Reports

These events brought together members of Congress, governors, other federal, state, tribal, and local officials, academic leaders, private sector energy leaders, DOE officials, and other stakeholders from economic development organizations and nongovernmental organizations to examine clean energy technology innovation from a regional perspective.

Given the ubiquity of the computing field in society, the diversity gap in computer science (CS) education today means the field might not be generating the technological innovations that align with the needs of society’s demographics. Women and certain racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in learning CS and obtaining CS degrees, and this cycle perpetuates in CS careers. Many — including tech companies and educational institutions — have taken steps to make CS more appealing and accessible to these groups, yet the diversity gap endures.

The goal of this document is to help afterschool practitioners understand how NGSS’ content was developed and organized, a few challenges that schools and districts are facing, and the opportunities that NGSS provides to afterschool programs. We point to several resources that can help practitioners dig deeper into the standards and start planning how their next steps. Keep in mind that many education organizations are actively working to develop additional support resources and promising practices, both for school-day teachers and out-of-school time educators.

The complexities of today's world require all people to be equipped with a new set of core knowledge and skills to solve difficult problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and make sense of information they receive from varied print and, increasingly, digital media. The learning and doing of STEM helps develop these skills and prepare students for a workforce where success results not just from what one knows, but what one is able to do with that knowledge.