The long-term goal of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which funds the Advanced Technological Education program through competitive grants, is for the best practices in technician education to become standard operating procedures for educators throughout the United States.
“There are many different models but the common goals are workforce improvement, core knowledge expansion, and pathways to continued learning,” Elizabeth J. Teles said. Teles and Gerhard L. Salinger are co-lead program officers for ATE at the National Science Foundation. The ingenious structure of the ATE program encourages innovations, information sharing, and collaborations that cross disciplines and geographic boundaries. “We are trying to build a community and not a bunch of silos,” Salinger explained.
The Centers of Excellence, with comprehensive missions in their fields of expertise, are the flagships of the ATE program. They anticipate and respond to national industry trends with multiple strategies. The ATE Regional Centers work with their regional IT and manufacturing industries to increase enrollment in programs and increase employer satisfaction with program graduates. ATE Resource Centers serve as clearinghouses for exemplary instructional materials, best practices and professional development. ATE Projects are more narrowly focused than centers and receive NSF funding for three years or less.
All the ATE Centers and Projects pursue improvements in one or more of the ATE program’s
goal areas: Enhancement of technician programs; professional development for educators; curriculum and educational materials; technical expertise; students’ laboratory experiences;
and applied research.
