K-12 STEM Initiatives
BioCrossroads and our members are committed to catalyzing the creation of the “life sciences jobs of the future” for the Indiana marketplace. But it will do us little good to create job opportunities for our children if our children are not fully prepared, through basic and strong education in science and mathematics, to fill those opportunities. Indiana will see more than 40,000 new jobs in the life sciences by 2012, and the Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (I-STEM) Resource Network is working to position Indiana’s workforce to take advantage of these new jobs by creating programs to improve STEM knowledge in K-12 students.
I-STEM is a statewide consortium of 14 higher education institutions dedicated to measurably improving K-12 student achievement in the STEM disciplines by focusing on professional development for K-12 STEM teachers. The I-STEM Resource Network is the result of a task force created in 2004 by BioCrossroads, with support from the Lumina Foundation for Education and the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning. The task force sought to evaluate and implement best-practices in STEM education to help support Indiana’s workforce needs. In 2005, the task force recommended the creation of a statewide science and mathematics resource network for K-12 teachers, students and parents with the support of higher education officials, corporate leaders and policy makers. The Science Education Foundation of Indiana also endorsed the effort to create a statewide STEM resource.
Purdue University acts as the managing partner with primary funding from the Governor’s office, Eli Lilly & Company, The Lumina Foundation, The Indiana Department of Education, and Lilly Endowment. I-STEM has focused on middle school algebra professional development and science education reform as its first two initiatives.
A related education initiative seeks to expand access to the College Board’s Advanced Placement (“AP”) programs to schools throughout the state. BioCrossroads has partnered with AP advocates at the University of Notre Dame, coordinators for the effort, to create the “Indiana AP Bridge Project.” The focus is on access to math and science advanced placement courses for Indiana students as well as broad access to the rigorous professional development that the College Board provides for math and science teachers.
Other states like Minnesota have demonstrated the value that a focus on high standards and teacher quality in the critical areas of K-12 math and science can bring in producing students who are internationally competitive in these subjects. Building the state’s capacity through initiatives like the I-STEM Resource Network and the AP Bridge Project (to provide access to rigorous math and science instruction) is vital to the development of an Indiana workforce that can power our life sciences and other high knowledge industries into the future.
