As a partner in the 100Kin10 movement, FIU is participating in today’s 100Kin10 Partner Summit in Washington, D.C.
The initiative is a multi-sector effort to train or retrain 100,000 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers over the next 10 years. It was established in January 2011 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Opportunity Equation, and NewSchools Venture Fund.
“We are honored to have been nominated by the Carnegie Corporation as a partner in the movement,” said Nicole Kaufman, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for University Advancement. “Given our strengths in STEM education, research and practice, FIU is positioned to join a cadre of national leadership to collectively answer the White House’s call for 100,000 new STEM teachers.”
The national movement aims to address the nation’s shortage of STEM teachers and the need to prepare students of all levels with the knowledge and skills required to meet the most pressing global challenges of this century.
The 100kin10 initiative was first announced at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America Meeting in June 2011. Former president Bill Clinton urged corporations, foundations and other interested organizations to take part in this mission. President Obama has since reiterated the national imperative to his administration and in various public addresses, including the 2011 State of the Union Address.
Eric Brewe, assistant professor of science education in the College of Education, will represent the university at the summit.
“The summit will give partners the chance to get together and coordinate efforts to meet the common goal,” Brewe said. “It’s an honor to represent the university, but also an opportunity to contribute to a larger, national movement toward better preparation of STEM teachers.”
FIU’s commitment to 100Kin10 includes a collaborative agreement with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) to recruit, prepare and retain 200 local STEM teachers in 26 low-performing schools. Dubbed “STEM Miami,” the program provides a certification program at the master’s level in both science and mathematics for teachers in grades K-5 and 6-8.
More than 83 percent of FIU’s 48,000 students are minorities and almost 40 percent of them are the first in their families to earn a college degree. The university is also ranked first in the country in awarding STEM degrees to minorities.
“FIU is one of just a few urban research universities and also one of a few Hispanic Serving Institutions, so I expect that we will have a lot to offer in terms of finding ways to prepare teachers for a diverse classroom setting,” Brewe said.
The 100Kin10 movement currently has a total of 118 partners, with 14 funding partners, including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J.P. Morgan Chase, NASA, National Science Foundation, NOAA, Teach for America and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Partnership is restricted to official nominations from existing partners.