KAINE, PORTMAN ANNOUNCE CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION CAUCUS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Rob Portman announced the formation of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus. The bipartisan Caucus, co-chaired by Kaine and Portman, will focus on improving and strengthening access to career and technical education to ensure that students of all ages are prepared with the skills they need for the jobs of the 21st century.

According to the Association for Career and Technical Education, the average high school graduation rate for students concentrating in career and technical programs is 90 percent, compared with the national average of 78 percent.  Additionally, 81 percent of high school dropouts say real-world learning opportunities would have kept them in school.
 

NOVA Alexandria Open House - February 8

NOVA Open House

Date:    Saturday, February 8th 10am-1pm

Where: NOVA Alexandria Campus 3001 N. Beauregard St. Alexandria, VA 22311

Who:    Open to all interested high school and middle school students and parents

What:

• Presentations for Pathway and GPS (non-Pathway) seniors about coming to NOVA in the fall
• Information for middle school students and non-seniors about opportunities at NOVA and preparing for college
• Presentations about paying for college and FAFSA Workshop
• Campus tours 
• NOVA Information and Resource Fair
• Students and parents will be able to meet and discuss programs and majors with NOVA faculty and current students about programs and majors

To register and to find out more information please go to the following website.

http://blogs.nvcc.edu/alhsoutreach/open-house/

 

Questions:  tgrane@nvcc.edu

Other opportunities:   http://blogs.nvcc.edu/alhsoutreach/

 

Exhibit Booth Space at the Virginia VEX State Championship

Virginia VEX State Championship!

Exhibit Space : VEX Robotics State Championship

The Virginia VEX State Championship is offering booth space to Virginia colleges and universities. The date is Feb. 22, 2014, and the event will be held at the Exhibition Hall at Meadow Event Park (state fairgrounds). 120 robotics teams from across that state will compete for spots at the VEX World Championship in Anaheim, CA, in April, as well as the title of State Champion.

All school boards across Virginia, including the VA Board of Education, and current VA politicians will be invited to attend. Our intent is to showcase the importance of robotics in education. VEX Robotics has programs for students from age 8 all the way through college: VEX IQ (ages 8-14), VEX MS/HS (ages 11-18), and VEXU (college level). The VA State Championship will host separate, concurrent competitions for VEX IQ, MS VEX, and HS VEX. This is a great opportunity to generate interest in your college/university! Many of the kids involved in robotics end up at engineering schools.

About the booths: They do not have to be manned. Each booth will be a 6' table with 1 or 2 chairs,

An Update from BIE (BIE 3.0)

I'm sharing this because the folks at the Buck Institute for Education (www.BIE.org), perhaps more than any other group with whom I've worked, represents my orientation to Project-based Learning (PjBL) and Problem-Based Learning (PbBL).  -  Jim

Introducing bie.org 3.0 

It is a new year and we have a newly redesigned, responsive website that allows our users an entirely new, unique browsing experience.

WANT RESOURCES? 

We have assembled a wide array of PBL-related resources created by BIE and collected from fellow PBL travelers. The resources are organized into three broad categories: things to read, to watch, or to interact with.

Things to read include blogs, books, articles, and research about PBL, and also written documents you can use - rubrics, project planning forms, student handouts, and other materials for planning, assessing, and managing projects.

Things to watch include videos curated by BIE to showcase particular projects and PBL schools or to explain PBL. We also have an archive of recorded webinars, Google Hangouts, and Twitter Chats on various PBL topics.

Things to interact with include live webinars, Google Hangouts, and Twitter Chats, plus online classes to take, conferences to attend, and websites to visit. We also have a Project Search tool with over 500 curated projects.

If you would like to take a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approach to learning about PBL, then check out the recommend resources for  teachers, coaches,principals, and district leaders. The featured resources have a note on "How Can You Use It?" We also suggest starting your DIY experience by purchasing one of BIE's books. 

ABOUT BIE | RESOURCES | SERVICES | SHOP | COMMUNITY | PBLU |PBLWorld

Anti-Science Bill in Virginia

Except for the climate-change debate, we haven't had many anti-science (anti-evolution) flare-ups in Virginia for several years (one in Salem and one in Chesterfield in the 2007-2008 school year). Delegate Bell has introduced legislation previously successful in Louisiana and Tennessee (but unsuccessful in many others) to compromise teaching of evolution in public schools.

