National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Education Recommendation Report EDUCATION DESIGN TEAM 2011 Table.of.Contents INTRODUCTION.....................................3 Executive Summary ...............................3 Systems Design Approach ....................4 Information Gathered .............................7 Reports................................................7 Expert Testimony ................................8 Survey ................................................10 Program Evaluation Data ....................11 Preliminary Recommendations ...........11 1 Education Design Team Outreach ......11 E D U C RECOMMENDATIONS........................13 A T IO N SUMMARY.AND.NEXT.STEPS.........47 R E C O APPENDICES........................................48 M M E N D Terms and Definitions ..........................48 A T IO N Reference Documents ...........................51 R E P O R Survey Questions .................................54 T 2 0 1 1 Experts Consulted ................................55 Education Design Team .......................57 Endnotes ................................................58 Note: Footnotes, found at the bottom of the page, are parenthetical notes numbered using roman numerals. Endnotes, listed at the back of this report, are used for citations and references and are numbered using Arabic numerals. “If all the interrelated components can be made consistent with the reformed element, the change is accepted, the system re-stabilizes, and a type of synergy, or effectively directed smooth functioning of the system, results. Engineers have long known that in building a bridge, supports can be placed in a number of ways, but if they are placed synergistically, the total support will be greater than the sum of each suppor”t. A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO EDUCATION, RONALD CROMWELL AND JOHN SCILEPPI 1995 Introduction EXECUTIVE.SUMMARY NASA people are passionate about their work. NASA’s missions are exciting to learners of all ages. And since its creation in 1958, NASA’s people have been passionate about sharing their inspiring discoveries, research and exploration with students and educators. When retired Marine Corps General and astronaut Charlie Bolden first toured NASA’s Centers as the new NASA Administrator, he and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver saw this passion for education in hundreds of education projects conducted across the Agency. The son of two middle school educators, Bolden is passionate about education, but was concerned by the abundance of education projects with seemingly no focused goal. In May 2010, Bolden and Garver chartered an 3 Education Design Team composed of 12 members E chosen from the Office of Education, NASA’s Mission D U C Directoratesi and Centers for their depth of knowledge A T and education expertise, and directed them to IO N evaluate the Agency’s programii in the context of R E current trends in education. By improving NASA’s C O M educational offerings, he was confident that the M Agency can play a leading role in inspiring student EN D interest in science, technology, engineering and A T mathematics (STEM) as few other organizations can. IO N Through its unique workforce, facilities, research and R E innovations, NASA can expand its efforts to engage PO R underserved and underrepresented communities in T 2 science and mathematics. Through the Agency’s 0 1 1 STEM education efforts and science and exploration missions, NASA can help the United States successfully compete, prosper and be secure in the 21st century global community. i...NASA’s.Mission.Directorates.include.the.Agency’s.new.Office.of.the.Chief. Technologist.(OCT),.Aeronautics.Research.Mission.Directorate.(ARMD),. Science.Mission.Directorate.(SMD),.and.Space.Operations.Mission. Directorate.(SOMD). ii..For.the.purpose.of.this.study,.the.NASA.Education.Program.includes. activities.sponsored.by.the.Office.of.Education.and.other.NASA. organizations.. After several months of intense effort, including meeting with education experts; reviewing The Education Design Team Administration policies, congressional direction and consists of: education research; and seeking input from those Z Two co-chairs passionate about education at NASA, the Education Z 12 selected members from across the Design Team made six recommendations to improve NASA Office of Education, Mission the impact of NASA’s Education Program: Directorates, and Centers ` Focus the NASA Education Program to improve Z 46 years of combined in-classroom its impact on areas of greatest national need teaching experience ` Identify and strategically manage NASA Z 145 years of combined K-12 program Education partnerships experience ` Participate in National and State STEM Z 92 years of combined program evaluation, Education policy discussions metrics and research experience ` Establish a structure to allow the Office of Education, Centers and Mission Directorates to top level system design is then broken into various implement a strategically integrated portfolio subsystems, with requirements to be met allocated to ` Expand the charter of the Education specific system levels and with defined interfaces. Coordinating Committee to enable deliberate Designers often consider many different system Education Program design trades, evaluating overall system performance against ` Improve communication to inspire learners various combinations of subsystem characteristics (e.g., subsystem performance, mass, power SYSTEMS.DESIGN. requirements, etc.) until they feel they have reached 4 an optimum solution to meet the requirements, given APPROACH the constraints. The result of this deliberate design 1 1 process includes a system configuration, 0 2 