National Science Foundation

Creating Systemic and

Sustainable Capacity for
STEM Education:
Learning from the NSF
Portfolio

James E. Hamos
Directorate for Education & Human Resources

November 2009
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 Today's young people
face a world of
increasing global
competition. We
depend on the
excellence of U.S.
schools and
universities to provide
students with the
wherewithal to meet
this challenge and to
make their own
contributions to
America's future.
Committee on Science, U.S. House of
Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr. Representatives, Hearing on K-12
Director, NSF Science and Math Education Across
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Federal Agencies -- March 30, 2006
 Enabling the Nation’s future through discovery,
learning and innovation

 To promote the progress of science; to advance the national health,

prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other
purposes
 Basic scientific research and research fundamental to the engineering process,
 Programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research potential,
 Science and engineering education programs at all levels and in all fields of
science and engineering, and
 An information base on science and engineering appropriate for development
of national and international policy.

from National Science Foundation Act of 1950

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NSF Strategic Goals
 Discovery
Advance the frontiers of knowledge

 Learning
Cultivate a world-class, inclusive science and engineering
workforce

 Research infrastructure
Build research capability via advanced instrumentation,
facilities, cyberinfrastructure and experimental tools

 Stewardship
Support excellence and ensure a capable and responsive
organization
NSF Organization Chart

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 NSF Considers Proposals for Support of Research
in any Field of Science
 Astronomy  Information Science
 Atmospheric Sciences  Materials Research
 Biological Sciences  Mathematical Sciences
 Chemistry  Nanotechnology
 Computer Sciences  Oceanography
 Earth Sciences  Physics
 Education and Human  Polar Studies
Resources  Social, Behavioral and
 Engineering Economic Sciences

Interdisciplinary/Cross-cutting Proposals 6
 NSF/EHR Goals
 Prepare the next generation of STEM professionals and attract and
retain more Americans to STEM careers.

 Develop a robust research community that can conduct rigorous

research and evaluation that will support excellence in STEM
education and that integrates research and education.

 Increase the technological, scientific and quantitative literacy of all

Americans so that they can exercise responsible citizenship and live
productive lives in an increasingly technological society.

 Broaden participation (individuals, geographic regions, types of

institutions, STEM disciplines) and close achievement gaps in all STEM
fields.

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 EHR’s Funding
 FY 2007 Total – $695.65 million (out of $6.095 billion
total for NSF)
• DRL $208.99 million
• DUE $204.96 million
• DGE $155.90 million
• HRD $125.80 million
 FY 2009 Omnibus – $845.26 million, 21.5% increase
(out of $6.490 billion total for NSF)
 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 –
additional $100 million (out of $3.002 billion additional
to NSF)
Math and Science
Partnership (MSP)
Program

A Research and
Development Effort in K-16
Teaching and Learning
 NSF’s Math and Science Partnership
 A research & development effort at NSF for building capacity and
integrating the work of higher education with that of K-12 to
strengthen and reform mathematics and science education

 Launched in FY 2002 as a result of legislative interest and was

also a key facet of the President’s NCLB vision for K-12 education

 Reauthorized as part of the America COMPETES Act of 2007 and

provided with additional appropriation in the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the FY 2009 federal budget
                                                                                                                                                    

Through the Math and Science Partnership program, NSF awards

competitive, merit-based grants to teams composed of institutions of
  

higher education, local K-12 school systems and supporting partners.

At their core, Partnerships contain at least one institution of higher
education and one K-12 school system.
 145 Funded MSP Projects
12 Comprehensive Partnerships
(FY 2002, FY 2003)
36 Targeted Partnerships (FY 2002, FY 2003, FY
2004, FY 2008)

23 Institute Partnerships (Prototype Award in FY

2003, FY 2004, FY 2006, FY 2008, FY 2009)

19 MSP-Start Partnerships (FY 2008, FY2009)

6 Phase II Partnerships (FY 2008, FY 2009)

49 RETA projects (Design Awards in FY 2002, FY

2003, FY 2004, FY 2006, FY 2008, FY 2009)
 Scope of Partnership Projects
 Over 800 K-12 school districts
 ~5 million students
 ~147,000 teachers of K-12 math and
science
 198 institutions of higher education
 Over 2600 faculty, administrators,
graduate and undergraduate
students 
Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program
National Distribution of Partnership Activity