- Jim

From the National Center for Science Education:

House Bill 207, the anti-science bill before Virginia's legislature, may have its first hearing as early as Wednesday, January 22. We need your help to stop this bill. Contact the committee now to stop this bill, and sign up with NCSE to track the bill. HB 207 is modeled on dangerous antiscience laws passed in Tennessee in 2012 and Louisiana in 2008, and on similar bills rejected in almost a dozen other states over the last decade. Its sponsor, Richard P. “Dickie” Bell, chairs the House Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education, and can be expected to fast-track the bill there, although it is not on the docket yet. Many lawmakers will make up their minds how to vote before they attend the hearing. It will be easier to reach them and sway them beforehand, through phone calls, e-mails, and personal conversations. Delegate Richard "Dickie" Bell is the sponsor of HB 207, Virginia's antiscience bill. Under the guise of "academic freedom," Bell's bill would open the door to creationism, climate change denial, and other pseudoscience in public school science classrooms. Please contact members of the Virginia House Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education and ask them to oppose this dangerous legislation: Richard P. “Dickie” Bell, chair, (804) 698-1020 Robert H. Brink, (804) 698-1048 Mark L. Cole, (804) 698-1088 Peter F. Farrell, (804) 698-1056 Daun Sessoms Hester, (804) 698-1089 James LeMunyon, (804) 698-1067 Scott Lingamfelter, (804) 698-1031 Joseph Morrisey, (804) 698-1074 Brenda L. Pogge, (804) 698-1096 Please take a moment to educate and inform the members of the subcommittee and your own representative in the House of Delegates about why HB 207 is dangerous and unnecessary. Their contact information is in the box at the right. HB 207 is unnecessary because: Virginia’s science standards are already excellent, having earned a grade of A- in the Fordham Foundation’s last study of state standards helping students to be critical thinkers is already one of the fundamental goals of Virginia’s state science standards neither the state department of education nor the Virginia Association of Science Teachers have endorsed the bill nobody has presented any argument that this bill would provide more protection to teachers than existing law and policy already do HB 207 is dangerous because: it undermines science instruction by allowing science teachers with fringe ideas to introduce their own “scientific controversies,” while barring administrators from intervening it’s no reassurance that a section of the bill states that religious beliefs can’t be promoted, because creationists insist that their views are scientific, and the bill doesn’t specify otherwise similarly, it also undermines science instruction by allowing science teachers with fringe ideas to undermine their presentation of the scientific material they are expected to present by limiting school administrators’ power to stop teachers from teaching bad science, it opens local school districts and the state to the possibility of costly lawsuits

Inspiring Conservation through Art

By Amy Heemsoth

Do you love art? Love the reefs? Then please read on.

For this year’s Science without Borders® Challenge, we are asking high school students around the world to use their creativity and inspiration to design poster art following the theme ‘Protect Our Coral Reefs.’ The student’s artwork will portray an action that slows down the degradation of coral reefs.

The Challenge was created to get students and teachers more involved and interested in ocean conservation through various forms of art. Last year’s contest was a video competition themed ‘How are we connected to the oceans?’ It was the first Challenge held by the Foundation.

The Foundation hopes that this contest will continue to inspire youth to become stewards of the environment in order to preserve, protect, and restore the world’s oceans, and aquatic resources – the overarching theme of the Foundation.

For more information regarding the Challenge and contest rules, please visit our website at http://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/resources/for-educators/gis/. 

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Happiness and Test Scores

Just the messenger.  Reposting from Buzzfeed data analyst Jake Levy:

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s triennial international survey compared test scores from 65 countries. Happiness was ranked based on the percentage of students who agreed or disagreed with the statement “I feel happy at school.” Test scores were ranked based on the combined individual rankings of the students’ math, reading, and science scores.

NOVA's SySTEMic Solutions receives Governor's Award for Science Innovation

From the Augusta Free Press:
Wednesday, January 15, 9:29pm

Governor’s Award for Scientific Innovation presented by Altria to NOVA's SySTEMic Solutions

Over the past three years, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has been collaborating with area corporations and eight school divisions in Northern Virginia to develop a strategy for strengthening the STEM pipeline from high school, to NOVA, to a university or college, and into the workforce.

SySTEMic Solutions has led the development of a collaborative arrangement among school divisions, higher education institutions, and employers through the Chambers of Commerce to create a sustainable workforce pipeline in the Northern Virginia region that in the year 2016 will have nearly 40,000 students preparing for STEM careers.

