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The Role of Advocacy in Promoting STEM Education Presented at the Tennessee Science Teachers Associa

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Title: The Role of Advocacy in Promoting STEM Education Presented at the Tennessee Science Teachers Associa


1
The Role of Advocacy in Promoting STEM
EducationPresented at the Tennessee Science
Teachers Association Annual Meeting, Franklin TN
11/7/09
John K. Sanders Preston MacDougall Stan
Peppenhorst
2
Outline
  • Introduction Advocacy What is it?
  • Tips for Advocating
  • How Professional Organizations can help Advocacy
    Efforts
  • Summary

3
Introduction What is Advocacy?
  • Advocacy is about educating politicians and other
    policy makers about important issues that affect
    you and your community. It is also a means to
    build a relationship with them and their staff. 
    Advocates that contact or meet with elected
    officials make an important contribution. 
    Elected officials count votes, and count
    contributions to their campaign.  They also count
    telephone calls, letters and office visits.  Even
    if your official is generally supportive on a
    particular issue, you should still call, visit or
    write, since those opposed to your position will
    make their voices heard as well. Legislators also
    need to hear that an issue is important to the
    community.
  • Being an advocate can simply include making a
    telephone call, writing a letter, or arranging a
    meeting with an official or their staff. You
    provide them with background information and
    materials on an issue in order to persuade that
    individual to act or vote in a certain manner.
    Often, other members of your community are
    involved to let the official know their views. 
    You may also persuade the local newspaper to
    write an editorial on an issue of concern to you.

4
What Kind of Activities are Involved in Advocacy?
  • Contacting legislators and policy-makers by
    phone, letter or email
  • Arranging a meeting with an official or staff
  • Responding to Action Alerts through
    professional organizations
  • Writing editorials for newspapers or other media
  • Host an event in your district to highlight the
    issue (and invite a legislator)

5
Types of Advocacy
6
Tips for Effective Advocacy
  • Know what you want
  • Identify your bill or issue clearly, be specific
  • Be sure of your motivations and personalize your
    appeal
  • Be concise, honest and timely
  • Do your homework
  • Empower yourself
  • Dont be intimidated by the thought of
    approaching an elected official
  • Research your legislators
  • Seek and cultivate allies such as legislative
    staff
  • Plan your strategy
  • Identify who you are and why you care whenever
    possible, demonstrate you speak for other voters
    in your district using petitions and letters for
    support
  • Know where you fit in the Big Picture
  • Emphasize the District/State
  • Use all available resources
  • During the legislative session, constantly check
    on your bills status

7
Tips for Effective Advocacy
  • Build goodwill
  • Avoid party politics
  • Keep things friendly and open
  • Present yourself and your views in a respectful,
    dignified manner
  • Know when to compromise
  • Be flexible
  • Find common ground
  • Prepare for the next session now
  • Have a follow-up plan
  • Express your gratitude
  • Dont give up

8
General Dos and Donts for Advocacy
9
How Professional Organizations can help Advocacy
efforts
  • Providing summaries of issues
  • Talking points
  • Elevator speeches
  • Emails and newsletters of Federal or State
    developments
  • Actively promoting advocacy efforts
  • Calls to Action
  • Communication tools
  • Lobbying at the Federal or State Level
  • NSTA
  • ACS

10
National Science Teachers Association Key Media
Messages and Talking Points
  • General Messages
  • 1. The National Science Teachers Association
    (NSTA) is the largest organization in the world
    dedicated to promoting excellence and innovation
    in science teaching and learning for all.
  • 2. NSTA works to improve science education and
    increase student learning by engaging all
    teachers of science and help them by supporting
    and enhancing their teaching.
  • 3. NSTA advocates for the importance of science
    and science learning and works to enhance science
    education through research-based policy and
    practice.
  • 4. NSTAs current membership includes more than
    57,000 science teachers, science supervisors,
    administrators, scientists, business and industry
    representatives, and others involved in science
    education.
  • Key Points
  • Science Literacy Science literacy is essential
    for all students it is the key to tomorrows
    skilled workforce, strong economy, national
    security, and general well being.
  • Quality Teaching We must ensure that every
    child has a quality teacher. A quality teacher is
    both expert in what to teach and skilled at how
    to teach it, and receives sustained professional
    development for continued learning.
  • STEM Education (in general) There have been a
    number of reports on STEM education in the past
    few years, which have emphasized a sweeping need
    for change (Glenn Commission, BRT, BHEF, Rising
    above the Gathering Storm, National Science
    Board, National Research Council). Most of these
    reports have included a comprehensive approach on
    what all stakeholders need to do to ensure that
    our students succeed in the 21st century. We
    need to stop calling for reports and get serious
    as a nation about implementing some of the ideas
    in these reports.

