Friday, June 19, 2009

Lt. Gov. Murray to chair state STEM Council

By Rodney H. Brown

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As the commonwealth of Massachusetts continues its drive to improve education in the STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering and math -- the office of Gov. Deval Patrick announced Thursday the creation of a STEM Education Coordinating Council to be chaired by Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray.

The new council will coordinate all efforts by the executive branch of the commonwealth that are intended to boost student interest and achievement in STEM fields, the governor’s office said.

The announcement was made at a STEM Leaders Breakfast at the Museum of Science. The breakfast brought together Massachusetts business leaders who have been calling for the commonwealth to do more to promote STEM education. It involved a panel discussion moderated by Mass High Tech editor E. Douglas Banks.

In December, the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), showed that Massachusetts students are leading the nation and are competitive with the rest of the world in math and science proficiency. In that report, Bay State eighth graders tied with Singapore for first place in science in a worldwide test of math and science aptitude in fourth and eighth grades in which Massachusetts students fared well overall.

In addition to leading the eighth-grade science category in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, commonwealth students placed second (behind Singapore) in fourth-grade science, third in fourth-grade math and sixth in eighth-grade math.

The new council membership will be made up of a small group of administration officials from the Education, Housing and Economic Development, and Labor and Workforce Development departments, as well as legislators, business leaders and educators, according to the governor’s office.