Giving Compass' Take:

• 100Kin10 highlights ongoing trends and share its predictions for STEM education in 2020 and beyond. 

• Which of these trends are you prepared to support? 

• Learn how donors can support STEM education. 

For the past eight years, we’ve made it our mission to grow the next generation of innovators and problem solvers by getting 100,000 excellent STEM teachers into classrooms nationwide. Each year we spend countless hours talking to our partners and teachers, who are the nation’s leaders in STEM education, and poring over research, news, national and regional data, and everything else we can get our hands on. We sift through it to understand what challenges and opportunities are rising to the top, so our network can better address the nation’s STEM teacher shortage.

At the end of each year, we distill our most valuable insights into bite-size chunks and share them in our annual Trends Report. Below you’ll find a mix of trends from 2019 and look-aheads for 2020, each with actionable exemplars from organizations around the country. We know that it’s only through working together, sharing everything we know, and pooling our collective expertise that we’ll ultimately be able to end the nation’s STEM teacher shortage - which is why we are constantly trying to help more of us tap into the collective wisdom of our tribe. We hope you’ll find these insights useful, and we hope you’ll share them, add to them, and most importantly use them as you contribute your uniqueness to our shared goal of 100,000 excellent STEM teachers by 2021.

Ongoing trends:

  • Supporting students (especially students of color) by recruiting and supporting teachers of color.
  • Two degrees of separation: improving student success through school leaders.
  • Innovative strategies for professional development during the school day.
  • The T in STEM gains prominence: technology proficiency as a core life skill.

Predictions:

  • Expanding strategies for supporting STEM teachers in rural schools.
  • Computer science is hot but there's a lag in teacher supply.
  • STEM will gain prominence in early childhood education.
  • Environmental advocacy will engage more youth in STEM.
  • STEM teachers will become expert facilitators and curators.

Big bet:

  • STEM will lead the way in authentic and applied leadership practices.

Read the full article about STEM trends at 100Kin10.