11
National Science Teachers Association Key Media
Messages and Talking Points (contd)
  • Professional Development Professional
    development is the lifeblood of good teaching.
    NSTA is committed to providing all teachers with
    professional development that is high quality,
    meaningful, and sustained.
  • Teacher Preparation The nation must attract,
    prepare, and retain well-educated, effective
    preK12 science teachers. Strong,
    performance-based science teacher education
    programs and science teacher licensure standards
    are essential for all science teachers and will
    provide a foundation upon which teachers may
    build throughout their professional lives.
  • Science Standards Science standards are
    outdated and they contain far too many elements.
    Although states have similar standards for
    science education, there are significant
    differences in when, how, and what students are
    expected to learn. Many state science standards
    are often not clear and most standards are simply
    not aligned with valid assessments. We must
    identify a clearly defined set of national core
    ideas in science that spell out to all
    stakeholders exactly what students from New York
    to California are expected to know and be able to
    do in science.
  • Elementary School Science Less science is
    being taught in the elementary classroom. No
    Child Left Behind annual testing and
    accountability provisions for reading and
    mathematics has greatly squeezed science out of
    many elementary schools.
  • Parents Parents have to be much more engaged
    in their childs science education. While a
    growing number of leaders recognize the
    importance of strengthening science education,
    the challenge has gone virtually unnoticed at the
    grassroots level, especially in Americas homes.
    Recent surveys have shown that even though
    American students test below average against
    leading countries, less than one-third of
    Americans believe that math and science classes
    are very relevant to life after graduation. Worse
    yet, 70 of high school parents believe their
    child already receives the right amount of
    science and math.

12
ACS Office of Public Affairs (OPA)-Government
Relations
  • The ACS government affairs programs promote
    public policies that advance the chemical
    enterprises and its practitioners, as called for
    in the ACS congressional charter.
  • The Society provides a voice, at the federal
    and state levels, for chemists and chemical
    engineers when laws and regulations are being
    developed and when government programs are being
    funded.
  • ACS members are important partners in these
    government affairs efforts. The Society also
    conducts educational activities aimed at
    expanding policy makers' knowledge of scientific
    and technical issues.

13
ACS OPA Activities
  • Educate Policymakers
  • Legislative visits
  • Informational Briefings
  • Advance Sound Public Policy
  • Advocating on Capitol Hill
  • Congressional Testimony
  • Working with coalitions
  • Keep ACS Members Informed
  • www.acs.org/policy
  • Facilitate Member Involvement
  • Legislative Action Network (LAN)
  • Local Section Government Affairs Committees (GAC)
  • State committees such as TN-GAC

14
ACS Public Policy Priorities
  • Foster innovation through research and technology
  • The U.S. Bureau of Economic Affairs has estimated
    that RD investment accounted for seven percent
    of U.S. GDP growth between 1995 and 2004
  • A recent study by the Council for Chemical
    Research indicated that for every 1B invested in
    Federal RD in Chemical Sciences ultimately
    results in the creation of 0.6M jobs, 8B in
    taxes and adds 40B GNP
  • Strong support of chemistry and other RD is
    central to our nations productivity, defence,
    public health, energy security, and environment
    progress.
  • Advance science through openness
  • Science and technology provide critical tools
    that help us address our national and global
    needs. Open exchange of information and ideas is
    critical to scientific progress
  • Strengthen science education and the scientific
    workforce
  • America needs scientific and engineering
    professionals.
  • To equip todays students with the skills to fill
    the technical jobs of tomorrow, we must improve
    science and mathematics education at all levels
  • Promote science and sustainability in public
    policy
  • Science can lead to better understand of new
    solutions to many of societys problems
  • The best science should be available to, and used
    by, government officials when making decisions

15
The Legislative Action Network (LAN)
  • What is the Legislative Action Network?
  • The LAN is a free web-based advocacy program
  • Notifies ACS LAN members of major issues
  • facilitates communication with legislators before
    key votes.
  • How does the program work?
  • When important legislation is being passed, LAN
    members receive calls to action via email. These
    calls to action direct members to Web-based
    Legislative Action Center to review ACS positions
    and contact their legislators online
  • The network focuses on
  • Science education
  • RD funding
  • Issues that pertain to the science community
  • Total number of LAN members in TN 243

16
Example LAN Alert
17
LAN Continued
  • Does it make a difference?
  • YES!
  • Legislators respond to their constitutions
  • Most legislators do not have a good grasp of
    science issues and respect nonpartisan input from
    technical professionals
  • Few constituents contact their legislators on
    science issues, a few timely letters from ACS
    members have notable impact
  • What are the benefits?
  • The opportunity to impact legislation integral to
    the chemical enterprise and to chemists
  • Become more involved in your community
  • Immediate notification of hot issues and access
    to the Legislative Action Center
  • How do I sign up?
  • ACS members must Opt In for LAN alerts.
  • http//www.act4chemistry.org/register/ and fill
    out the appropriate form

