Obama to launch 'Change the Equation' campaign for education

Updated on: Saturday, September 18, 2010

Days after exhorting American students to toil harder at school as children from Bangalore and Beijing are raring to race ahead, President Barack Obama is set to launch a campaign aimed at dramatically improving education in science, technology, engineering and math.

The 'Change the Equation' campaign is part of his 'Educate to Innovate' drive to raise American students to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade.

Within a year, 'Change the Equation' will replicate successful privately-funded programmes in 100 high-need schools and communities, the White House said.

This programme would expand summer science camps for girls, allow more students to engage in robotics competitions, improve professional development for math teachers, increase the number of students that take and pass rigorous Advanced Placement math and science courses.

It would also increase the number of teachers who enter the profession with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) undergraduate degree and provide new opportunities to traditionally under-represented students and under-served communities.
     '
Change the Equation' will also create a state-by-state "scorecard" to highlight areas for state-level improvement and help companies increase the impact of their own engagement in STEM education, the White House said.

It was founded by astronaut Sally Ride, former Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt and Eastman Kodak CEO Antonio Perez, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

With a membership of 100 CEOs and funding of USD 5 million for its first year of operations, 'Change the Equation' is in a unique position to meet its three goals of
improving STEM teaching at all grade levels; inspire student appreciation and excitement for STEM, especially among women and under-represented minorities; and achieving a sustained commitment to improving STEM education.

Obama is also expected to announce specific public-private partnerships involving 'Change the Equation' members, non-profit bodies and foundations.

Such announcements include increased opportunities for student engagement in science museums across the nation, improved teacher professional development in Newark in New Jersey, harnessing the power of electronic games for STEM education and dramatically expanding the number of skilled volunteers participating in National Lab Day.

Simultaneously, the President's Council of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST) will release a report outlining ambitious new policy proposals for improving STEM education.

The White House said Obama has identified three overarching priorities for STEM education, necessary for laying a new foundation for America's future prosperity --
increasing STEM literacy; improving the quality of math and science teaching so American students are no longer outperformed by those in other nations; and expanding STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and minorities.

On Tuesday, Obama asked American students to toil harder at school, saying their success would determine the country's leadership in a world where children in Bangalore and Beijing were raring to race ahead.

Obama has repeatedly said that American schools would have to ensure that they continue producing leagues of top professionals, so that the American hegemony in human resource continues in this century.

"At a time when other countries are competing with us like never before, when students around the world in Beijing, China, or Bangalore, India, are working harder than ever, and doing better than ever, your success in school is not just going to determine your success, it's going to determine America's success in the 21st century," Obama said.

"The farther you go in school, the farther you're going to go in life," he told students at a school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Obama to launch 'Change the Equation' campaign for education

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