Education

Statewide STEM Networks Emerge to Advance, Coordinate Efforts

By Erik W. Robelen — February 26, 2013 1 min read
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At a time when interest in STEM education is rampant, a new generation of statewide organizations is cropping up around the country to advance the cause and help ensure more purposeful, coordinated efforts.

In a new Education Week story, I take a closer look at these various state networks and councils and what they’re up to.

I don’t have a firm count on how many there are across the country, but a new national network, STEMx, has 16 state members (including the District of Columbia). And I’m betting well over half the states have one (or more).

You can find the networks and councils in every region. Here are a few created over the past several years to give you a flavor:

California STEM Learning Network;
Arizona STEM Network;
Governor’s STEM Advisory Council in Iowa;
Tennessee STEM Innovation Network;
Governor’s STEM Advisory Council in Massachusetts; and
Washington STEM.

To be clear, not all the statewide STEM organizations are new. South Carolina’s Coalition for Mathematics and Science, for instance, has been around for about two decades, though the name has changed. But there’s clearly new momentum around the concept.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.