Press Release
May 17, 2010
State STEM Education Leaders Gather to Craft Statewide STEM Education Plan
The Iowa Mathematics and Education Partnership (IMSEP) announced today that key public and private leaders in Iowa's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education arenas recently joined forces to begin to create a STEM education strategic plan for the State of Iowa.
A representative from the Iowa Department of Education, Rockwell Collins and IMSEP collaborated with leaders in government, business, education and the scientific community to begin the important process of creating a strategic framework to encourage alignment of all state STEM initiatives under common goals.
"This directive will serve as a math and science scaffold, if you will," said Jeffrey Weld, PhD, director of IMSEP. "Iowa currently has numerous organizations and programs designed to do one thing — move our state forward by improving math and science education for our students and citizens. This 'meeting of the minds' is the first organizing step among Iowa's key stakeholders."
"Iowa's economy is increasingly driven by knowledge, and technology continues to evolve," said Yvette McCulley, science consultant for the Iowa Department of Education. "By bringing all STEM education leaders to the table, we can move forward as a unified team."
IMSEP is charged with keeping the process in motion, with an expected strategic plan to be delivered to the governor’s office by December 2010.
"Rockwell Collins is committed to education, especially supporting science technology, engineering and mathematics," said Cindy Dietz, senior manager of community relations for Rockwell Collins. "Inspiring the next generation of engineering and innovative talent in Iowa is more vital now than ever, and this collaborative approach will result in a plan to address Iowa's STEM needs."
Headquartered at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education on the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) campus, the Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership (IMSEP) is a collaboration of Iowa's public universities in affiliation with STEM education organizations across Iowa, charged with improving mathematics and science performance of Iowa's K-12 students; preparing more high quality math and science teachers for Iowa's schools; and promoting statewide collaboration and cooperation in STEM education.