As the federal government launches a new $4.3 billion competitive education grant program, Race to the Top, a timely lecture is being held in Chicago on the need to improve primary and secondary science education in the United States, one focus of the new program.
"This is an especially well-timed event that will provide a forum for discussing how best to take advantage of the unprecedented level of attention this administration is giving to education, specifically on the importance of science education and innovation, offering the funds to kick-start real reform," said Ariel Kalil, Director of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy and Professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies. "The research and policy communities have a lot to say about how to make the most out of this opportunity."
The lecture, "The State of Science Education: A Local & National Perspective," co-sponsored by the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy and the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, will explore how policy, research and funding affect the value of science learning in today's educational system. The goal is to inform the debate about the quality of standards, assessments, teacher qualifications, curriculum instruction and effectiveness of teaching in the classroom.
The U.S. Department of Education, which will be distributing the Race to the Top grant money as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has proposed a small number of funding priorities, including the need for better science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
The event will feature Dr. Heidi Schweingruber, Deputy Director of the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council, on the National Academy's view of the state of K-12 science education and the biggest challenges science education is facing. Schweingruber has had valuable national-level experience, said Kalil, with the intersection of policy, research and funding worlds.
Schweingruber will then be joined in a panel discussion by Jeanne Century, Director of Science Education and Research & Evaluation, Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education, University of Chicago, to discuss her research on teachers and curriculum. Michael Lach,K-12 Officer, Office of Teaching and Learning, Chicago Public Schools, will give a Chicago Public Schools perspective; and Gudelia Lopez, Senior Program Officer, the Chicago Community Trust, will speak about initiatives the Trust supports; James Spillane, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change, School of Educational and Social Policy and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, will act as Rapporteur; while Ofer Malamud,Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, will moderate the discussion.
"The State of Science Education" is free and open to the public. It will begin at 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 22, at Hughes Auditorium, 303 E. Superior St., on Northwestern University's Chicago Campus. Registration for the conference can be completed at: http://harrisschool.uchicago.edu/Centers/chppp/sts2009/
This is the third annual lecture on "Science, Technology & Society" offered by the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy, and is the second year it is being co-sponsored with the Chicago Council on Science and Technology.