GET SET & a commentary...

AAAS Program Evaluates Strategies to Boost Diversity in Science

Dubbed GET SET, for “Global Education for Tomorrow in Science, Engineering and Technology,” a multi-faceted AAAS effort is now underway to assess science learning and teaching strategies at predominantly underrepresented, low-income schools in Washington, D.C. The program is being supported by nearly $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the agency’s ITEST program (“Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers”), which was established to help boost the future U.S. science and technology workforce.

A key goal of the GET SET program will be “to understand what it takes to get underrepresented students to succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” AAAS Program Director Joan Abdallah explained.

AAAS staff members are collaborating with the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools. An independent assessment of outcomes, especially to determine the effectiveness of different intervention strategies, will be completed next year by Campbell-Kibler Associates, Inc.

Read more about the AAAS GET SET program.

Where I think faith and science can bury the hatchet...

In previous postings, I have made no mystery of my origins and am actually proud of where I come from.

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish Priest altered our view of the universe and it was rejected by the Church. The earth-centered model was originally from Aristotle and Ptolemy, and dominated Western thought for over 2000 years. Galileo confirmed a heliocentric solar system with the invention of the telescope. It seemed to contradict accepted interpretation of scripture and thus deemed a threat to authority.

However, in African American and Hispanic communities, the church is a central part of life in the neighborhood. It is a place of hope and inspiration for persons that by acceptance of the circumstances around them would not strive for anything better than what they physically see: poverty, teen pregnancy, drug dealing.

It would be beneficial if the project to attract minorities in STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering & Math were collaboratively supported by the aforementioned institution of the neighborhood church.

It would be a bold, modern step and would show that its incarnation in modern times does not feel threatened by the increase of knowledge and thereby opportunity for its youngest members.