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14 Sep 2016
Report

STEM 2026: A Vision for Innovation in STEM Education

Courtney Tanenbaum

A strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is becoming increasingly recognized as a key driver of opportunity, and data show the need for STEM knowledge and skills will grow and continue into the future. This report summarizes the results of discussion-based workshops where 30 experts and thought leaders in STEM teaching and learning were invited to exchange ideas and develop recommendations for the future of STEM education, an aspirational vision—“STEM 2026”—for STEM education to promote lifelong learning among all youth and in all communities.

Female technical student at whiteboardGraduates who have practical and relevant STEM precepts embedded into their educational experiences will be in high demand in all job sectors. But persistent inequities in access, participation, and success in STEM subjects that exist along racial, socioeconomic, gender, and geographic lines, as well as among students with disabilities, threaten the nation’s ability to close education and poverty gaps, meet the demands of a technology-driven economy, ensure national security, and maintain preeminence in scientific research and technological innovation.

In recognition of the widening skills and opportunity gaps in STEM, the Obama Administration has initiated several efforts to motivate action. This report is a complementary effort, resulting from a Department-led effort to gain insight into the latest research and thinking about how to improve STEM teaching and learning, including how to ensure the engagement and success of the full diversity of the nation’s learners.

The STEM 2026 vision presented in the report is meant only as starting point upon which key stakeholder groups, including policymakers,  researchers, educators, and industry leaders, as well as the broader public, can build.

The report also describes in more detail the six interconnected components of STEM 2026, and the challenges and opportunities for innovation related to converting these components into widespread practice:

  • Engaged and networked communities of practice.
  • Accessible learning activities that invite intentional play and risk.
  • Educational experiences that include interdisciplinary approaches to solving “grand challenges.”
  • Flexible and inclusive learning spaces.
  • Innovative and accessible measures of learning.
  • Societal and cultural images and environments that promote diversity and opportunity in STEM.

For more information, contact Courtney Tanenbaum (AIR) or Russell Shilling (U.S. Department of Education).

Follow all AIR's STEM work >>

PDF icon STEM 2026: A Vision for Innovation in STEM Education (PDF)

Related Work

14 Sep 2016
Blog Post

Vision 2026 Sets Course for the Future of STEM

Imagine a STEM education for all students, regardless of neighborhood, race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status or disability, in preschool through high school and beyond—lifelong learning. Imagine high schools housed inside national tech companies; imagine games, simulations, and cognitive tutoring systems; and students learning through activities that invite play, risk, and even failure. In this blog post, Courtney Tanenbaum shares the vision of a diverse group of experts about what STEM should look like in ten years.
14 Sep 2016
News Release

AIR Report Synthesizes Experts’ Vision for STEM Education in 2026: More Problem-Solving and Play, With an Emphasis on Inclusion

A new report drawing on the work of experts in science, technology, engineering and math sets forth an aspirational future for STEM education, one that emphasizes problem-solving, interdisciplinary approaches, and the value of discovery and play. The 10-year vision, synthesized by AIR for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, is called STEM 2026.
10 May 2016
Journal Article

STEM Training and Early Career Outcomes of Female and Male Graduate Students: Evidence from UMETRICS Data Linked to the 2010 Census

Women are underrepresented in science and engineering, with the underrepresentation increasing in career stage. This article, from the May 2016 issue of American Economic Review, analyzes gender differences at critical junctures in the STEM pathway—graduate training and the early career—using UMETRICS administrative data matched to the 2010 Census and W-2s.
26 Apr 2016
Report

Exploring the Foundations of the Future STEM Workforce: K–12 Indicators of Postsecondary STEM Success

Despite being the nation's largest racial/ethnic minority, Hispanics are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)—both in college and the workplace.

25 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Summer STEM—Engaging Youth, Building Identity, Narrowing Gaps

What is summer STEM? Hands-on programs that teach science, technology, engineering, and math in ways that engage young people and fight the summer learning loss that especially affects the nation’s most vulnerable children and youth. In this blog post, Elizabeth Devaney and Courtney Tanenbaum share what we’re learning about successful summer STEM programs.

Further Reading

  • Vision 2026 Sets Course for the Future of STEM
  • Moving Forward, Looking Back: Landmark Legislation for Americans with Disabilities
  • AIR Report Synthesizes Experts’ Vision for STEM Education in 2026: More Problem-Solving and Play, With an Emphasis on Inclusion
  • Programs with New Funding in the Proposed Budget: What Does Research Say About Their Effectiveness?
  • Broadening Participation in STEM
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Image of Courtney Tanenbaum

Courtney Tanenbaum

Principal Researcher

Topic

Disability and Rehabilitation
Education
College and Career Readiness
Equity in Education
STEM

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