Federal STEM Policy and Politics and Their Impact on Astronomy EPO: Reflections and Provocations

摘要

The federal government invests more than $3 billion each year across its various units in supporting STEM education and outreach. Efforts in recent years to understand and better coordinate these investments have resulted in considerable pushback, particularly those efforts that aimed at consolidation and elimination of programs deemed ineffective or duplicative. While initial plans to streamline federal STEM education were defeated, many agencies nonetheless saw cuts and elimination, and a highlevel effort to coordinate STEM education at the cross-agency level is now gaining steam (CoSTEM: Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education). What do all of these developments mean for education and public outreach in astronomy and related fields? How should this community operate within the opportunities and threats that CoSTEM might pose? Former director of the National Academy of Science's Board on Science Education, and now director of the Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning, Martin Storksdieck, reflected on past and recent developments from the perspective of a close observer, and from the perspective of someone who has been involved in astronomy education research and evaluation for nearly 20 years. Shelley Canright, Senior Advisor for Education Integration at the NASA Office of Education, shared her insights and perspectives with respect to CoSTEM and EPO, in particular from co-chairing the Federal Coordination in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (FC-STEM) group.