DUE 9702044
FY1996, $28,142
FY1997, $56,285
Multidisciplinary

With the increased use of technology in corporate America, industry can no longer accept employees who lack technical skills. Urban community colleges and their high school partners are uniquely positioned to assume a lead role in preparing the workforce necessary for industry to remain productive in urban areas. Partnerships between industry, public schools, and community colleges must be established with the central purpose of preparing students for technical careers and giving them access to other careers that depend on the use of technical information.
          This grant will enable the city of Chicago, along with nine other large urban cities, to conduct a national conference on establishing partnerships between urban community colleges, business and industry, secondary schools, and government in order to prepare students in urban communities to enter and succeed in the technical workforce. The conference, coordinated by a national steering committee, will involve officials from the mayor’s office, representatives from business and industry, the superintendent of the public schools, and the chancellor or president of the community college system in nine major cities: Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and St. Louis.

DUE 9713868
FY1997, $396,937
Multidisciplinary

This project consists of a sequence of three interconnected activities designed to enhance the quality of science, mathematics, engineering, and technological (SMET) education in community colleges:
          (1) In the fall of 1997, a national conference of community college SMET educators will bring together representatives from groups interested in advanced technological education, including principal investigators from current ATE projects and centers, leaders from the private and public sectors, and representatives from professional associations.
          (2) A Case Study of the ATE Program" will look at what has been accomplished through the four-year-old program and its relationship with relevant stakeholders (businesses, schools, four-year colleges and universities, and others). Focusing on approximately ten projects, the analysis will result in a 100- to 150-page monograph, which will be widely distributed throughout the community college community and will be used to shape Activity (3) described below.
          (3) In the fall of 1998, a national conference of community college SMET educators will discuss the findings of the assessment conducted in Activity (2). A conference report including these recommendations will be shared with conference participants and distributed to other audiences with an interest in SMET education.

DUE 9713869
FY1997, $187,459
Mathematics

This project will examine other selected ATE projects to identify the characteristics of strong mathematical components and to chronicle the process of developing such components. A series of case studies will be made available in print and on the Internet. This information will be used by current and future ATE project directors to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the mathematical skills that students preparing for technological careers are expected to have and to develop a more realistic view of what ATE programs should accomplish in mathematics.
          The project aims to enrich mathematics education for students in vocational and technological education programs by (1) creating a vision of an appropriate mathematics curriculum for these programs, a curriculum consistent with the high academic standards developed by numerous organizations, and (2) developing and publicizing a variety of effective strategies for creating challenging mathematical tasks for students.