Many regions in Virginia face a critical shortage of scientists, engineers and technicians.  The National Research Council and the National Science Foundation have identified the core underpinnings of a competitive economy as being the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In 2006, the US National Academies issued a warning about the decline of STEM education in America and recommended a number of actions.  One of their top recommendations was to enlarge the pipeline of students preparing to enter college and graduate with STEM degrees.

Currently, these activities are being provided in the eight Northern Virginia school divisions in cooperation with the educational foundations and corporate partners within these jurisdictions. The SySTEMic Solutions model provides a replicable footprint to overcome the challenge of supplying the technical workforce with skilled workers through bringing a comprehensive STEM curriculum, intensive teacher training process and numerous co-curricular student enrichment opportunities together in one research-based approach that will improve outcomes for middle tier students in a regional setting. SySTEMic Solutions provides the best readily available platform to reach the entire region in promoting and educating our future workforce on STEM related education.

World Leaders' Majors

Reposted from Business Insider:

This Map Shows What All The World's Leaders Studied In School

 

MAX NISEN 

 

 
DEC. 18, 2013, 4:56 PM 86,935 12

Ever dream of leading your country? You have the best chance of getting there with a major or advanced degree in economics, law, or politics.  

An amazing map created and posted to the MapPorn subreddit by Reddit user mareyv takes a look at what the world leaders and heads of state studied for the highest degree they've earned.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of Australia both earned the interdisciplinary Politics, Philosophy, and Economics degree from Oxford University, which is why they're in the grey catch-all category.  

The solid color indicates the education of the head of the government, and a triangle, the official head of state, like the Queen of the United Kingdom.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-the-worlds-leaders-studied-2013-12#ixzz2qIwcAJwO

Perkins Funding Increased in FY 14 Omnibus Bill

Career and Technical Education represents the T&E in STEM, the applied sciences and math, and most of the jobs in STEM.  

From ACTE:

Yesterday, the House and Senate appropriations committees released the final FY 2014 omnibus appropriations bill, which included a $53 million increase for Perkins. 

This funding increase will help to restore almost all of the harmful sequester cut for CTE! Sequestration had resulted in a 5.2 percent cut for federal CTE funding in FY 2013, impacting programs at high schools, tech centers, and community and technical colleges across the country. ACTE and the CTE community have been fighting for restoration of funding for the past year, and this is a huge step.

The legislation also includes a provision that will change the name of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) at the U.S. Department of Education to the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE). This change will more accurately reflect the expanding scope of CTE in the 21st century and the terminology change that was made within Perkins during the 2006 reauthorization. The House and Senate will vote on the omnibus bill later this week. Please take a few minutes to tell your Members of Congress to support increasing funding for Perkins.

From Monday's Washington Post

From today's Washington Post (headlines are hyperlinked):

Jay Matthews Class Struggle

• I may not agree with Ravitch, but I will always listen

Virginia lawmakers call for fewer SOL tests

Michael Alison Chandler

Testing reform is a top education priority in the state’s 2014 legislative session.

DHS CyberSecurity Opportunity for College Students - January 17 deadline

Interested in cyber security and want to gain vital experience with one of the most powerful government institutions? 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary’s Honors Program (SHP) Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative  is designed for college students.  Through the program, more than 100 unpaid student volunteer assignments will be available to support DHS’ cyber mission at local DHS field offices in over 60 locations across the country. The application deadline is January 17, 2014.

Student volunteers will gain invaluable hands-on experience and exposure to the cybersecurity work performed by DHS cybersecurity professionals.  Participants will perform a broad range of duties in support of DHS’ cybersecurity mission, in areas ranging from cyber threat analysis to digital forensics to network diagnostics and incident response.  Student volunteers will begin in spring 2014 and participate throughout the summer in over 60 locations across the country including in Fairfax, Arlington, Herndon, and Portsmouth, VA.  Students must apply by Friday, January 17, to be eligible for the program.

    Learn more at http://goo.gl/0ABzRV and apply for the SHP Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative here. Additionally, please follow and engage the CSVI Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts.

STEM Symposium March 8 in Herndon

Washington Exec is hosting a STEM Symposium (www.stemsymposium.com) to be held on March 8^th, 2014 in Herndon, Va. 

The forum's mission is twofold:

To provide an opportunity for K-12 students in the National Capital Region (NCR) to showcase their achievements in STEM, and to interact with key business, education, non-profit and government leaders through real-life applications and presentations about how science, technology, engineering and math impacts our community.

From an industry leader perspective, professionals will have the opportunity to share their insights with students, inspire students to pursue STEM, and gauge the STEM proficiency of their prospective pipeline.

Continue below to read about Goals and Registration.