AACTE Hosts Event on Preparing STEM Teachers

From: NCTM
As part of its annual Hill Day events, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), together with the Senate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Caucus, held a well-attended congressional briefing on the importance of preparing teachers to teach in the STEM disciplines in the broader effort to address the country’s competitiveness issues. The event featured remarks from exemplary educators, including secondary classroom teachers Valdine McLean and Lisa M. Suarez-Carabello, renowned author of “The Marshall Plan for Teaching,” Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University, and Robin Willner of IBM, who provided a business perspective on the critical role of effective STEM teachers in educating our nation’s future workforce. Ms. Willner also spoke of her company’s efforts to get experienced employees into classrooms to share their expertise. Their remarks touched on the complex challenge of sufficiently preparing educators in these fields, as well as retaining them with sufficient supports and encouragement. AACTE also released a new report, titled, “Preparing STEM Teachers: The Key to Global Competitiveness,” which discusses the issues involved and points to best practices nationwide.