Promoting Equity in K-12 Science and Engineering Education

A growing number of important occupations in the 21st century will make use of the practices of scientific analyses, argumentation, communication, and engineering design. Providing a high quality science and engineering foundation for all K-12 students will remove some of the barriers that prevent them from pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. Our titles provide guidance for monitoring educational equity, implementing and assessing teaching of new science standards, integrating engineering education in curriculum, and providing professional education experiences to support teachers’ learning. All are free to download or read online.

Monitoring Educational Equity

Disparities in educational attainment among population groups have characterized the United States throughout its history. Education is sometimes characterized as the “great equalizer,” but to date, the country has not found ways to successfully address the adverse effects of socioeconomic …[more]

Teaching K-12 Science and Engineering During a Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in widespread and ongoing changes to how the K-12 education system functions, including disruptions to science teaching and learning environments. Students and teachers are all figuring out how to do schooling differently, and districts and states are working …[more]

Building Capacity for Teaching Engineering in K-12 Education

Engineering education is emerging as an important component of US K-12 education. Across the country, students in classrooms and after- and out-of-school programs are participating in hands-on, problem-focused learning activities using the engineering design process. These experiences can be …[more]

Cultivating Interest and Competencies in Computing: Authentic Experiences and Design Factors

Computing in some form touches nearly every aspect of day to day life and is reflected in the ubiquitous use of cell phones, the expansion of automation into many industries, and the vast amounts of data that are routinely gathered about people’s health, education, and buying habits. Computing …[more]

Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center

It is essential for today’s students to learn about science and engineering in order to make sense of the world around them and participate as informed members of a democratic society. The skills and ways of thinking that are developed and honed through engaging in scientific and engineering …[more]

English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives

The imperative that all students, including English learners (ELs), achieve high academic standards and have opportunities to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning has become even more urgent and complex given shifts in science and mathematics …[more]

Design, Selection, and Implementation of Instructional Materials for the Next Generation Science Standards: Proceedings of a Workshop

Instructional materials are a key means to achieving the goals of science education—an enterprise that yields unique and worthwhile benefits to individuals and society. As states and districts move forward with adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or work …[more]

Seeing Students Learn Science: Integrating Assessment and Instruction in the Classroom

Science educators in the United States are adapting to a new vision of how students learn science. Children are natural explorers and their observations and intuitions about the world around them are the foundation for science learning. Unfortunately, the way science has been taught in the …[more]

Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards

A Framework for K-12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) describe a new vision for science learning and teaching that is catalyzing improvements in science classrooms across the United States. Achieving this new vision will require time, resources, and …[more]

Science Teachers’ Learning: Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts

Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about …[more]

STEM Integration in K-12 Education: Status, Prospects, and an Agenda for Research

STEM Integration in K-12 Education examines current efforts to connect the STEM disciplines in K-12 education. This report identifies and characterizes existing approaches to integrated STEM education, both in formal and after- and out-of-school settings. The report reviews the evidence …[more]

Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K-12 STEM Education: A Nation Advancing?

Following a 2011 report by the National Research Council (NRC) on successful K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), Congress asked the National Science Foundation to identify methods for tracking progress toward the report’s recommendations. In response, the …[more]

Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States

Next Generation Science Standards identifies the science all K-12 students should know. These new standards are based on the National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education. The National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the …[more]

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity’s most pressing current and future challenges. The United States’ position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in …[more]

Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects

Engineering education in K-12 classrooms is a small but growing phenomenon that may have implications for engineering and also for the other STEM subjects–science, technology, and mathematics. Specifically, engineering education may improve student learning and achievement in science and …[more]

Preparing for and Responding to Record-Breaking Natural Disasters

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 2020 the U.S. experienced a record-smashing 22 weather and climate disasters that killed at least 262 people and injured scores more. Damages from these disasters exceeded $1 billion each and totaled approximately $95 billion for all 22 events. How can we best prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters? Our titles explore impacts of natural disasters and ways to promote resiliency for future disaster events. All are free to download.

Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover …[more]

Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supply Chain Resilience: Observations from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria

Resilient supply chains are crucial to maintaining the consistent delivery of goods and services to the American people. The modern economy has made supply chains more interconnected than ever, while also expanding both their range and fragility. In the third quarter of 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria revealed some significant …[more]

Implications of the California Wildfires for Health, Communities, and Preparedness: Proceedings of a Workshop

California and other wildfire-prone western states have experienced a substantial increase in the number and intensity of wildfires in recent years. Wildlands and climate experts expect these trends to continue and quite likely to worsen in coming years. Wildfires and other disasters can be particularly devastating for vulnerable communities. …[more]

A Framework for Assessing Mortality and Morbidity After Large-Scale Disasters

In the wake of a large-scale disaster, from the initial devastation through the long tail of recovery, protecting the health and well-being of the affected individuals and communities is paramount. Accurate and timely information about mortality and significant morbidity related to the disaster are the cornerstone of the efforts of the disaster …[more]

Emergency Alert and Warning Systems: Current Knowledge and Future Research Directions

Following a series of natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, that revealed shortcomings in the nation’s ability to effectively alert populations at risk, Congress passed the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act in 2006. Today, new technologies such as smart phones and social media platforms offer new ways to communicate …[more]

Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of the Academic Biomedical Research Community: Protecting the Nation’s Investment

The academic biomedical research community is a hub of employment, economic productivity, and scientific progress. Academic research institutions are drivers of economic development in their local and state economies and, by extension, the national economy. Beyond the economic input that the academic biomedical research community both receives …[more]

Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery

In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private …[more]

Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 2: Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and the Highway System: Practitioner’s Guide and Research Report

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 750: Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 2: Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and the Highway System: Practitioner’s Guide and Research Report provides guidance on adaptation strategies to the likely impacts of climate change through 2050 in the planning, …[more]

Integrating Social and Behavioral Sciences Within the Weather Enterprise

Our ability to observe and forecast severe weather events has improved markedly over the past few decades. Forecasts of snow and ice storms, hurricanes and storm surge, extreme heat, and other severe weather events are made with greater accuracy, geographic specificity, and lead time to allow people and communities to take appropriate …[more]

Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative

No person or place is immune from disasters or disaster-related losses. Infectious disease outbreaks, acts of terrorism, social unrest, or financial disasters in addition to natural hazards can all lead to large-scale consequences for the nation and its communities. Communities and the nation thus face difficult fiscal, social, cultural, and …[more]

Resources to Understand and Improve Cybersecurity

The SolarWinds cyberhack announced earlier this month is a potent reminder that despite considerable investments of resources and intellect, cybersecurity continues to pose serious challenges to national security, business performance, and public well-being. Cybersecurity is a dynamic process involving human attackers who continue to adapt. Responding requires sustained attention to the cybersecurity posture of individuals, firms, and government and involves both efforts to more effectively and more widely use what is known about improving cybersecurity and efforts to develop new knowledge about cybersecurity. Our titles explore preparedness, response and recovery from cyberattack. All are free to download.

Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity: Proceedings of a Workshop

In recent years, interest and progress in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have boomed, with new applications vigorously pursued across many sectors. At the same time, the computing and communications technologies on which we have come to rely present serious …[more]

Update of Security 101: A Physical Security and Cybersecurity Primer for Transportation Agencies

Since 2009, when NCHRP’s last Security 101 report was released, there have been significant advances in transportation security approaches, including new strategies, programs, and ways of doing business that have increased the security of …[more]

Foundational Cybersecurity Research: Improving Science, Engineering, and Institutions

Attaining meaningful cybersecurity presents a broad societal challenge. Its complexity and the range of systems and sectors in which it is needed mean that successful approaches are necessarily multifaceted. Moreover, cybersecurity is a dynamic process involving human attackers who continue to …[more]

Beyond Spectre: Confronting New Technical and Policy Challenges: Proceedings of a Workshop

In 2017, researchers discovered a vulnerability in microprocessors used in computers and devices all over the world. The vulnerability, named Spectre, combines side effects from caching and speculative execution, which are techniques that have been used for many years to increase the speed at …[more]

Recoverability as a First-Class Security Objective: Proceedings of a Workshop

The Forum on Cyber Resilience of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted the Workshop on Recoverability as a First-Class Security Objective on February 8, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The workshop featured presentations from several experts in industry, research, and …[more]

Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy

During the 2016 presidential election, America’s election infrastructure was targeted by actors sponsored by the Russian government. Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy examines the challenges arising out of the 2016 federal election, assesses current technology and standards for …[more]

Software Update as a Mechanism for Resilience and Security: Proceedings of a Workshop

Software update is an important mechanism by which security changes and improvements are made in software, and this seemingly simple concept encompasses a wide variety of practices, mechanisms, policies, and technologies. To explore the landscape further, the Forum on Cyber Resilience hosted a …[more]

Data Breach Aftermath and Recovery for Individuals and Institutions: Proceedings of a Workshop

In January 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted the Workshop on Data Breach Aftermath and Recovery for Individuals and Institutions. Participants examined existing technical and policy remediations, and they discussed possible new mechanisms for better …[more]

Guidebook on Best Practices for Airport Cybersecurity

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 140: Guidebook on Best Practices for Airport Cybersecurity provides information designed to help reduce or mitigate inherent risks of cyberattacks on technology-based systems.

Traditional IT infrastructure such as servers, …[more]

At the Nexus of Cybersecurity and Public Policy: Some Basic Concepts and Issues

We depend on information and information technology (IT) to make many of our day-to-day tasks easier and more convenient. Computers play key roles in transportation, health care, banking, and energy. Businesses use IT for payroll and accounting, inventory and sales, and research and development. …[more]

Professionalizing the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce?: Criteria for Decision-Making

Professionalizing the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce? Criteria for Decision-Making considers approaches to increasing the professionalization of the nation’s cybersecurity workforce. This report examines workforce requirements for cybersecurity and the segments and job functions in …[more]

Proceedings of a Workshop on Deterring Cyberattacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options for U.S. Policy

In a world of increasing dependence on information technology, the prevention of cyberattacks on a nation’s important computer and communications systems and networks is a problem that looms large. Given the demonstrated limitations of passive cybersecurity defense measures, it is natural to …[more]

Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities

The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal infrastructure of the United States, …[more]

Artificial Intelligence – Impacts and Opportunities

Rapid advances in machine learning systems have seen artificial intelligence (AI) enter everyday usage, with development of applications across fields including healthcare, transportation, and finance expected over the coming decades. The societal and economic opportunities that follow these advances are significant, and nations are grappling with how artificial intelligence might best serve society. Our publications explore the impact of AI and the changing opportunities and challenges associated with its development.

Information Technology Innovation: Resurgence, Confluence, and Continuing Impact

Information technology (IT) is widely understood to be the enabling technology of the 21st century. IT has transformed, and continues to transform, all aspects of our lives: commerce and finance, education, energy, health care, manufacturing, government, national security, transportation, …[more]

Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity: Proceedings of a Workshop

Data Matters: Ethics, Data, and International Research Collaboration in a Changing World: Proceedings of a Workshop

In an increasingly interconnected world, perhaps it should come as no surprise that international collaboration in science and technology research is growing at a remarkable rate. As science and technology capabilities grow around the world, U.S.-based organizations are finding that …[more]

Privacy and Security in the 21st Century: Who Knows and Who Controls?: Proceedings of a Forum

New technologies and capabilities, such as Google Cloud and artificial intelligence, are changing the world at an unprecedented rate. A transition to cloud computing offers a variety of benefits, including worldwide access and faster networks. This digital transformation also presents an array …[more]

Robust Machine Learning Algorithms and Systems for Detection and Mitigation of Adversarial Attacks and Anomalies: Proceedings of a Workshop

The Intelligence Community Studies Board (ICSB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on December 11–12, 2018, in Berkeley, California, to discuss robust machine learning algorithms and systems for the detection and mitigation of adversarial …[more]

Artificial Intelligence: An International Dialogue: Proceedings of a Workshop–in Brief

On May 24, 2019 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, in partnership with the Royal Society, held a symposium entitled Artificial Intelligence: An International Dialogue in Washington, DC. The symposium addressed if and how artificial intelligence (AI) would benefit from …[more]

Artificial Intelligence Applications for Older Adults and People with Disabilities: Balancing Safety and Autonomy: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief

