The
National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is
celebrating twenty years of supporting technician education this year.
Begun
in 1993, the ATE program supports innovative efforts to improve the education
of incumbent and prospective technicians, and the professional development of
educators who teach them. The program focuses on technician preparation in
fields vital to the nation's security such as information technology,
manufacturing, agriculture, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and engineering
technology.
As
part of this celebration ATE Central, a crosscutting ATE project that aims to
support and highlight the
work of the 300-plus funded projects and centers, is
spearheading the ATE@20 Book + Blog project—showcasing the accomplishments of the
ATE program during the past 20 years. The blog aims to reach students, parents,
educators, as well as business and industry partners with articles about
successful technicians and cutting-edge technical education programs. The blog
will feature stories throughout the anniversary year and entries may be
reprinted or reused. The book, which chronicles the program with feature
stories and programmatic data infographics, will be released in October.
Since
it was created in response to the Scientific and Advanced Technology Act of
1992, the ATE program's various student recruitment efforts have meshed with
the National Careers Pathway Network to encourage youngsters to enter technical
careers and to improve the opportunities of underemployed adults.
Recognition
that true change rarely happens in isolation led to requirements that ATE
initiatives:
- involve two-year college educators in leadership roles
- collaborate with employers
- connect with secondary school teachers and university faculty
Elizabeth
J. Teles, who was co-lead of ATE with Salinger from 1993 to 2009. They hoped
that a network of partnerships beyond the particular college department or
campus receiving an ATE grant would help sustain activities and lead to other
innovations after the NSF grant funding ended."I just saw too many people
acting in isolation, not realizing there were components in other projects. I
had worked in a few projects at my college, and I felt like we did them, but we
didn't have any idea what other people who were being supported were doing,”
Teles said. She taught mathematics at Montgomery College before a fellowship at
the NSF led to her employment as a program director.
The
annual ATE Principal Investigators' Conference is an example of NSF investment
in building a truly collaborative ATE community. At these high-energy meetings, ATE grant
recipients share their successes and challenges to improve overall practices,
and build professional networks that have frequently led to other
collaborations. For instance, several consortia formed by ATE centers have been
awarded large Department of Labor grants.
As the NSF’s largest community college investment, ATE has
broadened the federal government’s definition of STEM workforce. By focusing on
the associate degree programs offered by two-year colleges—primarily by public
community colleges, ATE provides technicians with a solid academic foundation
that enables them to learn throughout their careers. ATE enhancements to science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) courses equip students to move more efficiently on
career paths from high school to two-year colleges, from two-year colleges to
technical careers, and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions.
The innovative ATE initiatives established throughout the nation
and the free information available to anyone who wants to emulate these model
educational programs improve educational practices, students’ opportunities,
and ultimately the nation’s prosperity.
For more information about the ATE program or the ATE@20
Book+Blog project visit: http://atecentral.net
and the ATE@20 Blog at https://atecentral.net/ate20.
No comments :
Post a Comment