T NASA is a systems engineering organization. Systems specifications and a baseline plan. R O engineering can simply be described as an EP NASA Education is comprised of numerous R interdisciplinary approach to identify and manipulate N components across the Agency. NASA’s Centers, O the properties of a system as a whole, which in TI Mission Directorates, and the Office of Education are A complex engineering projects may greatly differ from D the primary organizations encompassing the Agency’s N the sum of the parts’ properties. NASA’s Apollo E M education community. The community also includes M program is a leading example of a systems all NASA staff that help educate the public on the O C engineering project. E Agency’s missions and scientific and technological R N External experts considering NASA’s many different advances. O TI educational offerings advised the Agency to do what it A The organizations are each responsible for a part of C does best: take a systems design approach to U D the NASA Education portfolio, and make a specific E education by considering all of its education programs contribution to the broader NASA Education mission. and how they operate together as a system to achieve Historically, the organizations of NASA’s education a goal. To do this, those designing NASA’s education community have operated with relative autonomy. program have to be deliberate and consider While each individual component has been successful requirements, trades and performance outcomes. in its ability to align its efforts to overall Agency In classic systems engineering, a mission design team strategic goals, produce high-quality products and starts by considering the environment, requirements engage the public through both formal and informal and constraints and then performs a requirements education activities, the efficiencies and synergies that analysis. As they do this, they are informed by risk could increase the activities’ impact on STEM analysis, trade studies and performance measures. A education in the United States remain largely unrealized. To see how the impact of NASA’s The White House has undertaken a number of public- education program could be improved, the Education private partnerships and initiatives to advance STEM Design Team decided to take a systems approach. education, including NASA’s Summer of Innovation. The President sponsored an Astronomy Night in The Team identified top-level education requirements October 2009 on the White House lawn and set by the highest level of government, the Office of encouraged 200,000 federal scientists and engineers the President. Education is a top priority of President to get involved in STEM education on National Lab Barack Obama. His National Security Policy directs the Day. government to improve education at all levels and invest in STEM education. In his 2011 State of the In 2009, the Administration established Race to the Union Address, the President stated that, “Over the Top, a $4.35 billion competitive grant program next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require designed to encourage and reward states that are education that goes beyond a high school education. creating the conditions for education innovation and And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t reform. In 2010, this Recovery Act initiative was even finishing high school. The quality of our math and incorporated into the Administration’s education science education lags behind many other nations. blueprint, the Elementary and Secondary Education America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young Act, asking states to adopt college- and career-ready people with a college degree. And so the question is standards and reward schools for producing dramatic whether all of us –- as citizens, and as parents –- are gains in student achievement. willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a The Education Design Team took these top priority chance to succeed.” In 2009, the President launched policies and initiatives as top-level requirements, and an Educate to Innovate campaign to improve the next examined guidance from the Department of participation and performance of students in STEM Education. Michael Lach, Special Assistant for disciplines. This campaign extends beyond the federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics government to include the efforts of leading 5 E White House sponsored initiatives advancing D U C STEM education: A T IO Z Intel Science and Math Teachers Initiative N R Z Expansion of the National Math and Science Initiatives E C O UTeach Program M M Z Public University Presidents Commit to Train 10,000 E N D Math and Science Educators annually by 2015 A T Z Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowships in Math and IO N Science R E P O Z Department of Education’s Teacher Initiatives R T Z NASA’s Summer of Innovation 2 0 1 1 corporations, foundations, non-profit organizations and Education, painted a fairly grim STEM student science and engineering societies focused on helping performance picture when he met with NASA’s students across the country to excel in science and Education Coordinating Committeeiii and the Education math. Design Team. He summarized data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study,iv the Program for International Student Assessment,v and iii.NASA’s.Education.Coordinating.Committee.consists.of.representatives.of.the.Office.of.Education,.Mission.Directorates,.Mission.Support.Offices,.and.the. Center.Education.Offices..The.Committee.is.a.collaborative.body.that.supports.NASA’s.education.strategy.by.coordinating.education.efforts.across.the.Agency. iv.International.assessment.of.mathematics.and.science.knowledge.of.fourth-and.eighth-grade.students.around.the.world. v..Worldwide.assessment.of.15-year.old.students’.scholastic.performance. TABLE 