Career Pathways for STEM Technicians

该项目解决了我国面临的两个问题：o没有足够的技术人员来支持持续的技术创新或为能够改善我国安全和世界经济地位的行业配备人员。 没有足够的教育机会给那些有能力的、努力奋斗的高中生，他们需要--也应该--有机会进入一个有价值的职业。有一些工具和机构可以解决这些问题：o副学士学位技术教育课程。社区和技术学院提供这些课程，通常最初是在高级技术教育（ATE）计划的支持下开发的，使用的课程和教材是由想要雇用技术人员的行业和雇主提供的。他们由有能力的教师授课，他们在内容和策略方面都受过教育，可以帮助技术学生在职业生涯中取得成功。在过去的十年里，专门的STEM项目已经形成，以吸引，吸引和培养学生进入高等教育，为工程，科学和技术的职业生涯做准备。困境是这样的：o大多数提供新兴技术技术教育的学院没有足够数量的有能力的学生入学并完成他们的副学士学位课程。o大多数高中STEM项目没有吸引和服务那些最有潜力成为我们所需要的技术人员的学生。该项目正在开发一套文件，以电子方式分发，并在出版物中提出一个令人信服的，紧迫的和实际的需要，为STEM技术人员创建中学/中学后职业道路。战略和模式，以扩大高中STEM计划和学院，以支持潜在的技术学生。o提供信息和中学指导战略，以确定和鼓励高中学生与作为STEM技术人员成功的潜力。o展示高中-大学管道模型，以支持STEM技术人员计划。出版物的目标受众是高中STEM领导者，社区学院领导者以及那些影响地方，州和联邦各级教育政策的人。该项目是协调和编辑论文的作者具有广泛的专业知识，在影响技术人员教育的领域。PI一直积极发展职业途径，他已经写了和编辑在这方面的其他书籍。该项目在出版物发行后采取后续行动，有选择地邀请各州和全国听众发表演讲，并制定战略，鼓励感兴趣的人查阅电子版的文章和整个出版物。 此外，该项目正在收集有关如何使用该出版物及其对技术人员计划的影响的信息。知识价值在于包含有关STEM技术人员需求的信息，创建替代职业途径的愿景和方法，以及在两年制大学为STEM技术人员课程创建高中管道的模型示例。更广泛的影响是鼓励并通过新的职业途径容纳潜在的STEM技术人员，这应该会导致更大的入学率，更低的学生流失率和更多受过良好教育的技术人员。

This project addresses two problems that are facing our nation: o There are not enough technicians to support continued technological innovation or to staff the industries that could improve our country's security and economic position in the world. o There are not adequate educational opportunities for capable, struggling high school students who need - and deserve - an opportunity to enter a rewarding career. There are tools and institutions in place to solve these problems: o Associate-degree technical-education programs. Community and technical colleges offer these programs, often developed initially with Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program support, using curricula and teaching materials that have been informed by the industries and employers who want to hire technicians. They are taught by capable faculty members who have been educated in both the content and in the strategies that can help technical students succeed in their careers.o High School STEM programs and academies. Specialized STEM programs have been formed over the past decade to interest, attract, and cultivate students to enter postsecondary education in preparation for careers in engineering, science, and technology.The dilemma is this:o Most of the colleges offering technician education in the new and emerging technologies do not have an adequate number of capable students enrolling in and completing their associate degree programs.o Most of the high school STEM programs are not attracting and serving the students who have the greatest potential to become the technicians we need. This project is developing a set of papers to be distributed electronically and in a publication that o Present a compelling, urgent and factual need for creating secondary/post-secondary Career Pathways for STEM technicians.o Provide information about the breadth of curricula and AS/AAS college programs to educate STEM technicians.o Describe the vision, strategies and models for extending high school STEM programs and academies to support potential technician students.o Provide information and secondary school guidance strategies for identifying and encouraging high school students with the potential to be successful as STEM technicians.o Showcase models of high school - college pipelines to support a STEM technician programs.The target audiences for the publications are high school STEM leaders, leaders in community colleges, and those affecting educational policy at the local, state and federal levels. The project is coordinating and editing papers from authors with a wide range of expertise in areas that affect technician education.The PI has been active in developing Career Pathways, and he has written and edited other books in this area. The project is following up the release of the publication with selected speaking engagements to state and national audiences, and with strategies that encourage interested people to access the electronic form of the articles and the entire publication. In addition, the project is collecting information on how the publication is used and what is its effect on technician programs.The intellectual merit lies in the information contained about STEM technician needs, the vision and methodology to create the alternate Career Pathways and the examples of models for creating high school pipelines for STEM technician programs at two year colleges.The broader impact is the potential changes needed to encourage and accommodate potential STEM technicians through new Career Pathways, which should result in larger enrollments, lower student attrition, and more well-educated technicians.