Federal support for science education is provided by both the
Department of Education and by NSF's Education and Human Resources
Activity. Last year, new Math and Science Partnership initiatives were
established in both NSF and the Education Department, to encourage
states, universities and local school districts to work together to
improve science and math instruction. In the President's FY 2003 budget,
$12.5 million (equal to FY 2002 funding) is requested for Math and
Science Partnerships within the Education Department, and $200 million
(a 25% increase) is requested for the NSF Partnerships. NSF and the
Education Department plan to coordinate their funding of such
partnerships.
In the Education Department, the Eisenhower Professional Development
program, which in past years provided funding specifically for science
and math improvement, was consolidated into a larger Teacher Quality
program for improving teaching in all fields, and the Partnerships
replace Eisenhower as the only source of dedicated funding for science
and math. In NSF, funding has been redirected from some other education
programs to support the Partnerships. Other NSF education programs that
would receive increases are Graduate Education (up 21.7%) and
Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education (up 3.7%). Below are
explanations of selected education programs, from the Education
Department and NSF budget documents:
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS: $2.85 billion, equal
to FY 2002 funding. According to Education Department budget documents,
"The No Child Left Behind Act consolidated funding from the Class Size
Reduction and Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants into a
new 'Improving Teacher Quality State Grants' program.... States may
support other activities to improve teacher quality, including changes
to teacher certification or licensure requirements, alternative
certification, tenure reform, merit-based teacher performance systems,
differential and bonus pay for teachers in high-need subject areas, and
teacher mentoring programs."
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS: $12.5 million, equal to
FY 2002 funding. "The request continues funding at the 2002 level for
this program, which is designed to improve academic achievement in
mathematics and science by promoting strong teaching skills for
elementary and secondary school teachers. The program provides grants to
partnerships of State educational agencies, higher education
institutions, and school districts for activities such as the
development of rigorous mathematics and science curricula, distance
learning programs, and incentives to recruit college graduates with
degrees in math and science into the teaching profession."
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
According to NSF budget documents, "In FY 2003, NSF's highest
priorities in the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Activity are
increases in funding for the Math and Science Partnership (MSP),
graduate student support, and the Centers for Learning and Teaching
(CLT). MSP addresses critical concerns of the Administration and the
Congress that math and science learning and teaching must be improved
for all preK-12 students in the U.S. Graduate stipends are no longer
considered to be attractive by many students because they are viewed as
inadequate to compensate for the cost of education and mounting student
debt, and to offset opportunities for higher salaries offered by
employers to STEM [science, technology, engineering and math]
baccalaureate degree holders. CLT is designed to meet major national
needs to strengthen the human infrastructure for science, technology and
math education, to increase the number of well-qualified K-16 educators,
and to provide research opportunities in science and math education and
education reform.
"Within the constraints of the overall EHR Request, it is not
possible to accommodate the priority increases while increasing or even
maintaining all programs in the existing portfolio at the FY 2002
Current Plan levels. In fact, the increases requested for the three
priorities necessitated cuts in other programming. This required
difficult decisions on where reductions could be taken while minimizing
the adverse impact on program outcomes." There are eight Subactivities
within Education and Human Resources:
MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP: Up 25.0% to $200.0 million. "A
cornerstone of the President's education reform agenda, the strategic
focus of MSP is to engage the nation's higher education institutions,
local, regional and state school districts and other partners in preK-12
reform. MSP calls for a significant commitment by colleges and
universities to improving the quality of science and mathematics
instruction in the schools and to investing in the recruitment and
professional development of highly competent science and mathematics
teachers.... Institutions of higher education who partner in MSP are
expected to tap their disciplinary departments in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as well as their education
departments.... [MSP] will not be an isolated set of local partnerships,
but will become part of the NSF and national STEM education portfolio of
interconnected sites whose experiences will help generate the capacity
of the nation to serve all students well. Further, by involving the MSP
awardees in a nationwide network of educational researchers and
practitioners, the program will contribute to the development of a
greater U.S. capacity to analyze and learn from the experience of
large-scale change and to apply this knowledge to preK-12 STEM teaching
and learning."
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM REFORM: Down 10.9% to $40.25 million.
"Systemic reform projects provide access to high-quality science and
mathematics educational resources for many of the nation's children who
are educationally disadvantaged.... They emphasize helping states and
local school districts to ensure that all students have the opportunity
to perform to high standards in math and science and to use performance
data to calibrate progress and inform future directions.... As a result
of the redirection of funds to the new Math and Science Partnership
initiative in FY 2002 and FY 2003, NSF does not anticipate any new
competitions for this Subactivity. Funds will support existing awards,
including the possibility of supplements, where warranted."
EPSCoR: Down 17.6% to $75.00 million. "EPSCoR is a State-NSF
partnership to stimulate sustainable improvements in R&D
competitiveness through the development and utilization of science and
technology (S&T) resources that reside in a state's major research
universities."
ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY & INFORMAL EDUCATION: Up 3.7% to
$171.44 million. "ESIE's comprehensive programming develops research-
based models and innovative resources that strengthen the teaching and
learning of high-quality [STEM] education."
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: Down 4.8% to $135.60 million. "This
subactivity provides leadership and leveraged project support for
efforts that promote the engagement in inquiry-based learning by all
undergraduate students including disciplinary majors, prospective
preK-12 teachers, prospective technicians, and non- majors/citizens in
an increasingly technological society.... Emphases include integration
of learning technologies, faculty development, and preparation of
teachers. The FY 2003 reduction of $6.81 million redirects funds for
other priority items including the Math and Science Partnership (MSP),
graduate student support, and the Centers for Learning and Teaching
(CLT)."
GRADUATE EDUCATION: Up 21.7% to $128.38 million. "The Graduate
Education subactivity aims to recognize and support a diverse pool of
outstanding individuals in their pursuit of advanced [STEM] education;
to reform graduate education; and to build stronger links between higher
education and K-12 education.... Individuals are supported through
research and teaching fellowships and traineeships at the graduate
level. The increase of $22.88 million reflects the Foundation's
commitment to increasing graduate stipends to a level that will attract
the high quality students necessary for the nation's future and to
increasing the number of supported graduate students."
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT: Down 7.4% to $90.21 million. "The
Human Resource Development Subactivity aims to increase the
participation and advancement of underrepresented groups and
institutions at every level of [STEM] education through the promotion of
racial and ethnic diversity, gender equity, and access for persons with
disabilities."
RESEARCH, EVALUATION & COMMUNICATION: Down 1.3% to $67.20
million. "Research on learning, teaching, and technology generates
important discoveries, advancing our understanding of knowledge
acquisition, instructional practice, and systemic reform. It establishes
proofs-of-concept for developing and applying learning technologies to
[STEM] learning and teaching at all education levels..... Evaluation
efforts that systematically assess the impact and results of all major
EHR programs are supported in REC, contributing to improved program
performance."
