The STEM Education Center at WPI Announced as New 100Kin10 Partner Ahead of Network Exceeding Goal of Training 100,000 New STEM Teachers by 2021

100Kin10, a national organization dedicated to solving the STEM teacher shortage by 2021, announced today that the STEM Education Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) joins 40 other new programmatic partners in its ranks this year. In addition to WPI, new partners include Chicago Public Schools, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Council of Chief State School Officers, among others.

This is the seventh and final cohort of partners for 100Kin10 during its first 10 years. The organization launched in 2011 as an answer to President Obama’s call during his 2011 State of the Union address to train 100,000 new STEM teachers in a decade. 100Kin10 is on track to exceed their goal of training 100,000 teachers by 2021, with more than 68,000 teachers currently trained.

As Art Heinricher, WPI Dean of Undergraduate Studies, affirms, “I am proud to support the work of the STEM Education Center at WPI. An excellent K-12 teacher sparks interest in STEM disciplines but also knows how to connect STEM content to real-world problems that matter. WPI and the STEM Education Center are committed to developing and supporting educators who know the connected value of STEM to excite our next generation of problem solvers and innovators.”       

“This final group, including the STEM Education Center at WPI, is a welcome addition as we enter our final push in achieving our goal and look toward the future in solving systemic issues around the teacher shortage in America,” said Talia Milgrom-Elcott, 100Kin10’s executive director. “Each organization is doing incredible, inspiring work to build the movement for better, bolder and more accessible STEM education. We’re thrilled to have them as our newest partners in collaboration, learning and continuous improvement to creatively solve the STEM teacher crisis.”

WPI STEM Education Center Executive Director Katherine Chen explains, “We are committed to elevating the prestige of the K-12 teaching profession at a STEM-focused research institution and with students’ families. Furthermore, we plan to expand our reach to impact PreK-12 schools with our Strategic STEM Integration Program, deepening the impact by incorporating systems dynamics modeling techniques and tools to help guide education leaders’ strategic decisions when implementing new STEM initiatives.”

Existing partners and an expert panel vetted and selected the 41 new partners, who will join a network of more than 280 current partners that includes the nation’s top academic institutions, nonprofits, foundations, companies, and government agencies. All partners register their commitments to ending the STEM teacher shortage through 100Kin10 and support one another to achieve those commitments by exchanging expertise, learning and resources.

###

The STEM Education Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) envisions a world in which educators are empowered to guide relevant, integrated, and inclusive STEM learning experiences with their students and community. We partner with multiple stakeholders to support and promote equitable access to high-quality STEM education for ALL learners within a transformative STEM ecosystem.

100Kin10 is a network of best-in-class organizations collectively responding to the moonshot call to put 100,000 new, excellent STEM teachers in America’s classrooms by 2021. Through their pioneering networked impact approach, 100Kin10 encourages multi-sector collaboration and provides the vision and resources to help nonprofits, foundations, academic institutions, and businesses meet their ambitious commitments to educate the next generation of innovators and problem solvers. More information is available at www.100kin10.org.