More than 100 Partners Join Movement to Secure Excellent STEM Teachers

100Kin10 Making Quick Progress Toward Goal of Training and Retaining 100,000 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Teachers in 10 Years

An innovative movement to recruit, prepare, and retain 100,000 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers in 10 years has achieved critical mass with the addition of new, quantifiable commitments by more than 30 educational and corporate partners.  

The 34 new partners’ commitments to bringing more, excellent STEM teachers to American classrooms range from The UTeach Institute’s call to double the number of STEM majors enrolled in their programs to 10,000 nationwide over five years, to Sesame Workshop’s commitment to build young children’s foundational STEM skills and foster their engagement in STEM learning through a new digital STEM professional development program for early childhood educators. 

The 100Kin10 movement was launched in June 2011 at the Clinton Global Initiative with an initial pledge by partners to raise $20 million to support the creative and strategic efforts of partner organizations to expand the nation’s STEM teaching force. The 100Kin10 partners announced today were accepted following a rigorous vetting process conducted by the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, which reviews each nominee’s capacity to advance the goal through new commitments to action.  

100Kin10 was convened by Carnegie Corporation of New York and Opportunity Equation to respond to a national imperative voiced by President Barack Obama to stimulate the supply of excellent mathematics and science teachers, but also to continue to improve their practice and keep them in classrooms.  

The movement is inspired by a vision of a future—shared by stakeholders from federal agencies to states, museums to universities, teacher residencies to school districts, non-profits to corporations, and teachers to parents—where all students have the STEM literacy necessary to be full participants in the nation’s economy and democracy. The 100Kin10 partners believe change can only come if they—and many others—commit to harnessing their creativity, passion, and resources to increase and equitably fill teaching positions across all schools in all states with excellent STEM teachers. Each of the more than 115 partners has committed to using their resources and talent to grow the movement and has established measurable goals toward this end.  

“The country is at a critical juncture:  Our need for STEM capacity in every part of our economy far outpaces our ability to train and keep great STEM talent," noted Talia Milgrom-Elcott, program officer at Carnegie Corporation of New York who, with Maya (Agarwal) Lundhagen of Opportunity Equation, is leading this effort.  "We need more than just an infusion of excellent STEM teachers, we must find new ways to identify and recruit talented women and men and support them once they’re in the classroom so that they keep improving and continue teaching our children. The magnitude and complexity of the challenge of 100,000 excellent STEM teachers demand new ways to galvanize into action an array of organizations from business and universities to nonprofits and state agencies.  That is why Carnegie Corporation and Opportunity Equation created 100Kin10, a national platform through which a broad cross-section of best-in-class organizations commit to take action toward the overall goal.  We are enthusiastic about the contributions of this newest cohort of 100Kin10 partners and welcome them to the effort." 

“As part of our 100Kin10 commitment, DonorsChoose.org has enabled 53,000 individuals and organizations to contribute $5.5 million to math and science classrooms in need since July 2011,” said Charles Best, Founder and CEO, and early 100Kin10 partner. “We plan to build on this success over the next two years, in order to reach our commitment of inspiring 100,000 people to contribute $15M to math and science classroom requests by Spring 2014.” 

“We are proud to join our colleagues from Baltimore City Public Schools, the State of Maryland, and others nation-wide in this critical movement,” said William E. Kirwan, Chancellor, University System of Maryland (USM), a new partner. USM’s commitment includes tripling the number of STEM teachers graduating from University System of Maryland institutions and increase by 40 percent the number of STEM graduates produced by USM institutions. 

The complete list of 100Kin10 partners and their commitments is available on the new 100Kin10 website, showcasing the breadth and depth of work being done to support this critical movement by increasing the supply of excellent STEM teachers; hiring, developing and retaining excellent STEM teachers; and building the 100Kin10 movement.  

Additional Quotes from Partners:

“I am pleased to support Indiana’s partnership in the 100kin10 movement,” said Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett. “This important project will address the vital need for STEM education so that our students are prepared for a high-tech, competitive, 21st century economy. To that end, we must supply STEM educators the tools and support they need to succeed in the classroom.” 

