STEM ed network grows in 'final push' to meet 2021 goal

Chicago Public Schools, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the Council of Chief State School Officers are among the 41 new organizations joining a national effort to prepare 100,000 STEM teachers by 2021. 100Kin10 — a nonprofit network that includes school districts, teacher preparation programs, foundations and businesses — will also work with new funding partners including the Grable Foundation, Infosys and the College Football Playoff tournament to make its “final push” toward the goal, according to a statement from Executive Director Talia Milgrom-Elcott, Teacher bonuses, scholarships, loan forgiveness programs for teachers and professional development are some of the strategies that will be implemented to recruit and retain STEM educators. The same strategies are also among those highlighted in a report last year from the Learning Policy Institute on effective ways to fill teacher vacancies. The authors wrote that states need a “multipronged approach.”