ATE Impacts 2020-2021

The National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE} program supports ongoing innovative efforts for educating highly skilled technicians. The knowledge and skills of technicians in disciplines as ancient as agriculture and as new as nanotechnology are critical to the nation's economic health and security. Since the ATE program began in 1993, it has prepared people for careers in advanced technology fields, not just particular jobs that might go away with the emergence of a new technology. Through its competitive grants process, the National Science Foundation (NSF) provides funding that enables principal investigators to test their ideas for improving technician education and to enhance STEM initiatives that encourage participation in the rapidly changing technical workforce. Faculty from public community and technical colleges, which are the leading source of education for the skilled technical workforce in the United States, are the principal investigators of most ATE initiatives. ATE principal investigators lead projects and centers in partnership with both employers and educators in other education sectors to ensure that students are workforce-ready. As ATE grantees focus on program creation, program improvement, faculty professional development, and research, they develop and deploy pilot versions of innovative activities each year. Thanks to NSF's investment in their ideas, these ATE program deliverables-curricula for entire degrees, lab exercises, skill standards, and templates for effective industry-education partnerships-are all freely available for others to adapt and adopt. This publication's summaries of the activities and accomplishments of 30 ATE centers and 28 projects are intended to spark readers' interest. The website addresses included with each featured center and project link to more detailed information including downloadable resources and listings of professional development opportunities. Readers can direct questions and suggestions to principal investigators, who are accessible and interested in sharing their project and center results, data, and materials. In addition to grouping ATE initiatives by discipline, this publication provides geographic location info (see the US map within the back flap) to help connect educators, employers, and students with the ATE initiatives that are underway in each state. ATE Builds Partnerships with Employers & Across Education Sectors The ATE Annual Survey: 2019 Report by EvaluATE (the evaluation hub for the ATE program) found that in 2018 alone, 279 ATE programs reported having a total of 10,320* partnerships: 3,810 were with business and industry; 2,510 were with K-12 schools or school systems; and 2,260 were with two-year and four-year colleges. The ATE program's dynamic partnerships not only inform planning and shape successful activities, they help sustain the work started with ATE when grant funding ends. ATE principal investigators' attentiveness to business and industry trends is evident in other EvaluATE data. For example, in 2018 alone, 11,100 students benefited from mentoring and coaching offered by ATE programs. In addition to the business and industry field trips that have long been a feature of ATE's partnerships with employers, 54 programs offered internships. That is nearly half of the 112 programs that provided some type of workplace learning. Others include 17 co-operative learning arrangements; 17 job shadowing opportunities, and 16 apprenticeship programs.