18
How Tennessee ACS Members Can Make A Difference
ACS members, who live in Tennessee and are
citizens, are also constituents of
Representatives. By directly approaching our
Representatives and starting a dialogue about
proposed bills or initiatives, we begin to voice
the sentiments of the science community.
  • Hosting/attending events
  • Connect with other chemists and chemical
    engineers in their area
  • Contribute to the publics understanding of
    chemistry
  • Participating in the LAN
  • Directly contacting their legislators
  • Writing a letter
  • Writing an E-mail
  • Phone calls
  • Personal visits
  • Media outlets
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Talk radio contact
  • Opinion/editorial section in newspapers

19
What is TN-GAC?
  • ACS has formed an independent committee of
    Tennessee ACS members from across the state to
    lead and advise our efforts, creating the
    Tennessee Government Affairs Committee (TN-GAC).
    TN-GAC is comprised of individual ACS members and
    provides a unified voice and leadership to
    effectively engage the ACS membership within the
    state of Tennessee to drive support of Science,
    Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
    Education.
  • It works with ACS members across the state to
    chart an agenda for science education reform and
    to engage with other state education stakeholders
    such as business and industry groups, science
    teacher organizations, and other education
    constituencies.

20
TN-GAC Key Objectives
  • The TN-GAC embodies and reflects the overall ACS
    commitment to quality STEM education.
  • The TN-GAC is committed to improving STEM
    education standards and the classroom experience
    for students in Tennessee schools.
  • The TN-GAC will work to build broad coalitions
    with professional education and STEM
    organizations, scientific societies, and with
    allies in the Tennessee government and in the
    private sector.
  • The TN-GAC will work with the Governors
    education initiatives that inform Tennessees
    youth about STEM careers and what it takes to be
    prepared for those careers in the future.
  • The TN-GAC will support public outreach efforts
    that aim to increase the science and technology
    literacy of all Tennesseans, broadening the scope
    of economic development welcomed in the State

21
TN-GAC Committee Members ? Ruth Woodall
(Nashville Section, CHAIR) ruth.woodall_at_tnchamber.
org ? Bill Seymour (Chattanooga Section,
SECRETARY) swafseymo_at_bellsouth.net ? Charles
Baldwin (KY Lake Section) cbaldwin_at_uu.edu ? Al
Hazari (E Tenn Section) ahazari_at_utk.edu ?
Preston MacDougall (Nashville Section)
pmacdougall_at_mtsu.edu
? Stan Peppenhorst (Memphis Section)
SP4ScienceEd_at_aol.com ? John Sanders (NE Tenn
Section) jsanders_at_eastman.com Associate ACS
Staff ? James Brown (National ACS)
j_brown_at_acs.org ex officio member ? Kathryn
Verona (National ACS) k_verona_at_acs.org ex
officio member
22
TN-GAC Accomplishments
  • Participated as a group in the 7th Annual
    Legislative Summit in Washington, DC April 2008
    meeting with Tennessee Legislators
  • Mid-2008, developed the Mission and Objectives
    of the TN-GAC Organization
  • During SERMACS 2008, in Nashville, hosted a
    well-attended Roundtable Discussion on STEM
    Education which included Dick Zare and
    Representative Bart Gordon as panelists, among
    other distinguished guests
  • Tested a Tennessee LAN Alert (5 response from
    TN LAN members)
  • Participated in the Tennessee Chamber of
    Commerce Executives Legislative day in March 2009
    in Nashville, meeting with many members of the
    Tennessee Legislature to promote STEM education
  • May 2009 Letter of support for House Bill
    0364/Senate Bill 0676 (Support of math and
    science teacher service scholarships)
  • May 2009 Letter of support for use of Tennessee
    Stimulus funding for improvement of laboratory
    facilities in elementary and secondary schools
    (cosigned by TSTA and Eastman Chemical Company,
    among others)
  • May 2009 Participated in the STEM Leadership
    Council Meeting held at ETSU
  • July Sept 2009 Participated in STEM Planning
    Meetings with Commissioner Webb
  • Nov 2009 Hosting session at Annual TSTA meeting
    with focus on STEM and political action

23
Benefits of Advocacy perhaps a biotech class
at BioVentures
24
Summary
  • Personal and professional advocacy is important
    in order that politicians and other policy makers
    know and understand the importance of STEM
    education issues.
  • Building a trusting relationship with elected
    officials and their staffs by contacting or
    meeting with them demonstrates the importance of
    advancing STEM education progress in Tennessee.
  • Being an advocate can take many forms, such as
    making a telephone call, writing a letter, or
    arranging a meeting with an official or their
    staff.
  • Professional and community organizations can
    assist in advocacy efforts.
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