ndiana University is moving forward to address a significant challenge facing companies, manufacturers, and educators:  Preparing students for tomorrow's jobs by strengthening their math and science skills during their K-through-12th-grade educations.

Economists and business leaders have commented repeatedly throughout the last five years, as they are doing so today, about a critical business need for large numbers of children to acquire much better math and science skills during their primary educations.  The reason this educational issue is important for businesses in northern Indiana is captured in a short phrase:  competitiveness in a global economy.

Several economists, in fact, spoke at length about the math-and-science issue during the 2006 Economic Forecasting Summit sponsored by the Northern Indiana Workforce Investment Board, Inc.  David Huether, chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers, described the situation this way:  "We're being out-competed.  Our education system is not doing a good enough job of getting our kids the proper math and science education to be able to go on to secondary and post-secondary education and have the skills to compete in the international marketplace."  (Go to related story.)

In light of these concerns and others, Indiana University Bloomington launched a new center called the IU Institute for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (ISTEME).  The center's chief goal will be "to greatly improve Hoosier literacy in science, technology, engineering and math—or STEM education—for K-12 students throughout the state," the university announced May 19, 2006, during opening ceremonies of the National Science Olympiad at IU Bloomington.

The center will serve as a hub to advance collaborations among IU faculty members and administrators with school teachers and administrators, state and local government representatives, business and industry leaders, and members of communities.  Such collaboration and teamwork will seek "to harness the state's best efforts in addressing current challenges in educating Hoosier students to be competitive and successful in a knowledge-based economy," IU said in a statement.  For more information, visit:  http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/
page/normal/3500.html.