The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program supports efforts to improve the knowledge and skills of technicians who work in high technology fields that drive the nation’s economy. This National Science Foundation program focuses on undergraduates, secondary school students, incumbent technicians, as well as the educators who teach them.
Community colleges, which are the main providers of education for technicians, have leadership roles in all ATE initiatives. They work closely with industry, government, and educators in other sectors to enhance the skills of the men and women who are essential to the vitality of the nation’s economy. ATE partnerships help create new curricula; reform existing programs; enrich the technical knowledge of experienced college faculty members and teachers; prepare prospective educators with solid foundations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); and undertake applied research on technological education.
During the 2008 fiscal year, 263 ATE grant recipients shared $51.32 million. ATE grants provide funding for educators to test and implement their ideas for improving the technical skills and the general STEM preparation of technicians and educators, and for developing more technicians.
To achieve these goals, ATE centers and projects devote significant time and resources to building collaborations with industry and other educators, creating educational materials, providing professional development, and improving technological education programs. In 2007 alone, these partnerships developed a total of 1,499 new articulation agreements.2 These agreements, along with others previously developed by ATE initiatives, enable students to transfer expeditiously from one level of education to another as they gain knowledge, skills, and work experiences throughout their lives.
|
