Thursday, May 13, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District spoke today on the House floor on an amendment she offered, which passed with unanimous support, to the America COMPETES Act to make improving teacher training in science, technology, engineering, and math a high priority.  Below are her remarks as delivered.

“Thank you, Madam Chairman, and thank you, Chairman Gordon, for your leadership on this important legislation that will strengthen American competitiveness.  I rise today in support of my amendment, which is part of the en bloc amendment, which clarifies that both pre-service and in-service teacher training and professional development shall be considered when identifying ‘grand challenges’ in pre-K-12 STEM education.

“For our country to be economically competitive in the twenty-first century, we must ensure that all of our students have a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – the STEM fields.  The underlying bill before us recognizes this fact and instructs the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Secretary of Education to work together to identify the ‘grand challenges’ in STEM education and how to best address them. 

“While the bill currently includes the effectiveness of STEM teacher professional development as a subject to be studied as a ‘grand challenge,’ the bill does not mention the training that soon-to-be teachers receive before they enter the classroom.  My amendment highlights the fact that teacher pre-service and training preparation programs have an important part to play in ensuring that future teachers will be well equipped to give our students a strong foundation in the STEM fields.  Teacher preparations generally provide teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective classroom instructors, so we must be sure that that includes the preparation they need to teach STEM subjects.  Future teachers must be educated in the latest technology, the newest theories, the cutting edge developments in the STEM fields so they can give our students the tools they need to compete in the global economy.  My amendment therefore directs that pre-service teacher training and professional development should also be considered when addressing the grand challenges of pre-K-12 STEM education.

“So I would urge my colleagues to support this important bill, to support this en bloc amendment, and to help prepare our teachers to prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow.  Thank you again Madam Chairman and Mr. Chairman.”

#  #  #

Tags: education