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Increased STEM literacy of the general population can only be a good thing. A significant point of leverage that ESS can have upon STEM literacy is through the education of K-12 teachers. To increase the domestic pool of STEM talent, the nation must improve elementary and secondary science and math education. Primary national objectives include improving K-12 math and science teaching, raising both the floor and the ceiling of high school preparation, and improving the undergraduate science experience. ( See Before It’s Too Late and Rising Above the Gathering Storm.) Despite substantial efforts over the past two decades to improve the quality of the K-12 teaching force, the goal of attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of high quality math and science teachers remains elusive. (See  NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 2006.)

Although the ESSE programs are categorically (in terms of design, content, and funding) geared for the college and university level, the programs have benefited a large number of elementary and secondary students. Many students enrolled in Earth system science courses are education majors, often science educators. At Jackson State University, for instance, more than 500 undergraduate and graduate students studying to become K-12 teachers take Earth system science classes each year. They develop STEM skills by studying systems interactions and causality, and will provide a direct link to tomorrow’s science knowledge by teaching this throughout Mississippi’s K-12 classrooms.

At Howard University, an Earth and Space Science course is teaching a group of Washington, D.C. public school teachers how to integrate STEM skills into their classes using an Earth system perspective. 

Student Participation in Earth and Space Science Programs in Washington, DC
George Carruthers, Naval Research Laboratory and Prabhakar Misra, Howard University, Washington, DC
Hands-on experiences for high school and college students.

Student-Centered Rocks and Minerals Module for Non-Science Majors at Minority Serving Institutions and a Strategy to Establish an Earth System Science Program
Ezat Heydari, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS
To enhance and maintain diversity in Earth Science necessitates the establishment of Earth Science programs at MSIs and HBCUs

New Courses in Earth and Space Science at Howard University
George Carruthers, Naval Research Laboratory and Prabhakar Misra, Howard University, Washington, DC
As the last year's hurricane season has made clear, these are topics of great practical importance to the general public!