INDIANAPOLIS (October 3, 2013) – Project Lead The Way (PLTW) has been nationally recognized as one of just four high-quality STEM programs that are immediately scalable on a national level. Of the four programs selected, PLTW is the only in-school STEM curricular program for elementary, middle, and high school students and the only program offering a comprehensive professional development model for teachers.
Change the Equation (CTEq) – a nonprofit, nonpartisan, CEO-led initiative that is mobilizing the business community to improve K-12 STEM learning in the United States – made the announcement via a press releaseThursday. It is a significant honor for PLTW, which was already admitted to CTEq’s STEMworks database of high-quality STEM programs addressing the U.S. STEM skills shortage by consistently yielding positive outcomes for students. Through this new recognition, CTEq is signaling to the business community that PLTW is worthy of support as companies look to make smart investments in organizations that are proven to impact students.
“Project Lead The Way is honored to receive this endorsement from Change the Equation. STEM education has never been more important for our country, and we look forward to working with CTEq and their partnering organizations to provide all students with a rigorous K-12 experience that will ignite their curiosity and help them develop essential critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration skills,” said PLTW president and CEO Dr. Vince Bertram.
Selection to the elite list of programs was based on an application process, followed by a rigorous vetting process. CTEq invited all programs in its existing STEMworks database to voluntarily submit additional evidence of their ability to scale nationally. The nonprofit education research and evaluation firm WestEd then evaluated the organizations for their quality and scalability. PLTW is currently in over 5,200 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“The corporate community is eager for excellent STEM programs…which can be scaled quickly to impact more children in more communities across the U.S.,” said CTEq CEO Linda P. Rosen. “In naming these programs, CTEq’s coalition of companies signals that it is committed to strategic giving to make high quality STEM learning opportunities available nationally as soon as possible.”