1: STEM Education Data Trends in International Mathematics In this international comparison, the U.S. is in the middle of the and Science Study (mathematics pack. (Average U.S. eighth grade mathematics scores are higher and science content)1 than 27 of 47 countries in 2007.) U.S. performance in mathematics is increasing over time. Science performance is flat. Program for International Student On average, U.S. students scored lower than the Organisation for Assessment (mathematics and Economic Co-operation and Developmentvii average on the science content and application)2 mathematics literacy scale (487 vs. 496) in 2009. In science, the U.S. is in the middle of the pack. Performance is flat over time. National Assessment of Education Few students are proficient in mathematics or science (32 percent Progress (mathematics and science of eighth graders were proficient in mathematics in 2009.) content)3 Mathematics scores are generally increasing over time. Science scores are flat over time. the National Assessment of Education Progress,vi represented in Table 1. Lach articulated the severity of the STEM Corporation for National Agriculture 1% education challenge facing the country. In the and Community Service 0% Commerce 1% example he presented, of 4 million ninth Defense 6% graders, only 4 percent earn STEM bachelor’s National Science Foundation 30% 6 degrees and most students are not proficient in STEM at the end of high school.4 As part of 1 Education 24% 1 the Department of Education’s overall STEM 0 2 T strategy, Lach encouraged the Agency to R O support STEM education in two specific areas: P E NASA 5% R N ` Motivating and inspiring students by creating Energy 1% O TI instructional materials focused on interesting EPA 0% A Health and Human D and exciting content, connecting educators Transportation 4% N Services 24% E M and students to scientists and engineers Labor 0% M O ` Enhancing the capacity of educators, leaders Interior 1% Homeland Security 3% C RE and schools by encouraging the N O development of state-driven college- and FIGURE 1: 2009 Percentage Of Federal STEM ATI career-ready science standards Funding By Department Or Agency C U D Lach also urged the Team to consider the Source: Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, E relative size of NASA’s investment in Preparing Our Children for the 21st Century Economy: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education in the 2010 Budget (May 2009) education, which is only 5 percent of the total Due to rounding, percentages less than 1 are shown as 0 percent. federal investment in STEM, as illustrated in Figure 1, and the need to focus that investment for maximum benefit. A total of $3.6 billion was spent on STEM education programs in the FY 2009 federal budget. vi.National.Center.for.Education.statistics.conducts.a.periodic.assessment.of.U.S..student.progress.in.subjects.including.mathematics,.reading,.writing,. science.and.more..Results.are.released.as.“The.Nation’s.Report.Card.” vii.Organisation.for.Economic.Co-operation.and.Development’s.mission.is.to.promote.policies.that.will.improve.the.economic.and.social.well-being.of.people. around.the.world. The Team then considered the Agency’s 2011 In every speech at his countless public appearances in strategic goals and outcomes for education and support of education, Administrator Bolden stressed outreach, and the Administrator’s public speeches and the need to inspire today’s youth and help educators statements: better teach STEM subjects. He further directed NASA to clarify its education goals and determine the ` Strategic Goal: Enable program and institutional effectiveness of its program when measured against capabilities to conduct NASA’s aeronautics and these goals; partner with others in the government space activities and in the private sector; and take risks to pursue Outcome: Identify, cultivate and sustain a diverse innovations in education that will have a maximum workforce and inclusive work environment that is impact on STEM excellence as well as provide equity needed to conduct NASA missions for underserved students and communities. ` Strategic Goal: Share NASA with the public, Having identified the system requirements, the educators and students to provide opportunities to Education Design Team then gathered additional participate in our mission, foster innovation and information to consider in designing an Education contribute to a strong national economy Program for optimal impact. Outcome: Improve retention of students in STEM disciplines by providing opportunities and INFORMATION. activities along the full length of the education pipeline GATHERED Outcome: Promote STEM literacy through strategic partnerships with formal and informal REPORTSIX. organizations The Education Design Team reviewed current STEM Outcome: Engage the public in NASA’s missions literature describing the challenges facing the nation, by providing new pathways for participation perhaps best characterized by Norman Augustine, 7 Outcome: Inform, engage and inspire the public retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the E by sharing NASA’s missions, challenges and D Lockheed Martin Corporation and Chair of The U C results National Academies Committee on Prospering in the A T In less than a year, Administrator Bolden gave 20 Global Economy of the 21st Century. The IO N speeches and congressional testimony on STEM Committee’s report, Rising Above the Gathering R E C education,viii from which the Team derived an Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a O M additional set of requirements. Administrator