The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program focuses on the education of science and engineering technicians for the high-technology fields that drive the nation’s economy. Technicians are essential workers. Their skills, learning capacities, and adaptability to changing technologies affect the viability of individual companies and entire industries. As advanced technologies fuel the global economy and accelerate interactions in the worldwide marketplace, technicians in the United States compete with technicians from every corner of the globe.

To enhance the knowledge and skills of U.S. technicians, the National Science Foundation offers competitive grants through the ATE program. These grants support curriculum development to educate prospective technicians and incumbent technicians already in the workforce, and they provide professional development for college faculty and secondary school teachers. They also support career pathways from secondary schools to two-year colleges, and from two-year colleges to four-year colleges and universities. Other program goals include improving articulation between these various education sectors and applied research in technician education.

As the proposal solicitation at www.nsf.gov/ate notes the ATE program encourages efforts that:

 :: give prospective technicians insights into modern work
    environments;

 :: help college students and experienced technicians acquire new skills;

 :: implement national science, mathematics, technology, and industry
    standards in education;

 :: use information technology and other educational technologies to
    improve learning and teaching;

 :: link educators and programs across sectors with business, industry,
    and government; and

 :: explain why innovations work, with whom, and under what
    circumstances.

All of the innovative practices and curricula developed through the ATE program are disseminated free of charge. They are intended as models that other educators may replicate or modify to meet the needs of their students and communities. The National Science Foundation’s goal for ATE, and its other programs, is for the entire community of educators, students, and citizens to benefit from the work of its grant recipients.

ATE is the largest two-year college initiative in the National Science Foundation’s portfolio of educational investments. Public community colleges, the two-year institutions located in every state, are the major providers of education for technicians. Two-year college educators have leadership roles in all ATE initiatives, and community colleges have received the largest number of grants since the program began with a Congressional mandate in 1992.

By design, each ATE project and center involves collaborations with employers, government agencies, and educators from secondary schools and other undergraduate institutions. This team approach to regional and national challenges encourages information sharing and activities that continue after the National Science Foundation’s grants end.

ATE projects, like the ones featured in this Web site, focus on specific ways to enhance technician education programs, professional development for educators, curriculum and educational materials development, teacher preparation, and research on technician education in fields of strategic importance to the nation.

ATE centers, featured at www.atecenters.org, have broad missions as change agents in their fields. The centers have strong relationships with regional and national employers of technicians, and they serve as national resources for academia and industry.






ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGICAL
EDUCATION PROJECTS