Transcript Why Diversity?

GK-12 Program
National Science Foundation
All Projects Meeting
Washington, DC
March 24-26, 2006
Sonia Ortega, Ph.D.
GK-12 Program Director
GK12 – Numbers
 8th
year of operation
 $50+M/year
 167 projects, 114 institutions
 23-36 awards/year
 600-900 Fellows supported/year
 5,134 Fellows funded
 Over 250,000 K-12 students
GK12 – Map of Programs
“Fellows will bring their
scientific research experience to
the schools, so that teachers and
K-12 students are exposed to
what science is all about, how
science is done, how discoveries
happen and what scientists do”
For Graduate Students –
Transformative
Bring
experience
science to schools
Acquire
new skills
Additional
career options
GK-12 Sensors! Fellow Isenberg at
Work
For K-12 Teachers and Students –
Improve

science content
Professional development
Enriched
learning
Increased
interest in STEM
University of New Mexico, optics and photonics
For Institutions of Higher Education –
Institutional
Culture Change
Transforming
graduate
education
Partnerships
with schools
“ The GK-12 program is an opportunity
to bring the excitement and the results of
science to schools and to create cultural
changes both in K-12 schools and in
institutions of higher education. It is also
an opportunity for fellows to acquire
skills that normally are not emphasized
in a more traditional STEM graduate
program so that they can have additional
career options as professional scientists
and engineers.”
Solicitation Changes
 New
600K/5year awards. No track II but
600K/3year continuing projects
 International component
 Theme(s)
 No science ed students
 Fellows support 2 years max.
 Diversity and linkages with other programs
 External evaluator
Operational Changes
Reporting guidelines
 QRC data gathering – Time window
 Stipend Supplements – Time window
 Website

GK-12 Intellectual merit
How important is the proposed activity to
advancing knowledge and understanding within
own field or across different fields?
 To what extent does the proposed activity suggests
and explore creative and original concepts?

Science must be relevant to society
 Integration
of R & E
 Broad participation
 Broad impact