On October 24, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop titled Artificial Intel¬ligence Applications for Older Adults and People with Disabilities: Balancing Safety and Autonomy. This workshop examined the state of the art and knowledge about …[more]

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Accelerate Translational Research: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief

The big data revolution, accompanied by the development and deployment of wearable medical devices and mobile health applications, has enabled the biomedical community to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to vast amounts of data. This shift has created new …[more]

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Advance Environmental Health Research and Decisions: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technological invention that promises to transform everyday life and the world. Investment and enthusiasm for AI—or the ability of machines to carry out “smart” tasks—are driven largely by advancements in the subfield of machine learning. Machine …[more]

The Frontiers of Machine Learning: 2017 Raymond and Beverly Sackler U.S.-U.K. Scientific Forum

The field of machine learning continues to advance at a rapid pace owing to increased computing power, better algorithms and tools, and greater availability of data. Machine learning is now being used in a range of applications, including transportation and developing automated vehicles, …[more]

Resources to Build Health Literacy

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of health literate communication. Health literacy empowers patients to be able to obtain and understand their healthcare information, and is particularly important when communicating with those with limited health literacy who also experience more serious medication errors, higher rates of hospitalization, poor health outcomes, and increased mortality. These publications support the development, implementation and sharing of evidence-based health literacy practices and policies. All are free to download.

Developing Health Literacy Skills in Children and Youth: Proceedings of a Workshop

Young people develop health literacy skills in a variety of environments, facing critical thinking challenges about their health from school, home and family life, peers and social life, and online. To explore the development of health literacy skills in youth, the Roundtable on Health Literacy …[more]

The Intersection of Behavioral Health, Mental Health, and Health Literacy: Proceedings of a Workshop

The field of health literacy has evolved from early efforts that focused on individuals to its current recognition that health literacy is a multidimensional team and system function. Health literacy includes system demands and complexities as well as individual skills and abilities. While …[more]

Health Literacy and Older Adults: Reshaping the Landscape: Proceedings of a Workshop

Adults age 65 and older make up the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. At the same time, the complexity of health care delivery continues to grow, creating challenges that are magnified for older adults, given that age is one of the highest correlates of low health literacy. This …[more]

Building the Case for Health Literacy: Proceedings of a Workshop

The field of health literacy has evolved from one focused on individuals to one that recognizes that health literacy is multidimensional. While communicating in a health literate manner is important for everyone, it is particularly important when communicating with those with limited health …[more]

Health Literacy and Consumer-Facing Technology: Workshop Summary

The proliferation of consumer-facing technology and personal health information technology has grown steadily over the past decade, and has certainly exploded over the past several years. Many people have embraced smartphones and wearable health-monitoring devices to track their fitness and …[more]

Integrating Health Literacy, Cultural Competence, and Language Access Services: Workshop Summary

The aging and evolving racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population has the United States in the midst of a profound demographic shift and health care organizations face many issues as they move to address and adapt to this change. In their drive to adequately serve increasingly diverse …[more]

Health Literacy: Past, Present, and Future: Workshop Summary

In 2004, the Institute of Medicine released Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion, a report on the then-underappreciated challenge of enabling patients to comprehend their condition and treatment, to make the best decisions for their care, and to take the right medications at …[more]

Informed Consent and Health Literacy: Workshop Summary

Informed consent – the process of communication between a patient or research subject and a physician or researcher that results in the explicit agreement to undergo a specific medical intervention – is an ethical concept based on the principle that all patients and research subjects should …[more]

Health Literacy and Numeracy: Workshop Summary

Although health literacy is commonly defined as an individual trait, it does not depend on the skills of individuals alone. Health literacy is the product of the interaction between individuals’ capacities and the health literacy-related demands and complexities of the health care system. …[more]

Toward Health Equity and Patient-Centeredness: Integrating Health Literacy, Disparities Reduction, and Quality Improvement: Workshop Summary

To receive the greatest value for health care, it is important to focus on issues of quality and disparity, and the ability of individuals to make appropriate decisions based on basic health knowledge and services. The Forum on the Science of Health Care Quality Improvement and Implementation, …[more]

Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion

To maintain their own health and the health of their families and communities, consumers rely heavily on the health information that is available to them. This information is at the core of the partnerships that patients and their families forge with today’s complex modern health systems. …[more]

Building a STEMM Workforce for the 21st Century

In order to fully capitalize on twenty-first century advances, the United States needs to expand its science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM)-capable workforce. Evidence suggests that the nation will need 1 million more STEMM professionals than it is on track to produce in the coming decade. Our titles explore the current status of the STEMM workforce and offer a comprehensive road map for increasing the quantity and diversity of the individuals who enter STEMM fields. As always, all are free to read online or download.

