FY 2011 STEM Education Budget Request

Correction: In FYI #17, NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Edward J. Weiler’s name was misspelled. FYI regrets this error.

While there are over 100 separate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs supported by the federal government, primary support for STEM educators and students comes through the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation.

Figures are rounded.

Total Department of Education Discretionary:

Up 9.7 percent or $4,500 million from $46,200 million to $50,700 million.

One of the most important STEM education programs at the Department of Education is the:

Effective Teaching and Learning: STEM, [formerly Mathematics and Science Partnerships]: Up 66.2 percent or $119.5 million from $180.5 million to $300 million.

Importantly, the Administration proposes consolidating 38 existing Elementary and Secondary Education Act programs into 11 new spending programs. The Department of Education’s Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) program would be reorganized as the “Effective Teaching and Learning: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” program. A Department of Education factsheet describes the relationship between the MSP and the proposed program this way:

“This program, which supports State and local efforts to improve students’ academic achievement in mathematics and science by promoting strong teaching skills for elementary and secondary school teachers, would be replaced by the proposed Effective Teaching and Learning: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program. The new program would support professional development for STEM teachers, implementation of high-quality curriculum, assessments, and instructional materials, and creation or improvement of systems for linking student data on assessments with instructional supports such as lesson plans and intervention strategies.”

The Department of Education’s FY 2011 budget summary offers this:
“This proposed new program would provide competitive grants to SEAs [State Education Agencies], and SEAs in partnership with outside entities (such as non-profit organizations and institutions of higher education), to improve the teaching and learning of STEM subjects, especially in high-need schools. Funds could be used to provide professional development for STEM teachers, to implement high-quality curriculum, assessments, and instructional materials, and to create or improve systems for linking student data on assessments with instructional supports such as lesson plans and intervention strategies. The reauthorization would support the identification and scaling-up of innovative methods of teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”
Detailed breakdowns of the Department of Education’s budget can be found here .

Total NSF:

Up 8.0 percent or $551.9 million from $6,872.5 million to $7,424.4 million.

One of the main Directorates of the NSF is the:

Directorate for Education and Human Resources:
Up 2.2 percent or $19.2 million from $872.8 million to $892.0 million.

The four divisions of the EHR Directorate are:

Division of Human Resource Development:
Up 7.6 percent or $12 million from $156.9 million to $168.9 million.

Division of Graduate Education:
Up 2.1 percent or $3.8 million from $181.4 million to $185.3 million.

Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings:
Up 2.4 percent or $5.9 million from $242 million to $247.9 million.

Division of Undergraduate Education:
Down 0.8 percent or $2.4 million from $292.4 million to $290 million.

Importantly, the Administration proposes to “Re-title the budget line previously titled Math and Science partnership as Teacher Education, and assign the NOYCE [sic] program to that line. Together MSP and NOYCE broadly address the well-documented national need to increase the pool of qualified STEM teachers in K-12.” The merged “Teacher Education” program in DUE would be funded at $113.2 million. This is equal to the combined FY 2010 funding levels of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program ($55 million), and the Math and Science Partnership ($58.2 million).

EHR numbers can also be broken down by their investment areas:

Research:
Up 0.1 percent or $0.2 million from $191.2 million to $191.4 million.

Education:
Up 2.8 percent or $17.9 million from $650.8 million to $668.7 million.

Infrastructure:
Down 1.7 percent or $0.27 million from $16 million to $15.7 million. NSF defines infrastructure as, “major research facilities, platforms, and networks.”

Stewardship:
Up 9.4 percent or $1.4 million from $14.7 million to $16.1 million.

NSF defines stewardship as, “activities aimed at assuring that NSF will be able to effectively and efficiently manage its operations.”

Detailed breakdowns of each section may be found here .