Spring 2013 PRECOLLEGE STEM EDUCATION The BRIDGE LINKING ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY On the Road to Reform: K–12 Science Education in the United States William H. Schmidt, Nathan A. Burroughs, and Leland S. Cogan American Science Education in Its Global and Historical Contexts Alexandra Killewald and Yu Xie Engineering Diversity: Fixing the Educational System to Promote Equity Lindsey E. Malcom-Piqueux and Shirley M. Malcom Promoting Access to Undergraduate STEM Education: The Legal and Policy Environment Liliana M. Garces and Lorelle L. Espinosa A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Looking Toward the Future of Science Education Heidi A. Schweingruber, Helen Quinn, Thomas E. Keller, and Greg Pearson The mission of the National Academy of Engineering is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology. The BRIDGE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING Charles O. Holliday Jr., Chair Charles M. Vest, President Maxine L. Savitz, Vice President Thomas F. Budinger, Home Secretary Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Foreign Secretary C.D. (Dan) Mote Jr., Treasurer Editor in Chief: Ronald M. Latanision Managing Editor: Cameron H. Fletcher Production Assistant: Penelope Gibbs The Bridge (ISSN 0737-6278) is published quarterly by the National Aca- d emy of Engineering, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC. Vol. 43, No. 1, Spring 2013 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Bridge, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418. Papers are presented in The Bridge on the basis of general interest and time- liness. They reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily the position of the National Academy of Engineering. The Bridge is printed on recycled paper. C © 2013 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. A complete copy of The Bridge is available in PDF format at www.nae.edu/TheBridge. Some of the articles in this issue are also avail- able as HTML documents and may contain links to related sources of information, multimedia files, or other content. The Volume 43, Number 1 • Spring 2013 BRIDGE LINKING ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY Editor’s Note 3 STEM Education: Progress and Prospects Michael J. Feuer Features 7 On the Road to Reform: K–12 Science Education in the United States William H. Schmidt, Nathan A. Burroughs, and Leland S. Cogan If there is to be a next generation of great US scientists and engineers, the system of science education must inspire students’ interest in STEM and help them reach their potential. 15 American Science Education in Its Global and Historical Contexts Alexandra Killewald and Yu Xie Although American science education is facing increasing international competition, US science and economic growth can reap the benefits of globalization. 24 Engineering Diversity: Fixing the Educational System to Promote Equity Lindsey E. Malcom-Piqueux and Shirley M. Malcom Structural solutions are needed for the serious challenges in precollege contexts that impede efforts to broaden participation in engineering. 35 Promoting Access to Undergraduate STEM Education: The Legal and Policy Environment Liliana M. Garces and Lorelle L. Espinosa Ongoing challenges to policies that have historically expanded access and opportunity for underrepresented minorities and women in STEM require new strategies to help widen the pipeline of diverse students in the future. 43 A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Looking Toward the Future of Science Education Heidi A. Schweingruber, Helen Quinn, Thomas E. Keller, and Greg Pearson A new framework calls for K–12 classrooms that bring science and engineering alive for students. (continued on next page) The BRIDGE NAE News and Notes 51 Class of 2013 Elected 55 NAE Members Receive Three National Medals of Science and Four National Medals of Technology and Innovation 56 NAE Newsmakers 58 2012 Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium Held at Beckman Center 59 NAE Energy Ethics Video Challenge Results 60 NAE Annual Meeting, October 6–7, 2013 61 A Message from NAE Vice President Maxine Savitz 63 National Academy of Engineering 2012 Donor Recognition 73 Calendar of Meetings and Events 74 In Memoriam 76 Publications of Interest The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self- The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National perpetuating society of distin guished scholars engaged in scientific Acad e my of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and appropriate pro fes sions in the examination of policy matters pertaining technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the author- to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility ity of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional char- has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal gov ern ment on ter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, The National Research Council was organized by the National under the charter of the Nation al Academy of Sciences, as a parallel Academy of Scienc es in 1916 to associate the broad community of organization of out stand ing engineers. It is autonomous in its adminis- science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of fur ther ing tration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National knowledge and advising the federal government. Func tion ing in Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal gov - accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the ernment. The National Academy of En gi neer ing also sponsors engi- Council has become the principal operating agency of both the neering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages edu- National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engi- cation and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of neering in providing services to the government, the public, and the engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy scientific and en gi neer ing communities. The Council is administered of Engineering. jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respec- tively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org FALL 2006 3 Editor’s Note the American experiment in mass public education, coupled with increased public and private investment in technological innovation, was largely responsible for the unparalleled success of the US economy through much of the 20th century (see, e.g., Atkinson and Pel- Michael J. Feuer is Dean and pro- frey 2010; Goldin and Katz 2008). fessor of education policy at the Second, among the most important ingredients of Graduate School of Education America’s long-term stature, especially in an era of glob- and Human Development, The al technological change, is the quality of US education George Washington University.* in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), starting in the early grades and extending well beyond the traditional postsecondary years. On STEM Education: this point, too, there is little debate: precollege experi- ences of this country’s increasingly diverse student body, Progress and Prospects in general and specifically in the STEM fields, are the Historians of American education will note the signifi- foundation for their capacity as productive, innovative, cance of the timing of this issue of The Bridge—almost and technologically competitive citizens. How well US exactly 30 years after the publication of what is consid- colleges and universities and workplaces will be able ered among the most influential education policy docu- to maintain and grow their research and development ments of the 20th century. The rhetoric of A Nation capacity depends, to a great degree, on the sustained at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform (NCEE flow of prepared youth. 1983) captivated the public and professional worlds of If the rhetoric of Nation at Risk was gripping—who schooling and played a major part in the ensuing drama can forget the unfiltered warning that “if an unfriendly of standards, assessment, and accountability that have foreign power had attempted to impose on America the become the pillars of reform. mediocre educational performance that exists today, we A core argument in Nation at Risk centered on the might well have viewed it as an act of war”—the con- convergence of two intuitively compelling assumptions. nections between diagnosis and prescription were, and First, America’s place in the world, in terms of produc- remain, logically and empirically challenging. Consider tivity, competitiveness, and other economic determi- the implicit proposition that economic competitiveness nants of quality of life, hinges to a large extent on the is principally a function of academic achievement, as strength of the scientific and technological workforce. measured mostly by test scores. From the earliest days US investments in research and development—both of US involvement in international comparisons of stu- physical infrastructure and, even more importantly, dent achievement, the United States has fared poor- human capital—have yielded stunning social and eco- ly (see, e.g., Medrich and Griffith 1992): in the First nomic returns. There is overwhelming evidence that International Mathematics Study (FIMS) in 1964, the United States ranked at the bottom among 12 countries * Michael J. Feuer worked at the National Research Council in the test performance of 13-year-olds and of students (NRC) from 1993 to 2010.