Bolden Brighter Economic Future, concludes that the M E charged NASA to: country’s future competitiveness and standard of N D A living are being increasingly and seriously challenged T ` Inspire students to study mathematics and science IO in the global marketplace, and future prosperity N and pursue careers in aerospace-related fields R depends in large part on the quality of jobs that E ` Capture student interest in middle school before Americans are able to hold.5 PO R students have closed their minds to fields of study T that would enable them to pursue a STEM career While many of the Committee’s recommendations 20 1 focused on the country’s commitment to research, 1 ` Reach out to educators and help them teach STEM making the U.S. attractive to the world’s top talent, subjects effectively changing laws to enable those graduates to remain in ` Strive to include underrepresented and underserved the U.S., and enabling innovation, a primary communities in NASA’s Education Program recommendation dealt with education. The Committee ` Partner with non-profit organizations, industry and charged the nation with increasing America’s talent community groups pool by vastly improving K-12 science and mathematics education. viii..Reference.Appendix.B.Section.3.for.a.list.of.the.Administrator’s.speeches. ...ix.Reference.Appendix.B.Section.2.for.a.comprehensive.list.of.reports.and.legislation.reviewed.by.the.Team. The Team also reviewed additional national education ` The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports and policy statements for guidance, including Authorization Act of 2010, H.R. 372915 Elementary and Secondary Education Program: ` Memorandum for the Record: Markup of the NASA Review and Critique,6 Rising Above the Gathering 2011 Authorization bill, Executive session of the Storm Two Years Later: Accelerating Progress Toward Senate, Commerce, Science, and Transportation a Brighter Economic Future,7 Rising Above the Committee, H.R. 578116 Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching ` House Armed Services Committee Report Category Five,8 Learning Science in Informal Language on Basic Research, STEM Education, Environments, and Disrupting Class: How Disruptive STEM Workforce, H.R. 513617 Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.9 In particular, the Team reviewed the report of the EXPERT.TESTIMONY President’s Council of Advisors on Science and More than 40 education experts — leaders in Technology (October 2010), Prepare and Inspire: K-12 education, policy makers, NASA education project Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and managers, researchers, and individuals and groups Math (STEM) for America’s Future.10 engaged in STEM education reform — met with the Team and provided a broad range of perspectives on From this literature review, the Team identified the the challenges facing STEM education. The Team also following critical needs: sought input from additional experts including Jan ` Improve K-12 STEM education Morrison and Norman Augustine, who authored some ` Prepare and inspire all students in STEM through of the reports the Team reviewed. learning opportunities inside and outside the The meetings with Mr. Augustine and Ms. Morrison classroom were excellent sources of information because they ` Provide access to exciting individual experiences allowed these experts to provide additional context and to STEM education opportunities inside and around their reports and update the Team on changes 8 outside of schools through collaborations in in STEM education since their release. The timing of 11 discovery and invention and by connecting what the Team’s interview with Mr. Augustine coincided 0 T 2 students learn in school with what they do outside with the release of his update to Rising Above the R of school O Gathering Storm and his testimony before Congress, P E ` Make a deep and sustained commitment to enabling him to provide his most current thinking on R N innovation and research-driven decision making in how NASA can leverage its strengths to address O TI K-12 education national STEM education needs. A D N The Team also reviewed the reports documenting E Experts Dr. Antoinette Mitchell, Associate Dean of M M several recent internal and external reviews of NASA’s Trinity Washington University,x and Zipporah Miller of O C Education Program and relevant legislation, including: the National Science Teachers Association, provided E R N ` NASA Engagement in STEM Education: Innovation unique perspectives on how best to ensure that there O TI in Education for Sustainable Achievement (Teaching are enough educators who are well qualified and A C Institute for Excellence in STEM), 200911 prepared to teach STEM subjects. Both experts come U D from institutions that are deeply committed to STEM E ` A Review of the NASA Education Program: education reform. They encouraged the Agency to use Education Team Report, 200512 its unique and inspiring content to advance STEM ` NASA’s Elementary and Secondary Education education. Program Review and Critique, 200813 Dr. Anita Krishnamurthi, Director for STEM policy at ` America COMPETES Act of 2007 (H.R. 2272, Title II the Afterschool Alliance, and Rita Carl, Director of – Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Education at the Challenger Centers, described the Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science)14 unique opportunities informal settings present for x.The.Trinity.Washington.University.School.of.Education,.located.in.Washington,.DC,.offers.advanced.degrees.in.Counseling,.Educational.Administration,.a. Master.of.Arts.in.Teaching,.and.a.Master.of.Education,.as.well.as.in-service.and.pre-service.educator.training.and.professional.development.