Looking to attract more students to careers in technical disciplines such as science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM), a group of educators, policy makers, students, and officials from NASA and other government agencies convened outside Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17 for a first-of-its-kind summit aimed at fostering sustainable educational partnerships.

The government space agency used the day-long event, called the NASA Education Partnership Summit, to lay out a new educational framework intended to help NASA work more effectively with schools, while furthering its mission of preparing today's students for success in the 21^st century. Held at the University of Maryland Inn and Conference Center in College Park, Md., the event took place just a short drive from the agency's Goddard Flight Center--one of 10 regional NASA research facilities throughout the United States.

Schools face a daunting challenge in preparing students for a changing workforce, one where co-workers are as likely to reside in cities halfway across the globe--in Beijing or Nepal, for example--as they are to work in offices down the hall. To meet this challenge, summit participants said, it's imperative that schools adapt to a changing landscape. Fortunately for educators, it isn't a burden they need shoulder alone; future employers also have a vested interest in seeing students succeed, participants noted.

"When you have a great partnership, it's amazing what you can accomplish," said Joyce Winteron, NASA's assistant administrator for education.

Seeking to improve its relationship with schools and, in turn, boost interest in STEM education, NASA has announced a new "Education Framework." The framework concentrates on four key areas of involvement: to inspire, engage, educate, and employ.

Administrators have fashioned the framework in the form a pyramid designed to work from the bottom up, starting with inspiration. The space agency says it will focus its partnership efforts on engagement and formal education in elementary and secondary schools, gradually shifting the emphasis to the job market in college and university settings. The goal, according to NASA, is to build strategic partnerships focused on improving knowledge and understanding of STEM education; to attract and retain more students in the STEM disciplines; and, ultimately, to pump more highly qualified workers into the new global economy.

Partnering for change

"With the new framework, we're pulling NASA together to become one solidified unit as an agency education effort," said Bernice Alston, NASA's deputy assistant administrator for education, in an interview with eSchool News.

In partnering with schools, NASA is looking to serve as a conduit for improving education, giving teachers and students a better understanding for the types of skills that 21^st-century employers need and demand.