Last Updated:
April 21, 2012
Welcome to Project Lead the Way
A Premier STEM education program
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) provides comprehensive middle and high school programs for both engineering and biotechnology career paths. The engineering career path consists of 6 – nine week units that are taught in middle school and 8 – year long courses that are offered in high school. The biomedical sciences career path consists of 4 high school courses. The Project Lead the Way programs are being offered to over 400,000 students in more than 4200 schools in all 50 states. There are currently 98 schools offering PLTW programs in Michigan. Each course concludes with a standardized test to gauge student performance and is cross-walked with the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Upon completion of the program students are offered the opportunity to take an exam which, upon successful completion, will provide college credit at numerous universities, including; Eastern Michigan University, University of Michigan – Dearborn, Iowa State University, Purdue, and the University of Iowa.
Project Lead the Way and the member schools are supported by the efforts of the state Affiliate – Eastern Michigan University. Project Lead the Way is the only STEM education program endorsed by the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.Eastern Michigan University– the State of Michigan Affiliate for Project Lead The Way, is pleased to announce we are the ONLY Affiliate School to offer field support to those districts whose teachers have been trained through our Summer Training Institutes.
Upcoming Events:
Save the Date:
October 26th, 2012 Michigan Project Lead the Way State Counselor Conference
their jobs from leaving Michigan and promote entrepreneurship as an option for laid-off workers." He "presented his speech in University Center, north of Saginaw, at Delta College. The college has been recognized for creating 'Fast Start' programs that quickly recruit and train students to respond to the needs of area employers in chemical processing and solar and battery manufacturing."
On its website, WWMT-TV Grand Rapids, MI (12/2) reports, "Snyder says he wants to get more people trained in math and science. He says there are about 78,000 jobs currently available in Michigan." The governor "also spoke about being a proponent for legal immigration, saying he wants to allow foreigners who come to America and get advanced degrees to get green cards to stay in America. He says those that stay will be the kinds of people who will help spur future economic growth."
Ann Arbor (12/2, Bomey) reports the governor "cited a recent report by the nonpartisan Center for Michigan estimating that the state produces 20 percent too few computer and math professionals and 14 percent too few health-care professionals. He hinted at using state funding support to nudge public universities into graduating more students in areas with worker shortages."
Also covering the story are the East Lansing (MI) State News (12/2, Kullgren), the Grand Rapids Press (12/2, Harger), the Kalamazoo Gazette (12/2, Zerilli) and, on its website, WWMT-TV Grand Rapids, MI (12/2).
YPSILANTI - While experts argue over whether there is a worldwide shortage of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates, they all agree on one thing: North America lags well behind the rest of the world in this category.
That's all about to change in Michigan, thanks to a strong alliance of state and national organizations, educators and nonprofit foundations supporting Project Lead The Way (PLTW) a premier STEM program.
A partnership has been formed to promote the teaching of innovation and problem solving through grades 6-12 engineering and biomedical science career path experiences. The partners include: the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Eastern Michigan University (EMU), and Lawrence Technological University (LTU).
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News:
Survey: Teenagers Unaware Of What Engineers Do.
The Oregonian (12/7, Owen) reports, "It turns out, teenagers aren't avoiding careers in engineering because they think it's geeky. They're simply unaware of what engineers do," according to a study of 1,000 teenagers commissioned by Intel and nonprofit Change the Equation. The "survey showed 63 percent of the students ages 13 to 18 have never considered the career despite having 'generally positive opinions of engineers and engineering.' The perception that engineering is difficult also played a part in the lack of job consideration."
VentureBeat (12/7, O'Dell) reports, "Currently, around one-third of teens can't name any potential job opportunities in engineering fields. Roughly 13 percent don't think that an engineering degree would be more likely to lead to a great job than any other major. And a full 20 percent of these teens have no concept of just how much engineering shapes the world around us."
The Portland Business Journal (12/7, Siemers, Subscription Publication) reports that "after learning that engineering majors make an average annual income of $75,000, 61 percent of teens said they were more likely to consider engineering, while more than 50 percent were enticed by the fact that unemployment among engineers is more than 4 percent lower than the national rate." Intel, the world's largest chip maker, "said there is an alarming trend of American university students dropping out of engineering programs. But a recent study from researchers at Indiana University and the University of Virginia shows that the majority of students who choose to focus on" STEM "in college make that choice in high school, making it increasingly important to reach students at a younger age."
Michigan Governor Wants More People Trained In Math, Science.
The Detroit News (12/2, Lynch) reports, "Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday laid out a plan he believes will better align the needs of the state's employers with the skills and availability of its workers."
The Detroit Free Press (12/2, Egan) reports, "In prepared remarks transmitted electronically to the Legislature, Snyder announced measures to promote a better fit between employers' needs and workers' skills, encourage the retraining and hiring of veterans, attract more skilled immigrants, increase mentorship, retool the unemployment insurance system to keep those who lose