Promising Practices for Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: Opening Doors

Careers in science, engineering, and medicine offer opportunities to advance knowledge, contribute to the well-being of communities, and support the security, prosperity, and health of the United States. But many women do not pursue or persist in these careers, or advance to leadership positions …[more]

The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM

Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one’s potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEMM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEMM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students’ STEMM skills …[more]

Minority Serving Institutions: America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM Workforce

There are over 20 million young people of color in the United States whose representation in STEM education pathways and in the STEM workforce is still far below their numbers in the general population. Their participation could help re-establish the United States’ preeminence in STEM …[more]

Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Over the last few decades, research, activity, and funding has been devoted to improving the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine. In recent years the diversity of those participating in these fields, particularly the participation …[more]

Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century

The U.S. system of graduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has served the nation and its science and engineering enterprise extremely well. Over the course of their education, graduate students become involved in advancing the frontiers of discovery, as …[more]

An American Crisis: The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science: Proceedings of a Joint Workshop

Black men are increasingly underrepresented in medical schools and in the medical profession. A diverse workforce is a key attribute of quality healthcare and research suggests that a diverse workforce may help to advance cultural competency and increase access to high-quality health care, …[more]

The Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through

Since the end of the Second World War, the United States has developed the world’s preeminent system for biomedical research, one that has given rise to revolutionary medical advances as well as a dynamic and innovative business sector generating high-quality jobs and powering economic output …[more]

Assessing and Responding to the Growth of Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments

The field of computer science (CS) is currently experiencing a surge in undergraduate degree production and course enrollments, which is straining program resources at many institutions and causing concern among faculty and administrators about how best to respond to the rapidly growing demand. …[more]

Building America’s Skilled Technical Workforce

Skilled technical occupations—defined as occupations that require a high level of knowledge in a technical domain but do not require a bachelor’s degree for entry—are a key component of the U.S. economy. In response to globalization and advances in science and technology, American firms …[more]

Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees: Systemic Change to Support Students’ Diverse Pathways

Nearly 40 percent of the students entering 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions indicated their intention to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in 2012. But the barriers to students realizing their ambitions are reflected in the fact that about half of those …[more]

Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia: Summary of a Conference

Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia is the summary of a 2013 conference convened by the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine of the National Research Council to discuss the current status of women of color in academia …[more]

Graduate Medical Education That Meets the Nation’s Health Needs

Today’s physician education system produces trained doctors with strong scientific underpinnings in biological and physical sciences as well as supervised practical experience in delivering care. Significant financial public support underlies the graduate-level training of the nation’s …[more]

The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health

The Future of Nursing explores how nurses’ roles, responsibilities, and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for care that will be created by health care reform and to advance improvements in America’s increasingly complex health system.

At …[more]

Resources to Support Quality Education in a COVID-19 World

On World Teachers Day we celebrate all the ways that teachers touch our lives and thank them for educating and inspiring. The COVID-19 pandemic has completely upended education systems and has required teachers to find new ways to connect with and motivate students. Our resources can inform and enhance efforts to support vulnerable populations, reopen schools, and provide remote learning while maintaining quality learning experiences. All are free to download.

Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the nation’s K-12 education system. The rush to slow the spread of the virus led to closures of schools across the country, with little time to ensure continuity of instruction or to create a framework for deciding when and how to …[more]

Teaching K-12 Science and Engineering During a Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in widespread and ongoing changes to how the K55 education system functions, including disruptions to science teaching and learning environments. Students and teachers are all figuring out how to do schooling differently, and districts and states are working …[more]

Changing Expectations for the K-12 Teacher Workforce: Policies, Preservice Education, Professional Development, and the Workplace

Teachers play a critical role in the success of their students, both academically and in regard to long term outcomes such as higher education participation and economic attainment. Expectations for teachers are increasing due to changing learning standards and a rapidly diversifying student …[more]

English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives

Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center

Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments

Practitioners in informal science settings–museums, after-school programs, science and technology centers, media enterprises, libraries, aquariums, zoos, and botanical gardens–are interested in finding out what learning looks like, how to measure it, and what they can do to ensure that people …[more]

Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Futures

Educating dual language learners (DLLs) and English learners (ELs) effectively is a national challenge with consequences both for individuals and for American society. Despite their linguistic, cognitive, and social potential, many ELs—who account for more than 9 percent of enrollment in …[more]

Building Capacity for Teaching Engineering in K-12 Education

Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know to create and support such …[more]

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas

Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States

Life at the Beach: Exploring the Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities

According to NOAA, coastal counties of the U.S. are home to over 127 million people, or almost 40 percent of the nation’s total population. Besides environmental stressors such as sea level rise and intensifying hurricanes, modifications from human activities, including building levees and canals and constructing buildings and roads, have left their own imprint on the natural landscape. Our titles explore impacts of climate change and human development on our coastlines, coastal ecosystems, and coastal communities. All are free to download.

Understanding the Long-Term Evolution of the Coupled Natural-Human Coastal System: The Future of the U.S. Gulf Coast

The U.S. Gulf Coast provides a valuable setting to study deeply connected natural and human interactions and feedbacks that have led to a complex, interconnected coastal system. The physical landscape in the region has changed significantly due to broad-scale, long-term processes such as coastal subsidence and river sediment deposition as well …[more]

Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States

Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes, including Superstorm Sandy in New York (2012) and Hurricane Harvey in Houston (2017), caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely …[more]

Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges

Environmental engineers support the well-being of people and the planet in areas where the two intersect. Over the decades the field has improved countless lives through innovative systems for delivering water, treating waste, and preventing and remediating pollution in air, water, and soil. These achievements are a testament to the …[more]

Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Seventh Biennial Review – 2018

During the past century, the Everglades, one of the world’s treasured ecosystems, has been dramatically altered by drainage and water management infrastructure that was intended to improve flood management, urban water supply, and agricultural production. The remnants of the original Everglades now compete for water with urban and …[more]

Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change

As climate has warmed over recent years, a new pattern of more frequent and more intense weather events has unfolded across the globe. Climate models simulate such changes in extreme events, and some of the reasons for the changes are well understood. Warming increases the likelihood of extremely hot days and nights, favors increased …[more]

Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery

Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health: Workshop Summary

Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health discusses the connection of ecosystem services and human health. This report looks at the state of the science of the role of oceans in ensuring human health and identifies gaps and opportunities for future research. The report summarizes …[more]

Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises

Climate is changing, forced out of the range of the past million years by levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases not seen in the Earth’s atmosphere for a very, very long time. Lacking action by the world’s nations, it is clear that the planet will be warmer, sea level will rise, and patterns of rainfall will change. But the future …[more]

Reducing Coastal Risk on the East and Gulf Coasts

Hurricane- and coastal-storm-related losses have increased substantially during the past century, largely due to increases in population and development in the most susceptible coastal areas. Climate change poses additional threats to coastal communities from sea level rise and possible increases in strength of the largest hurricanes. Several …[more]

Sea-Level Rise for the Coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington: Past, Present, and Future

Tide gauges show that global sea level has risen about 7 inches during the 20th century, and recent satellite data show that the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating. As Earth warms, sea levels are rising mainly because ocean water expands as it warms; and water from melting glaciers and ice sheets is flowing into the ocean. Sea-level rise …[more]

Tsunami Warning and Preparedness: An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation’s Preparedness Efforts

Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, NOAA has improved the ability …[more]

Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change

Across the United States, impacts of climate change are already evident. Heat waves have become more frequent and intense, cold extremes have become less frequent, and patterns of rainfall are likely changing. The proportion of precipitation that falls as rain rather than snow has increased across the western United States and Arctic sea ice …[more]

Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making

Nutrient recycling, habitat for plants and animals, flood control, and water supply are among the many beneficial services provided by aquatic ecosystems. In making decisions about human activities, such as draining a wetland for a housing development, it is essential to consider both the value of the development and the value of the ecosystem …[more]

