How Albert Einstein Fellows helped develop the five-year federal strategy for STEM education

This episode of the ORISE Featurecast is our monthly look at the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program. Matthew Underwood sits in as guest host for this episode with guest co-host Amy Szczepanski, a member of the current AEF cohort. Matthew and Amy talk with three members of the 2017 AEF cohort – John Galisky, Chris Wright and Kelly McCarthy – who participated in the development of the five-year strategy for STEM education. The five-year strategy was an effort to strengthen the federal government's commitment in the STEM education ecosystem to equity and diversity, evidence -based practices, and engagement with the national STEM community. The strategy highlighted collaboration with learners, families, educators, community leaders, and employers. The AEF fellows were among the many stakeholders included in the development of the plan, which really was focused on expanding and improving the nation's capacity for STEM education and preparing our future workforce. John Galisky is a doctoral student at UCSB where his research focuses on integrating science with literacy and language development, especially in the elementary grades.. For 25 years John taught Physics, Earth Science, Electronics & Robotics and Space Science at Lompoc High School, next to Vandenberg Space Force Base. John was awarded an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship in 2017 where he worked in a congressional office as a legislative assistant on issues related to education, science and technology, energy and environment, immigration, labor, and gun control. Chris Wright is currently a high school math teacher and department chairperson from Pasadena, MD. Chris served as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow in 2017-2018 in the Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce under current Ranking Member Congressman Robert C. Scott. Chris also spent five years as a district-level instructional math coach and lead curriculum developer. Kelly McCarthy is an Education Program Specialist in NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement where she leads and supports a number of K-12 and Higher Education STEM initiatives, including activities aligned with the Artemis Missions that will return humans to the Moon and beyond. She serves as co-lead of NASA’s Next Gen STEM Earth portfolio, focused on engaging learners, formal and informal educators with NASA projects that study Earth and the missions that take place in low Earth orbit. Prior to joining the NASA OSTEM team, Kelly served as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator supporting the Education & Diversity portfolio in the National Science Foundation’s Geoscience Directorate. The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act gives the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) the responsibility for managing the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship. The DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) manages this program for DOE in collaboration with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and the partnering Federal agencies, which, at the time of this recording, included the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Library of Congress (LOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The DOE sponsors five placements in congressional offices. To learn more about the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, visit https://science.osti.gov/wdts/einstein.