100Kin10, a national network coordinating and accelerating efforts to bring 100,000 new excellent science, technology, engineering, and math teachers into elementary and secondary schools by 2021, announced two UCCS-based programs as new partners Feb. 17.
The programs are UCCSTeach and the Colorado Geographic Alliance’s “Moving GIS into the Classroom.” The UCCS programs are among 49 new partner organizations announced as part of a national network of more than 280 of the country’s top businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and academic institutions working towards the goal of more STEM teachers. The two programs complement each other. UCCS Teach focuses on preparing new teachers and Colorado Geographic Alliance works to improve existing science and math education.
“We are pleased to join in this national effort to prepare students to understand and respond to complex national and global challenges,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “By working together, we can accomplish much more.”
Existing 100Kin10 partners have trained more than 28,000 STEM educators in the first four years of the effort while supporting tens of thousands more to improve their skills and stay in the classroom longer. The incoming class of partners, the organization’s largest to date, comes at a pivotal point in 100Kin10’s growth as it reaches the halfway mark since President Obama’s call for 100,000 more and better STEM educators in his 2011 State of the Union address, a charge recently echoed in the White House’s “Computer Science for All” initiative.
100Kin10 partners have access to exclusive research, learning, innovation, and funding opportunities, all designed to foster collaborative problem-solving and support partners to fulfill their ambitious commitments and overcome the system-level challenges to achieving 100Kin10’s shared goal.
Organizations are accepted as 100Kin10 partners following a rigorous vetting process conducted by a team of partner reviewers and a national selection panel of experts. Applicants are considered for partnership based on their organizational strength and STEM and teaching expertise, clear commitments toward the 100,000 STEM teacher goal and dedication to building the 100Kin10 movement.
A complete list of partners is available at http://www.100kin10.org/
With the creation of the UCCSTeach program in 2010, UCCS became the 22nd campus nationwide to implement the UTeach program which originated at The University of Texas at Austin. The program prepares a new generation of math and science teachers through strong content knowledge and an inquiry-based approach. An engineering emphasis is available through the recent addition of a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Education degree. The UCCS program, a collaborative effort by the College of Education, College of Engineering and Applied Science, and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, was implemented by a grant from entrepreneur and philanthropist Lyda Hill of Colorado Springs and Dallas. For more information, visit http://www.uccs.edu/~uccsteach/
The Colorado Geographic Alliance is part of a network of 54 geographic alliances across the country. COGA’s objective is to provide resources and professional development for elementary and secondary school teachers to strengthen the position of geography in all Colorado schools. Administrative offices are located at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The focus of the COGA 100Kin10 commitment is using GIS with all 148 rural school districts in conjunction with a giant map of Colorado. For more information, visit http://www.uccs.edu/~coga/
100Kin10 is an organization committed to recruiting, training, and retaining 100,000 excellent science, technology, engineering, and math teachers by 2021. 100Kin10 encourages multi-sector collaboration and provides the vision and resources to help nonprofits, foundations, academic institutions and businesses meet their ambitious commitments to educate the next generation of innovators and problem solvers. For more information, visit www.100kin10.org.
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