STEM Resource Links

November 18, 2012

Check out STEM resources from across the country. Our Maine-based STEM Resource Bank prototype is live…full version coming soon! Continue Reading >

Using Information Technology in STEM Education in Maine

March 29, 2012

This white paper is one of several generated for the Reach Center project of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA) in preparation for its design conference in February 2012. It is a brief overview of the ways in which information and computer technologies could be used in support of the Reach Center goals of… Continue Reading >

STEM Intensives at the Reach Center

This paper briefly outlines the background of the Reach Center, its mission and most important operating principles, and its emerging strategic commitment to develop programs we are calling “STEM intensives,” which we envision as longer-term (at least several months), rigorous, hands-on, primarily out-of-school experiences. We believe initiatives designed according to these principles will have the… Continue Reading >

A Taste of Maine

March 16, 2012

The goals of this paper are to give the reader a basic understanding of the economic and educational situation in the state of Maine, to demonstrate some of the data available that could be used to measure impact, and to foster discussion about what other data are needed. It should be noted that these pages… Continue Reading >

Learning STEM in Maine Places

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of Maine’s capability to promote 5th-12th graders’ engagement and achievement in STEM during out-of-school hours. This white paper is one of several generated for the Reach Center project of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA) in preparation for its design conference in February… Continue Reading >

STEM Education Policy

Recent policy reports have made urgent calls for improving U.S. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in response to both poor test performance by U.S. youth and worsening economic conditions in this country (see the National Research Council’s Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Carnegie Corporation’s Opportunity Equation, and PCAST’s Prepare and Inspire). These documents… Continue Reading >

Summer Conference August 2011

September 26, 2011

On August 4-5, 2011, a group of educators from a diverse set of Maine schools and youth programs shared their personal and professional STEM experiences and helped to shape the Center’s future work. Over the course of two days, participants described their own STEM journeys, discussed how to identify “promising” students, brainstormed the variety of… Continue Reading >