Resources for Community Preparedness and Response to Wildfire Threats

The Pacific Northwest is facing an unprecedented fire season, in which wildfires have burned more than 2.5 million acres in California alone, with additional acres burned in Oregon and Washington. Wildfires and other disasters can be particularly devastating for vulnerable communities. Members of these communities tend to experience worse health outcomes from disasters, have fewer resources for responding and rebuilding, and receive less assistance from state, local, and federal agencies. Because burning wood releases particulate matter and other toxicants, the health effects of wildfires extend well beyond burns. In addition, deposition of toxicants in soil and water can result in chronic as well as acute exposures.

Our resources can inform communities as they prepare for and respond to environmental disasters such as wildfires. All are free to download.

Implications of the California Wildfires for Health, Communities, and Preparedness: Proceedings of a Workshop

A Century of Wildland Fire Research: Contributions to Long-term Approaches for Wildland Fire Management: Proceedings of a Workshop

Although ecosystems, humans, and fire have coexisted for millennia, changes in geology, ecology, hydrology, and climate as well as sociocultural, regulatory, and economic factors have converged to make wildland fire management exceptionally challenging for U.S. federal, state, and local …[more]

Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

A Framework for Assessing Mortality and Morbidity After Large-Scale Disasters

Emergency Alert and Warning Systems: Current Knowledge and Future Research Directions

Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation’s Electricity System

Americans’ safety, productivity, comfort, and convenience depend on the reliable supply of electric power. The electric power system is a complex “cyber-physical” system composed of a network of millions of components spread out across the continent. These components are owned, operated, …[more]

Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative

Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps

Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps is the summary of a February, 2013 workshop convened by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council to examine precise geotargeting of public alerts and …[more]

Dealing with Disasters: Resources to Support Mental Health

Almost everyone in a community struck by a disaster will feel some type of emotional effect. For most, the acute reactions will be transient, and functional recovery will occur without intervention. For some, however, the impacts of a disaster on behavioral health can be severe and long-lasting, and if not addressed, can impede the recovery of individuals, families, and communities, resulting in significant long-term health burdens. There is chronic underreporting of behavioral health problems, due to the stigma often associated with these conditions, the separation of mental health services from medical services, and the lag time between exposure and the onset of disorder.

Our publications examine the linkages among behavioral health, resilience, and healthy communities; activities that mitigate adverse behavioral health effects in survivors; the gaps in the current system for addressing disaster-related behavioral health needs; and the opportunities for strengthening the behavioral health sector and integrating it with other sectors by leveraging disaster-related resources and experiences. All are free to download.

Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Mental Health: Proceedings of a Workshop

The social determinants of mental health involve the economic, social, and political conditions into which one is born that influence a person’s mental health – and, in particular, that affect the likelihood a person raised in deficient or …[more]

Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery

Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they …[more]

Measuring Trauma: Workshop Summary

The Workshop on Integrating New Measures of Trauma into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Data Collection Programs, held in Washington, D.C. in December 2015, was organized as part of an effort to assist …[more]

The Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Adults: In Whose Hands?

At least 5.6 million to 8 million–nearly one in five–older adults in America have one or more mental health and substance use conditions, which present unique challenges for their care. With the number of adults age 65 and older projected to …[more]

Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Considerations for Children and Families: Workshop Summary

Preparedness, Response and Recovery Considerations for Children and Families is the summary of a workshop convened in June, 2013 by the Institute of Medicine Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events to …[more]

Research Priorities for Assessing Health Effects from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: A Letter Report

It is as yet uncertain how the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will affect the health of clean-up workers and volunteers, residents, and visitors in the Gulf. The IOM recommends that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services focus on researching …[more]

Opportunities for the Gulf Research Program: Community Resilience and Health: Summary of a Workshop

There are many connections between human communities and their surrounding environments that influence community resilience and health in the Gulf of Mexico. The impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Gulf communities and ecosystems …[more]

Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health: A Summary of the June 2010 Workshop

From the origin of the leak, to the amount of oil released into the environment, to the spill’s duration, the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill poses unique challenges to human health. The risks associated with extensive, prolonged use of …[more]