National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

STEM Education Advisory Panel, 

Federal 5-Year Strategic Plan 

and Space STEM Forum 

Beverly Girten, Ph.D. 

August, 2018 
 

 

 

 

 

 

NAC STEM Education Task Force Members 

Current Members New Members 

Aimee Kennedy* Darryl Williams 

Ray Mellado * Norman Fortenberry 

Michael Lach Dan Dumbacher 

Carl Person Cristen Dorgelo 

* Members of STEM Education Advisory Panel 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

STEM Education Advisory Panel 

- multi-agency federal advisory panel 

- NSF, NASA, NOAA, Dept. of Ed. 

- 18 members recently selected 

- first meeting this month 

- two NAC Task Force members are on panel 

- Aimee Kennedy 

- Ray Mellado 

- a primary role is to advise on 5-year strategic plan 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Federal Education 5-Year Strategic Plan 

Purpose and Timeline 

Purpose: Coordinate federal STEM education strategy

and investment, and serve as a ‘North Star’ to guide

state and local STEM education initiatives 

Opportunity for Agency Input: 

• FC-STEM Agency Meeting- August 23 

• FC-STEM Agency/OMB Review- September 5-14 

• FC-STEM Final Review- October 2018 

• Final Co-STEM Approval- November 2018 
 

 

 

 

 

Federal Education 5-Year Strategic Plan 

• Four Administrative Priorities 

- Strategic Partnerships 

- Convergence 

- Computation and Communications 

- Transparency and Accountability 

• Four NASA individuals on writing team 

Bev Girten, Rob LaSalvia, Rick Gilmore, Susan Poland (detailed from NSF) 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goals 

• Build strong foundations in STEM and a 

STEM-literate citizenry 

• Prepare the future STEM workforce 

• Promote diversity and inclusion in STEM; 

and 

• Provide transparency and accountability 

through data, evaluation, and 

communication 

Overview

Administration Priorities 

• Strategic Partnerships: More effectively leverage the 

resources and opportunities provided by the broader 

community by fostering more inclusive communities and 

building partnerships and collaboration that cross 

sectors and stakeholders in order to serve STEM goals. 

• Convergence: Approach STEM education in the context 

of broad questions that integrate disciplines in way that 

supports solving real world challenges. 

• Computational and Communications Technology: 

Leverage the use and study of information technology to 

further STEM goals, particularly through the 

development of computational thinking skills and digital 

literacy, and through the use of digital platforms to 

further education programming. 

• Transparency and Accountability: Measure clearly the 

outcomes and impacts of STEM efforts and goals and 

make these measurements available – scaling effective 

programs to enable broader implementation. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NASA Space STEM Forum 

• Space STEM Forum: at NASA HQ on Sept. 19, 2018, 9:00 am-4:30 pm 

• Forum Theme: Small Steps to Giant Leaps, Looking Forward 

to the Future of Space Exploration 

• Purpose: Identify opportunities to collaborate and leverage our individual STEM

engagement activities and efforts with industry and professional organizations 

• Abstracts: Approximately 22 abstracts will be selected, with about 16 involving 

national efforts/projects and about 6 on resources and capabilities 

• Website: Collaborative work website and public website will be created to

facilitate implementation of outcomes 

Small Steps to Giant Leaps, Looking Forward 

to the Future of Space Exploration 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some NASA STEM Proposed Events for 50th 

• Forward to the Moon: national student challenge for middle school choirs and 

high schools creating music videos on Forward to the Moon theme. Kick off with 

NASA Center student intern music video competition. 

• National Moon Day And Moon Night At A Museum: July 20, 2019, celebration 

held at museums and science centers across the country. NASA would develop 

student material and activities for these events. 

• National Space STEM Mentoring Program: establish an overarching national 

Space STEM Mentoring Program that is very specific to the aerospace aspects of

STEM that will initially target middle school students. 

• National Space STEM Challenge: overarching, unifying, national challenge and 

awards program that will encourage and reward middle school students for 

engaging in a variety of STEM activities and encourages new STEM experiences. 
For more information about the Space STEM Forum see: 

https://www.fbo.gov/notices/3074c52c312b6de4e621a889bae576ab

Thank you!