The Best of Our Knowledge # 957

Albany, NY – HBCU STUDY SHOWS IMPROVED RETENTION, PROGRESSION, AND GRADUATION FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS. Pt. 2 of 2 -

At a time when STEM fields science, technology, engineering, and math are increasingly important to U.S. national security, health, and competitiveness it appears (because of the shortfalls) that the country is neither supporting the research, nor producing the diverse pool of scientists and engineers it needs to fuel the future.

Those comments are included in an article in the last edition of MENTORNET NEWS, and are co-written by Daryl Chubin, Director of the Center for Advancing Science & Engineering Capacity at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His co-author is Shirley Malcom, head of the AAAS Education and Human Resources Program.

They write, "As an engine of our economy, the STEM disciplines and the diversity of that workforce should give us great pause. Although only 5% of American workers were employed in STEM occupations as of 2006, their impact on the national and global economies is disproportionately large."

While Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to grow, they're often the least understood and least studied institutions of higher education. But that's changing at Norfolk State University in Virginia. They've had a grant to study their STEM Student Scholarship Program. It's part of what they call the DNIMAS, or the Dozoretz National Institute for Mathematics and Applied Sciences.

Last week we heard the goal of DNIMAS is to address the severe shortage of minority students in the sciences. This week we learn that the DNIMAS graduation rate is 72%. That compares with just 26% for the university as a whole. And importantly, more than 90% of students stay in science, engineering, and math. Here's the completion of our documentary from NSU in Norfolk.

Richard Paul reports from Virginia. (10:23)

**(Listeners and Program Directors please note. If you would like to hear this story again, or part one from last week, it's available right now online at our especially dedicated website: www.womeninscience.org.)**

EDUCATION HEADLINES AND UPDATES -

Some may find it both fitting and ironic, that at the same time we inaugurate America's first African-American president, we are also celebrating the federal holiday - the birthday of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A memorial honoring Dr. King will be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. adjacent to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial, and in direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. The Memorial Foundation has already raised 100-million of its 120-million dollar goal. Groundbreaking and construction is expected to start soon. For more information, listeners can visit: www.buildthedream.org.

In an update from our show two weeks ago on The Future of Teachers, for the second year in a row, 2008 saw the number of new National Board certified teachers in the U.S. hit record-breaking highs. 96-hundred teachers achieved National Board Certification last year. That's a 12% increase over 2007. Joe Aguerrebere, head of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards told TBOOK he believes National Board Certification is a force in student achievement and a factor in teaching excellence that's reshaping teaching and learning in schools. He told us (audio bite) "If you have a good teacher, you're going to have good results. So if we can invest in the quality of teaching, and this process is a tool for accomplishing that, then we have a better chance of achieving our goals of providing access to every child in America with a competent qualified teacher."

(Glenn Busby reports. (2:00)

ORIGINS OF LIFE - SCIENCE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION SERIES
"EVIDENCE FOR AN EARLY ACIDIC HYDROSPHERE ON MARS FROM PHOSPHOROUS GEOCHEMISTRY OF MARTIAN SOILS AND ROCKS" -

Since we've been talking about science in our show today, new scientific results continue to flow in from current and past Mars missions. And this helps shape our understanding of Mars' early planetary history.

Believe it or not, NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit and Opportunity - are still active on the Martian surface. We reported to you on this show five years ago that the Rovers were designed to last only 90 days. Five years later, that now seems like a pretty good investment.

The arrival of spring in southern Mars is reviving the venerable explorers. After hibernating for the winter on the northern edge of a plateau called Home Plate, the Spirit Rover moved uphill recently to collect more sunlight to power up its systems. On the other side of Mars, the Opportunity Rover continues a 12 kilometer trek towards a large crater named Endeavour.

We talk about the search for water and life on Mars with Dr. James Greenwood, Research Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Glenn Busby reports. (5:06)

The preceding is part of our Origins of Life Series, supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

**(For more information about this story, or any of the other 150 stories featured in this exclusive radio series, or if you would like to hear them again via your computer, the website given at the conclusion of the above segment is: www.origins.rpi.edu.)**