NASA Committed to Educational Excellence
By Frank C. Owens
Director, Education Division
NASA Headquarters
SINCE THE CREATION
OF NASA IN 1958, THE space agency has made a substantial commitment
and contribution to education. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin
has made both an agency and a personal commitment to education during
his seven-year tenure. One of the contributions NASA makes to national
priorities is: "Educational Excellence: We involve the educational
community in our endeavors to inspire America's students, create
learning opportunities, and enlighten inquisitive minds." Using
this as guidance, the NASA Education Program uses its unique resources
to support educational excellence for all.
In 1998, NASA involved more than 3 million students and educators
through its Education Program. This comprehensive program has a
strong presence in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of
Columbia, manifested through six broad programs. Teacher/Faculty
Preparation and Enhancement uses the NASA mission and resources
to provide exposure and access to NASA information to enhance educator
knowledge and skills. The agency supports Systemic Improvement by
supporting local, state, regional and national education change
efforts through collaboration among educational organizations and
agencies. Student Support is provided through research opportunities
and experience supporting NASA missions. Through Educational Technology,
NASA researches and develops technology education products and services
to enhance education and lifelong learning. By using the resources
and talents of the educational community—particularly the higher
education community—Research and Development contributes to
the development of new knowledge in support of the NASA mission.
Finally, Curriculum Support and Dissemination develops, disseminates
and uses curriculum support and instructional products (print and
multimedia) for precollege and higher education.
There are numerous examples of specific NASA educational activities.
Working to facilitate collaborations between education faculty and
scientific and technical faculty, NASA helps develop innovative
approaches to teacher preparation. Through the Summer High School
Apprenticeship Research Program, NASA provides opportunities for
approximately 500 high school students to gain real-world research
experience at NASA centers or other universities throughout the
nation. The Mission Geography Project is a collaboration between
NASA and the Geographic Education National Implementation Project
(GENIP) to link geography education instructional materials to Earth
science. The NASA Educator Resource Center Network (ERCN) is a network
of sites located primarily at universities that are educator training
facilities on NASA educational products. The NASA Space Grant Consortium
consists of 700 university, state and local organizations providing
state-based leadership in NASA research, education and public services.
NASA also works to bring technology into the schools via the Learning
Technologies Project (LTP), the Classroom of the Future (COTF) and
EarthKAM.
NASA's four Strategic Enterprises are committed to educational
excellence. The Earth Science Enterprise has implemented a program
of total integration into agency programs. The Space Science Enterprise
has focused on energizing the principal investigator community in
support of education. The Human Exploration and Development of Space
Enterprise is using the Space Shuttle and the International Space
Station as unique platforms for education. The Aero-Space Technology
Enterprise is developing programs and materials that enhance the
teaching and learning of mathematics, science and technology.
In an effort to continually improve educational efforts, NASA
continues to contribute to educational excellence, develop new alliances
and "involve" the educational community. We are an agency with a
unique mission, unique facilities and a very talented workforce.
Over the next five years, we plan to continue using these unique
assets and resources to improve our focus and coordination of state-based
educational efforts, the quality and dissemination of our instructional
products, the integration and coordination of our education programs
and our support of preservice education. We also plan to implement
a comprehensive system to collect data and feedback on our educational
outreach efforts, to facilitate NASA research in the higher education
community and to improve our level of involvement with the informal
education community of museums, science and technology centers and
other nonprofit educational organizations. As we continue to align
our efforts as described herein, NASA can truly strive for educational
excellence in preparing our nation's next generation of leaders.
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