Every Hour Counts STEM Institute: A message from Ron

On January 12 and 13^th I had the pleasure of joining STEM leaders from seven cities in Nashville Tennessee for the Every Hour Counts STEM Institute. There I witnessed some of the deepest work I have seen focused on preparing cross sector teams of STEM educators to interweave the development of scientific practice as required by the Next Generation Science Standards with social emotional learning strategies in their teaching both in and out of school. To envision this is one thing, but to do it is another thing entirely! Cary Sneider, a professor at Portland State University, member of the team that authored NGSS and longtime consultant to the Noyce Foundation and STEM Next, teamed up with Sue Allen of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance to lead the cross-sector group in learning how to foster mastery of scientific practices across sectors. Nick Yoder from American Institutes for Research introduced practical, useable SEL strategies linked to STEM and NGSS. Congratulations to the Every Hour Counts team and to the talented and hardworking STEM leaders from Baltimore, Boston, Nashville, New York City, Palm Beach County, FL, Providence, RI, and Omaha, NE. Looking forward to hearing about your continued progress!