Conference Proposal: A Study Group on Pacific Island Issues in STEM Education

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Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, many schools with limited resources have been heavily impacted by this legislation, among them the schools in the Pacific Islands. NSF began addressing this problem by holding a workshop to identify successes and challenges for all Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in November, 2003, in response to the White House Initiative on AAPI (See www.aapi.gov.) The proposed conference will assemble knowledgeable indigenous professionals from a range of U.S. Pacific Island jurisdictions (Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau), Guam, and the state of Hawaii, along with key players from New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji and Alaska, to address STEM education, evaluation, and workforce needs among Pacific populations, fulfilling an important recommendation from the field. They will draw from the successes emerging from recent efforts to articulate a set of guiding principles needed to ensure standards for good practice among educators and evaluators in Pacific settings and that can guide practice/decisions in any school working to serve the needs of Pacific Island students.