Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD The harsh effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education have reached another level of concern. Recent numbers have shown that the decline in U.S. college enrollment doubled in fall 2020 compared to fall 2019. Enrollment was 3.6% lower than in 2019. That’s more than 560,000 students. As soon as schools started closing […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD Improving equity in STEM education is an ongoing journey. I have been passionate about this effort throughout my work in education. It will take much more action in the coming decades to move the needle. As a community of educators, parents and supporters, there are many ways to improve equity […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD In the midst of one of the most trying years in recent decades, and with the election approaching, conflict and controversy continue to run high. One way we can examine any situation, including approaching how we serve all students adequately, begins by taking a look at our own personal biases. […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD Having passed the sixth-month of the impacts of COVID-19, we’ve now seen schools close and reopen. We’ve seen the cancellation of standardized tests. We’ve seen parents and students struggling to keep up and get the resources they need, especially the most economically disadvantaged families and minorities. Now we’re seeing something […]
With the COVID-19 pandemic followed immediately by the escalation of the Black Lives Matter movement, everything has changed this year. Classrooms are operating with remote learning, and in some cases, there are students attending classes and others attending school from home. We are now re-examining how to address injustice and inequality in many facets of […]
Written by: Jeffrey L. Boney There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the Academy Award-nominated film Hidden Figures, which features an all-star cast of professionals who bring to life on the big screen the lives of three African American women (Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson). The math and STEM-related contributions of these three […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD In the dawn of this awakening moment our nation is experiencing, it is critically important we take a closer look at how we are addressing equity right here at home in Houston. We must examine equity from the perspective of providing financial support for our grassroots community organizations who are […]
Written By: Reagan Flowers, PhD The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Plan A and B for some high school seniors who intended to take the SAT or ACT for the first time this semester, or to improve upon their scores. Those options are now off the table. The College Board has canceled all tests through the […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD We have reached unprecedented times in education. At least 124,000 schools across 48 states have been impacted by the canceling of standardized tests, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These standardized tests have historically been purported to help measure student progress and school performance, though many doubt the effectiveness. […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD The complete impact of the Coronavirus remains to be seen. Across the board, our efforts as a nation to keep our country safe are already having a significant impact on education. The announcements of school closings keep coming, and the dates for projected reopening continue to be extended. The hardest […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD The days of slow-paced change, data kept in hard copy files, and only some workers needing to learn new technology, are long gone. Today’s students require different skill-sets and the changing workplace continues to outpace many schools, leaving students unprepared to enter the workplace right out of high school. Something […]
Written by: Reagan Flowers, PhD As a nation, we are making strides in STEM education, but there is still more work to be done. In the last decade, two million STEM jobs have been created in the United States. Which means there are two million new opportunities to bring about needed change in the […]
