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THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE   

Obama and Business Leaders Announce New Commitments to Education 

President Barack Obama announced four major commitments to education that take advantage of industry leaders' areas of expertise and the skills of their employees. Click here for list of the new commitments. 

NASA Awards Grants to Improve STEM Programs  

NASA recently announced  grants to four universities that serve large numbers of minority students to help improve their STEM programs. California State University-San Bernardino was selected as one of these institutions. Read full article.

i3: STEM Education Most Popular 

STEM gains momentum according to the i3  summary document as 426, or approximately one-third of those signaling an intent to apply for an i3 grant, were categorized as STEM proposals. Proposals were due Aug 2 and winners should be announced later this year. Read full article. 

CSLNET & PARTNER

UPDATES

CSLNet is Hiring!

CSLNet is looking to hire a Senior Director of Programs! Please check out the description and forward the information to potential candidates! We appreciate your help! Job description. 

CSLNet & EdSource Release New Brief  

In conjunction with EdSource and California First 5 Commission, CSLNet released "California's Math Pipeline: Success Begins Early," a brief pointing to the critical importance of early success in Math for California's students. Read full article. 

CSLNet was mentioned in two Huffington Post articles recently:  

Changing the STEM Equation This Summer

Jennifer Peck, Executive Director of Partnership for Children and Youth, writes about the importance of STEM learning in out-of-school time and cited the work of CSLNet. Read full article. 

Breakthroughs In How We Teach Science

Linda Katehi, Chancellor of UC Davis, addresses the nation's need for more STEM education and California's innovative tactics to address it. She wrote about CSLNet: "the Network has been pushing hard ... for students -- including girls and minorities who are typically under-represented in the STEM fields -- to graduate from high school with the necessary STEM knowledge and skills needed to succeed in post-secondary education, work and life. This is good for California and good for our students." Read full article.  

Broadcom MASTERS™ Competition

Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science & the Public (SSP) announced the selection of 300 middle school students as semifinalists in its first ever Broadcom MASTERS competition. The Broadcom MASTERS is the national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) competition for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders nominated to compete by their local SSP-affiliated science and engineering fair. The students come from 251 middle schools across the United States with concentrations in California, Florida, Texas, Ohio and Oregon. Read full article.

Silicon Valley Education Foundation holds "ShiftED"  

ShiftED by Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF) hosted a successful two-day conference to help educators better integrate technology in education. Over 200 people showed up to listen to key speakers and participate in workshops. Scott McNealy, founder of Sun Microsystems, was the keynote speaker and  spoke about his interest in education and  the development of the non-profit, open-source curriculum wiki for educators, Curriki. For more information, go to the Featured Resources section of this month's News Blast. 

STEM in the NEWS 

Sesame Street will be brought to you this season by the letters:
S, T, E and M

The 42nd season of the PBS preschool educational show will premiere on September 26 and will emphasize STEM subjects. Read full article. 

SSEP Mission 1 to the ISS - Historic Opportunity

The National Center for Earth and Space Education (NCESSE) announced opportunities for schools and communities to participate in the first student spaceflight experiments program mission (SSEP) to the International Space Station. All participating communities must submit Letters of Commitment of funding (up to $10K) by September 15, 2011. For more information, click here.   

i.am First: Science is Rock and Roll

The Black Eyed Peas founder Will.i.am is making sure science is highlighted in education. He produced and hosted the TV back-to-school television special on Sunday Aug 14 to showcase Dean Kamen's U.S. F.I.R.S.T (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Read full article. 

Angry Birds! Roller Coasters! Harry Potter! Thank You, STEM

The author Allison Craiglow Hockbenberry pays her tributes to STEM in an article that highlights STEM in a fun and exciting way but also addresses how STEM professionals help improve our lives. Read full article.  

Young Inventors Let Creativity Run Wild

Kids in Prunedale, California release their creativity and problem-solving skills in a nationally acclaimed science camp called Camp Invention. Read full article. 

UPCOMING
EVENTS  

Free Webinar: Inspire the Next Generation of Engineers 

Join PBS's Design Squad Nation and ASEE's Engineering Go For It for a free webinar entitled "Inspiring the Next Generation of Engineers," on August 25 from 9 AM to 10AM PST.  Learn about free hands-on activities, videos, and other online resources that will help enliven  classes and spark a love of engineering in kids ages 9 and up.  To register, email designsquad_feedback@wgbh.org.

STEMConnector Conference Call: Women in STEM

Join STEMConnector and key participants on a conference call to discuss Women and Girls in STEM on September 9th, 8AM PST (11AM EST).  Call information: 1-800-501-8979, ID Code 2963009#. Read about STEMConnector.  

STEMtech 2011

The League for Innovation in the Community College is proud to announce its second annual STEMtech conference, Oct. 2-5, at Indianapolis' JW Marriott. Educators, industry leaders, and others will gather to discuss increasing student access into and success in STEM majors and careers. The 2011 STEMtech conference will also help educators explore the strategic use of information technology to better serve their students, campuses, and communities. For more information please click here.  

 Bay Area Science Festival

For ten days spanning October 29th to November 6th, the Bay Area Science Festival will host an explosion of fun, interactive science and technology events across the San Francisco Bay Area from Santa Rosa to San Jose. For more information or to submit an entry please click here. 

NAP Releases Workshop Summary on Effective STEM Schools 

From The National Academies, Successful STEM Education: A Workshop Summary discusses the importance of STEM education. The report describes the primary types of K-12 schools and programs that can support successful education in the STEM disciplines and examines data and research that demonstrate the effectiveness of these school types. Download it here. 

New After-School Handbook  

The After-School Program for School Site Leaders from The California State University and The David & Lucile Packard Foundation released a handbook that provides excellent checklists, resources and suggestions related to program planning, funding and implementation. Download it here. 

Report on Digital Learning

A new report released on Digital Learning. Quality Control in K-12 Digital Learning: Three (Imperfect) Approaches by Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute explores the pros and cons of input regulation, outcome-based accountability, and market signals as solutions to the quality challenge. Download the report by clicking the link below. Read the report here.    

Curriki: K-12 Open Curricula Community

Curriki is a ground-breaking online community for educators that promotes collaboration and transparency. By joining Curriki, members have access to a wide range of tools and ideas that they can use in the classroom and beyond. Check out Curriki. 

STEM Inventory

The STEM Inventory is a catalog of STEM educational programs within California and nationwide. It was developed by the California Space Education and Workforce Institute and the California Space Authority (closed) as part of a USDoL grant project (WIRED). The website is www.steminventory.com.

FUNDING
OPPORTUNTIES

Foundation Source Access  

Have you signed up for Foundation Source Access? Foundation Source Access is an online philanthropy network that non-profit organizations can go and register their projects that are seen by more than 5,000 donors. Last year, more than $300 million were granted via the web interface. Act quickly and register today. It will continue to be free of charge through September 30, 2011. Click here. 

National Science Foundation Grants 

Advanced Technological Education: The purpose of this program is to support the training of qualified science and engineering technicians that can meet relevant workforce demands. This program is also aimed at improving the technical skills and general science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) preparation of future technicians and their educators. Full proposals are due October 20, 2011. For more information please click here. 

Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (Part D): Institutional Transformation Catalyst: The purpose of this program is to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce. Letter of Intent due October 3, 2011. For more information please click here.  

Have STEM News or An Event to Share?

CSLNet News Blast is a collaborative effort and we welcome your STEM news and events. To submit content for CSLNet's News Blast, please email administrator@cslnet.org.