEM by increasing the visibility, relevance, and connections to real-world and community challenges; and fostering collaboration to engage, leverage and link community resources, supporting steps to improve and diversify the STEM teaching pipeline.