The White House, in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services and Invest in US, will host an event today (4/21/16) to highlight the importance of promoting active science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning for our youngest children and to celebrate a broad range of public- and private-sector leaders committed to promoting STEM learning across the country.
The White House received over 200 submissions of innovative STEM work from leaders across the country, representing state and local entities, foundations, non-profits, media organizations, technology companies, research institutions, and museums. Collectively, the commitments of these leaders have the potential to bring new active STEM content for our youngest children to millions of households across the nation.
WGBH is well-represented in these current initiatives as part of Ready to Learn and also independently, including (quoting from the White House press release):
- New Research on the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready to Learn Program: This month, grantees from ED’s Ready to Learn program will be featured in reports that share findings and lessons learned about utilizing television and digital media to support math learning for young children. The reports include six papers by grantees and evaluators that will appear in a special section of an issue of The Journal of Children and Media, and a new report entitled “The Ready to Learn Program: 2010–2015 Policy Brief” released by the Center on Media and Human Development at Northwestern University.
- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and local PBS stations will increase the availability of STEM learning tools for young children through content and community engagement. By 2020, a series of new, engaging, and evidence-based media experiences across multiple platforms will be available for free to aid families and educators in helping children develop early STEM skills. These will include resources ranging from new episodes of STEM television programs, to parent apps and classroom-ready, curriculum-aligned STEM resources that supplement instruction in preschool through third grade classrooms. CPB and PBS will also support a network of 30 STEM-focused community collaboratives that will elevate early STEM learning across the country, enhance community-wide efforts to engage underserved children, and help formal and informal caregivers become more confident and competent in supporting their children’s STEM learning.
- WGBH Boston will produce additional apps and hands-on activities for parents and their preschool children, targeted to early math, science and computational learning, as well as work with parents and Head Start teachers through a series of hackathons to determine how to effectively build the home-school connection around STEM learning.
Digital Things! 