Welcome to the conference website of “Reducing Achievement Gaps in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): Promising International Research, Policies and Practice” to be held at the Arlington Hilton (Arlington, VA). The conference is scheduled for May 22-23, 2017. The purpose of the conference is to develop strategies for building an international community of stakeholders committed to engaging in collaborative efforts that can inform policies, research, and practices to reduce science and mathematics achievement disparities across the global landscape.
The major goals of the conference are to:
- Focus on underrepresented groups in high-, low-, and medium- achieving countries (TIMSS) in terms of STEM knowledge and skills needed for 21st century careers;
- Identify major challenges and opportunities for addressing the achievement gap in STEM fields for high-, low-, and medium-achieving countries;
- Develop solutions and strategies to provide all children with equal opportunities to acquire knowledge and develop STEM skills;
- Provide an opportunity for countries with high-, low-, and medium- STEM achievement scores to share information and learn about achievement gaps in STEM fields;
- Systematically assess conference outputs to identify research, practice, and policies that are effective or at least promising to address STEM achievement
This conference brings together a diverse group of participants from the Americas, Africa, Europe and Oceania to explore major challenges and opportunities, and to discuss promising strategies and methods to address the global problem of achievement gaps in STEM education. The nearly 60 participants include:
- science and mathematics school teachers
- high school and college program administrators/directors
- school district senior administrators
- undergraduate and graduate students
- science (including computer science) and mathematics education professors from diverse institutions
- university administrators
- postdocs
- early career professionals
- museum personnel
- private foundation staff
- representatives from professional organizations
- legal scholars
- entrepreneurs
Willie Pearson, Jr.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator
Mustafa Topcu
Yildiz Technical University
Co-Principal Investigator