Experts in the realm of STEM education are coming to Baltimore on March 22 to offer successful evidenced-based practices for STEM teaching and learning among K-12 students. The University of Maryland, Baltimore is the setting for the all-day colloquium, which has a special focus on college and career readiness. Sessions include:

• A keynote presentation by Alan Leshner, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, "How Do We Make ALL Children Smart in STEM?," with respondents Heather Gonzalez from the Congressional Research Service, Lillian Lowery, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, and James Pellegrino, professor and co-director of Learning Science Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago
• A case study about Loudoun County Public Schools Academy of Science, by George Wolfe and Duke Writer from the Loudoun Academy of Science, and Odette Scovel from Loudoun County Public Schools.
• A session on "Separating Facts from Fads: How K-12 Educators' Choices Impact Students' College Performance and Persistence in STEM," by Philip Sadler of Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

A full agenda for the day is accessible at the Successful STEM Education website. The website also links to free downloads of two reports funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and developed by the National Research Council. The Baltimore workshop is the latest in a series of workshops sponsored by NSF to bring the recommendations of the reports--Successful K-12 STEM Education and Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K-12 STEM Education: A Nation Advancing?--to state and district superintendents, principals, teachers and education researchers.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget is $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards nearly $420 million in professional and service contracts yearly.