"Our students deserve the opportunity to understand the natural world and to understand the importance of constructing explanations and engaging in respectful discourse based on evidence. Lawrence Hall of Science is delighted to join the movement to help 100,000 dedicated STEM teachers improve their ability to provide inspiring science instruction to our students," said Craig Strang, Associate Director, Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California-Berkeley, a newly-accepted partner. Lawrence Hall of Science has committed to partner with 10 school districts to increase the capacity of 1,000 K-12 teachers through high-quality, research-based science professional development for teaching English language learners over the next five years.  

“Encouraging our children to think critically about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is critical at an early age in today’s world,” said H. Melvin Ming, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop.  “Sesame is privileged to collaborate with like-minded partners to help support 100Kin10 as we hope to bolster children’s learning in this area and help them successfully enter and navigate different professions, including the STEM fields.” 

California State University has been engaged in major new efforts since 2011 related directly to their 100Kin10 commitments, with the California STEM Learning Network, Google, and PhysTEC. "A number of highly effective collaborative initiatives are already underway within the 100Kin10 partnership. They are resulting in rapid progress toward achieving the vision of this significant movement," said Charles Reed, Chancellor, California State University. 

The complete list of partners, beginning with funding partners, (new partners in bold) includes:  

The S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation (F), The Boston Foundation (F), Carnegie Corporation of New York (F), Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (F), The Dow Chemical Company (F), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation (F), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (F), Google (F), The Greater Texas Foundation (F), The Heising-Simons Foundation (F), The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (F), J.P. Morgan Chase (F), NewSchools Venture Fund (F), The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation (F),Academy for Urban School Leadership, The Algebra Project, Inc., American Association of Physics Teachers, American Modeling Teachers Association, American Museum of Natural History, Ashoka Changemakers, Aspire Teacher Residency, Baltimore City Public Schools, Boston College, Boston Teacher Residency, The Broad Institute of Harvard & MIT, California State University, California STEM Learning Network, Capital Teaching Residency, Center For High Impact Philanthropy, Change the Equation, Citizen Schools, Clinton Global Initiative, Office of Colorado State Senator Mike Johnston, Creative Commons, DC Public Schools, Denver School of Science and Technology, Denver Teacher Residency, DonorsChoose.org, EnCorps, Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry, Florida International University, GOOD, GOOD/Corps, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, High Tech High, IDEA Public Schools, Indiana Department of Education, Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education, Intel Corporation, Kenan Fellows Program for Curriculum and Leadership Development, KIPP, Lawrence Hall of Science, Learning Research and Development Center at the University Of Pittsburgh, Los Angeles Unified School District, Loyola Marymount University School of Education, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute, MATCH Teacher Residency, Memphis Teacher Residency,Merrimack College, Michigan State University, Montclair State University, Museum of Science and Industry, NASA Headquarters, National Academy of Sciences, National Association for Research in Science Teaching,National Center for STEM Elementary Education at St. Catherine University, National Center for Technological Literacy at the Museum of Science, Boston, National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Math and Science Initiative, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, National Science Teachers Association, New Teacher Center, New Visions for Public Schools, New York City Department of Education, New York Hall of Science, North Carolina New Schools Project, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Opportunity Equation, Philadelphia Education Fund, PhysTEC (led by APS, in partnership with AAPT), Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Public Education Foundation, Public Impact, USNY Regents Research Fund, Relay School of Education, Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Sesame Workshop, Stanford Teacher Education Program, State of Arkansas, State of Colorado, Office of the Governor, State of Maryland, Teach For America, Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM, Tennessee Department of Education, Texas High School Project, The Achievement Network, The New Teacher Project, The Texas TribuneThe UTeach Institute, Twin Cities Teacher Collaborative, Uncommon Schools, University of Arizona STEM Learning Center, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, San Diego, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute and Center for Elementary Math and Science Education, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Indianapolis, University of Washington College of Education, University System of Maryland, USC Rossier School of Education,Urban Teacher Center, Urban Teacher Residency United, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and WNET.

About Carnegie Corporation 

 Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic foundation created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to do "real and permanent good in this world." In education, the Corporation works to create pathways to opportunity for many more students by promoting systemic change and innovation in secondary and higher education. www.Carnegie.org

The Opportunity Equation initiative promotes equity and excellence in mathematics and science education. A partnership between the Institute for Advanced Study and Carnegie Corporation of New York, Opportunity Equation engages national and local decision makers and thought leaders to carry out the recommendations of the Carnegie Corporation of New York-Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education in its 2009 report, The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy. www.OpportunityEquation.org.