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 Examining Student Achievement
 Year-by-Year Trend Analysis
 Matched comparisons
 Meta-analysis pre/post assessments

Closing the
Achievement
Gap
 What are we learning?
Through new long-term and coherent
courses and programs, the involvement of
STEM faculty and their departments in
pre- and in-service education enhances
content knowledge of teachers 
 North Cascades and Olympic Science Partnership

Impact on Teacher
Leaders’ Content
Knowledge

60
48.6 48.6
50 43.7 0Yearswitha
42.4
39.4 39.2 NCOSPTeacher
40
Impact on the 30
1Year witha
NCOSPTeacher
Students of Teacher 20Proficient
% 2Yearswitha
Leaders 10
NCOSPTeacher

0
N= 7408 1927 368 2949 1819 327

5thGrade 10thGrade

Students who have NCOSP teacher leaders for one and two years of
instruction are more likely to score proficient on state assessments than
students who do not have such a teacher.
 What are we learning?

MSP projects are making new

contributions to the STEM education
literature related to teacher content
knowledge and teacher leadership 
Teacher Content Knowledge & Teacher
Leadership

http://www.mspkmd.net/
 What are we learning?

STEM professional learning

communities are new exemplars in
professional development
Rice University Mathematics Leadership Institute
 What are we learning?

STEM education can and should extend

beyond science and mathematics; in
particular, K-12 engineering education
is ready for prime time
 What are we learning?
Higher education STEM faculty, often
with the aid of teachers-in-residence on
college campuses, are broadening their
discussions of teaching and learning and
supporting new efforts in teacher
preparation
 What are we learning?

Research methods in ethnography and

social network analysis help document
change in institutions and partnerships
Milwaukee Mathematics
Partnership

School with High Distributed Leadership

School with Emerging Distributed Leadership

• Distance is important. Closer nodes are more tightly

connected than nodes that are further apart.
• Color is important. Individuals from the subject
school are colored red and those who are not at the
school are green. The MTL for each school is colored
yellow.
• Shape denotes role as follows: Diamond = MTL;
Overlapping Triangles = Principal; Up Triangle =
Literacy Coach; Down Triangle = MTS; Square =
Teacher; Circle = Other role
 What are we learning?
New centers and institutes devoted to K-16
math and science education facilitate
interactions between higher education and
K-12, offer professional development for
STEM faculty, and advance the
scholarship of teaching and learning
Enhancing Support
of Transformative
Research at the
National Science
Foundation
(NSB 07-32)

http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/2007/tr_report.pdf
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Enhancing Support of Transformative Research at
the National Science Foundation

Science progresses in two fundamental and equally valuable ways. The vast
majority of scientific understanding advances incrementally, with new
projects building upon the results of previous studies or testing long-standing
hypotheses and theories. This progress is evolutionary—it extends or shifts
prevailing paradigms over time. The vast majority of research conducted in
scientific laboratories around the world fuels this form of innovative
scientific progress. Less frequently, scientific understanding advances
dramatically, through the application of radically different approaches or
interpretations that result in the creation of new paradigms or new scientific
fields. This progress is revolutionary, for it transforms science by
overthrowing entrenched paradigms and generating new ones.

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 Transformative Research –
Notice No. 130
Endeavors which have the potential to change the way
we address challenges in science, engineering, and
innovation.
Those endeavors which promise extraordinary
outcomes, such as: revolutionizing entire disciplines;
creating entirely new fields; or disrupting accepted
theories and perspectives.
Director Arden Bement, Notice No. 130, September 24, 2007, Important
Notice To Presidents of Universities and Colleges and Heads Of Other
National Science Foundation Awardee Organizations http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/in130/in130.jsp

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 EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory
Research (EAGER)
 Replaces part of the Small Grants for Exploratory Research
(SGER) program
 Supports high-risk, exploratory and potentially
transformative research
 Requests may be for up to $300K and of up to two years
duration
 Further guidelines in Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 09-1,
January 2009), Chapter II, Section D (Special Guidelines),
Subsection 2

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