- Professional development for STEM teachers (71 percent);
- Hands-on science kits (34.7 percent);
- Probeware (33 percent);
- Science room equipment (28.9 percent);
- Simulation software for difficult-to-teach STEM concepts (25.3 percent); and
- Programs that expose students to STEM careers (24.3 percent).
Almost one-fifth of respondents (19.1 percent) said that no new STEM initiatives are planned in their schools for 2012-13, and 22.6 percent of district science and STEM supervisors said they do not know what funding sources would support new STEM initiatives.
Grants from private foundations (40.9 percent) and district-led initiatives (33.9 percent) are the most frequently identified funding sources for new STEM initiatives.
STEM course integration
Forty-eight percent of participants said their schools or districts offer one or more programs that integrate core STEM concepts, and another 30 percent said they are at least somewhat likely to integrate core STEM concepts in the next one to three years.
Most said their schools or districts offer career and technical education programs (68.2 percent), introduction to technology courses (64 percent), and computer science/introduction to programming courses (63.6 percent).
Fifty-seven percent said their schools and districts either currently offer or are very likely to offer middle school STEM courses in the next one to three years, with 45.6 percent replying the same for elementary-level STEM courses.
Energy and the environment (26.2 percent), software engineering (20.2 percent), and biomedical technology (19.8 percent) are the most frequently-cited courses that respondents said are very likely to be offered in the next one to three years.
Professional development
Thirty-four percent of respondents said that professional development based on the Next Generation of Science Standards is most helpful to educators, followed by content knowledge (26.3 percent) and professional development on pedagogy (22.8 percent).
More than 40 percent of respondents estimated that internet-based professional development, such as webinars, video training via the web, and web-based workshops sponsored by organizations or universities, would increase in 2012-13.
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