A Comprehensive Corporate Approach to Improving STEM Education
From Elizabeth Murray
Living as I do very close to Raytheon’s home office in Waltham, Massachusetts, I‘ve often been curious about all the work they claim to do in improving STEM education. So I decided to look into it! What I found was quite impressive - a comprehensive, multi-focused approach to increasing passion for STEM fields among young students. For years, Raytheon has dedicated 60 % of its corporate giving to education resources—to creating a greater awareness and appreciation of math and science among young people. To do that, they believe you need “to engage students when they are young, support them during critical middle school years and continue to build on that support throughout their academic lives.” Raytheon CEO, Bill Swanson, seems to be deeply committed to this challenge. The following excellent video presents Raytheon’s view on the crisis of STEM education in the U.S. View here.

I was especially impressed by the three programs described below which demonstrate that Raytheon has a wide-ranging, systems-based approach to improve STEM education in the U.S. They are:

1. MathMovesU;
2. Stem Connector; and
3. the U.S. STEM Education Model.

1. MathMovesU
   MathMovesU.com is an exciting new interactive world created by Raytheon as part of an initiative to promote math among middle school students. It is a free, online destination that reflects the scope of Raytheon's STEM initiatives and support for STEM education. The site provides a wealth of fun, interactive games and activities for middle school students to engage in math and see its relation to real-world applications. It also offers extensive resources such as scholarship and matching grants information for parents, teachers and schools, in addition to activities to further extend classroom learning.
   
   The innovative programs of MathMovesU include Raytheon's Sum of All Thrills experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot, which showcases math in action as students design and experience their own thrill ride using math fundamentals; the "In the Numbers" game, a partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon; the company's three-year sponsorship of the National MATHCOUNTS competition; and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program providing more than $1 million in annual funding to students and teachers.
   
   Recently Raytheon introduced MathAlive!, which brings to life the math behind the fun experiences in students’ everyday lives such as designing video games or riding snowboards. MathAlive! debuted at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and will go on a multi-year tour of science centers and museums throughout the nation.
   
   
2. STEM CONNECTOR®
   Raytheon is a Silver Sponsor of STEMconnector®. STEMconnector® is "The one-stop for STEM Information" with the STEMconnector® web site and STEMdaily™, and many other products. With more than 5000 STEM stakeholders' profiles, its purpose is to map the STEM Education activity of organizations and all states. Organizational profiles are under major categories: Business, government, associations, diversity and women and education. Major subject areas are available and cross-referenced. Research is intensive as the profiles are updated and the site includes a searchable database. The STEMconnector® database has given the STEM community a giant resource and a tool to establish partnerships with a broad cross section of organizations working in STEM Education to increase connectivity in regions through working relationships. The site is a growing resource with subject areas added and updated regularly. Key features are STEMdaily®, STEM Results, STEM publications and a STEMconnector® Blog.
   
   
3. BHEF U.S. STEM Education Model
   The BHEF U.S. STEM Education Model is the first simulation model to examine the U.S. education system using system dynamics principles and tools. The model was built by Raytheon and gifted to Business-Higher Education Forum in 2009. The model allows users to simulate various scenarios to determine whether they have the potential to increase the number of students choosing to major and graduate in STEM disciplines. The model uses census data and standardized test scores to track the flow of students through the K-16 education system and into careers in STEM teaching or STEM industries. Many factors affect the number of students who ultimately pursue STEM careers. The model attempts to capture these factors through a series of dynamic hypotheses and feedback loops that together determine the behavior of the system.
   
   The STEM Model is part of the STEM Education & Modeling Project, which is designed to help increase the number of students who pursue majors and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the disciplines collectively known as STEM. The model, which is free and available in open source for use by the public, is being managed by a partnership among BHEF, Raytheon and The Ohio State University’s Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy.

The goals of the project are to:

• Provide an organized and comprehensive approach to viewing and understanding the complex, multi-level nature of the U.S. and STEM education system.
• Identify potential solutions that strengthen U.S. STEM education and workforce outcomes.
• Differentiate among the most effective alternatives for investing in STEM education.

Elizabeth Murray is Project Manager of the MIT BLOSSOMS Initiative

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