Page 65 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

50 STANDARDS FOR K–12 ENGINEERING EDUCATION?

Rutherford was appointed by President Carter to be assistant director of the National Science
Foundation, where he was responsible for all science, mathematics, and engineering education
programs and federal programs to improve the public understanding of science. When the new
U.S. Department of Education was launched, Dr. Rutherford was appointed the first Assistant
Secretary for Research and Improvement, where he oversaw the National Institute of Education,
National Center for Educational Statistics, Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Educa-
tion, and federal programs supporting libraries and the development of educational technologies.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Rutherford was a professor of science education at Harvard University
and New York University, and earlier still, he was a high school science teacher in California.
During his academic career, he directed several major projects, including Harvard Project
Physics, Project City Science, and the Carnegie Science–Humanities Education Project. Dr.
Rutherford was educated in the California public schools and earned degrees from the University
of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and Harvard University.

Christian D. Schunn is an associate professor of psychology and a research scientist at the
Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. His basic research
involves studying experts and novices in complex domains like science, engineering, subma-
rining, and weather forecasting to develop theoretical and computational models of the cognition
underlying their performance and the difficulties in developing expert-like performance. He then
conducts applied research to develop and evaluate tools and curricula informed by the results.
Recently, his basic research has involved interdisciplinary collaboration with mechanical and
industrial engineers on the nature of cognition underlying innovative engineering design
processes, for example, the interaction between the physical design environment and analogical
reasoning in highly innovative design groups. At the applied level, he has developed design-
based learning curricula for middle and high school science classrooms that have been found to
be more successful than existing hands-on and textbook science curricula at teaching basic sci-
ence concepts and scientific reasoning skills and in stimulating interest in careers in engineering,
science, and technology. Dr. Schunn received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in
1995.

Susan Sclafani, director of State Services for the National Center on Education and the Econ-
omy (NCEE), works with a coalition of states committed to following the recommendations in
Tough Choices or Tough Times (NCEE, 2007), beginning with the implementation of the Board
Examinations System in high schools. From 2005 through 2008, as managing director of Chart-
well Education Group, LLC, Dr. Sclafani worked with governmental and nonprofit organizations
on education projects in the United States, India, the Middle East, and China. She also led inter-
national benchmarking visits for states and school districts to learn from the best practices of
high-performing nations. As Assistant Secretary of Education for Vocational and Adult Educa-
tion and Counselor to the Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005, Dr. Sclafani was the U.S.
representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation. While at the Department of Education, she created the Mathematics and
Science Initiative, the High School Redesign Initiative, and the E-Language Learning Project
with the Chinese Ministry of Education. Prior to serving in government, Dr. Sclafani held a
variety of leadership positions, including chief of staff for Education Services for the Houston
Independent School District. From 1975 to 1983, she helped start, and then led, the High School
for Engineering Professions, a magnet school in Houston.

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