“Funding Cuts Are a ‘Gut Punch’ for STEM Education Researchers” was recently published in the New York Times and features the perspectives of Boise State mathematics professor Joe Champion.
An excerpt from the article about funding cuts to STEM education says: “‘De-prioritizing STEM education is just a slightly delayed way of de-prioritizing STEM,’ said Joe Champion, a math education researcher at Boise State University. He noted that it often took a decade or more of training for scientists to meaningfully contribute to cutting-edge programs. ‘Reducing the quality of the training can’t possibly be good for society,’ he said.”
In a further excerpt from the article, Champion warned against the impact of defunding STEM education on state and local levels.
“‘One potential outcome of defunding a large portion of STEM education research is that the work may become more concentrated at larger universities that are able to provide alternative sources of funding.’
That’s unfortunate, Dr. Champion said, as STEM education is often tailored to local and state-level priorities. ‘When the research is done by just a few people in localized parts of the country, everyone else is tapping into incomplete information about what’s the best way to teach and to learn, and what are the most effective materials to use,’ he said.”