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About the Missouri Alliance for Science,
Mathematics and Technology Education
The Challenges
This
Nation needs a scientifically and technologically literate citizenry in
order to cope with the demands of a scientific and technologically oriented
society. It needs a deep pool of persons competent to become leaders in
scientific research and development.
A majority of United States
17-year-olds are inadequately prepared for college-level science courses.
More than half of them have so little scientific understanding that they cannot hold
down jobs that require technical skills, or benefit from on-the-job
training, nor make informed decisions as citizens.
Other studies continue to show that immigrants, the disadvantaged,
and minorities lag far behind their white peers in achievement in
these areas. Also, women of all colors lag behind the men of their races.
If present trends are not reversed, society faces serious challenges to
its standard of living, and indeed to its very survival--especially
considering that our modern society is in the bulls-eye of terrorists.
THE MISSOURI ALLIANCE
is a network of people from schools and colleges, businesses and industries,
state agencies, professional and civic organizations, and private life
working together to prepare Missouri students to live satisfying and
productive lives in the increasingly technological society of the future.
Its primary focus is elementary and secondary education.
The
Alliance Response
Through the Alliance, concerned
individuals and organizations, working together, pursue actions to meet the
requirements for ensuring that every Missouri
student acquires the core competencies for living in a rapidly changing
social and economic environment. These requirements are that:
- Achievement of competency in
science, mathematics, and technology must be a state priority of the
highest order.
- Curricula effectively addressing
these subjects in grades K-12 must be established.
- The teaching environment must
reflect the premier role that achievement in these subject should have in
education.
- Teachers must have the resources
necessary to effectively teach these subjects.
- Teachers must meet criteria aimed
at insuring a high degree of competence in teaching these subjects.
- Teachers of these subjects must
have ample opportunity to enhance and upgrade their teaching proficiency
as well as to be active professionally.
- All Missourians, individually and
through organizations which serve them, must work cooperatively to insure
competency in these subjects for all citizens.
Organization
The Alliance is governed by a
Board of Directors consisting of elected representatives of the four
categories of membership (elementary/secondary, higher education,
business/industry, other), together with official representatives of
Supporting, Sponsoring, and Sustaining Organizations: The Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education; and such other organizations as may be
approved by the Board.
The Alliance serves its members and their organizations as a
clearinghouse for relevant information and communication, and as a focus for
cooperative interdisciplinary and multi-constituency
educational improvement actions.
Other
such alliances on the web are:
Sponsors for this
site include...
MSU
MO DESE*
Eisenhower High Plains
Consortium for Mathematics and Science
Return to SMT
home page.
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