98 



cation of technicians for the high-performance workplace. Please give us a 

 progress report on this relatively new program and describe how the in- 

 creasing funding will be used. 



ANSWER: The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program was estab- 

 lished in FY 1994 to promote exemplary improvement in advanced technological 

 education at the national and regional level through support of curriculum develop- 

 ment, enhancement of instructional workforces, and program improvement for tech- 

 nicians being educated for the high performance workplace. The ATE program has 

 provided support for Centers of Excellence in Advanced Technological Education and 

 model projects. Six Centers of Excellence of national scope have been established in 

 manufacturing (Ohio); natural resource development (Oregon); information tech- 

 nology (Washington); mechanical, telecommunications, and electronics technology 

 (New Jersey); environmental technology (Iowa); and engineering technology via dis- 

 tance education (Texas). 



• All of the Centers involve industry in substantial ways. For example, both Boeing 



and Microsoft, and numerous other software firms, are working with the Wash- 

 ington Center in information technology by providing industry personnel and 

 significant financial resources. Other large industries such as General Motors 

 and Weyerhauser as well as many small and medium sized firms are supporting 

 other Centers. 



• All are cooperative efforts which build on leadership from 2-year colleges acting in 



partnership with 4-year colleges and universities, secondary schools, business, 

 industry, and government. 



• The impact of the Centers is large. For example, the Washington Center involves 



over 5,000 ATE college students, 350 ATE faculty and high school teachers, and 

 2,700 high school students. The Environmental Technology Center (Iowa) in- 

 volves over 500 community colleges and 10,000 faculty and teachers in their dis- 

 semination efforts. They are directly reaching 300 community college teachers, 

 300 pre-college teachers, and 5,500 students. 

 In addition to the six Centers of Excellence, the ATE program supported 30 

 projects in advanced technological education in FY 1994 and 37 projects in FY 1995. 



• These include projects in biotechnology, chemical technology, manufacturing, elec- 



tronics, geographical information systems, environmental technology, tele- 

 communications and other engineering technologies, computer and information 

 technology, as well as science and mathematics core subjects for technicians, 

 such as mathematics and physics that undergird a highly educated workforce. 



• In addition, the ATE project supports leadership activities that examine national 



issues in technological fields. 



• The first year projects initiated in FY 1995 have engaged approximately 2,340 



teachers and faculty and 234,000 students. The three year impact is projected 

 to be over 7,000 teachers and almost 700,000 students in two-year colleges and 

 secondary schools. 



• Large industries such as Nynex, Siemens, and Intel as well as numerous other 



large, medium, and small companies are integrally involved in projects. 

 Project Examples: 



• Prince George's Community College in Maryland is leading a consortium of 12 



community colleges each linked to a NASA Center to conduct faculty enhance- 

 ment workshops in remote sensing, image processing, and geographic informa- 

 tion systems. They are also developing an earth systems science course and 

 interdisciplinary modules which can be infused into science and technology 

 courses. 



• Miami University-Middletown in Ohio is leading a consortium of two-year colleges 



and secondary schools along with many chemical manufacturing companies to 

 develop curriculum, instructional materials, and new chemical technology pro- 

 grams as well as faculty and teacher enhancement programs and student out- 

 reach to improve chemical technician education. 



• Johns Hopkins University is leading a consortium which represents 5 different 



consortia of community colleges (including over 130 community colleges directly) 

 to develop instructional modules in science, mathematics, manufacturing tech- 

 nology, and technical communications to infuse into courses that comprise a 

 broadly accepted, portable associate's degree in manufacturing. 



• Texas State Technical College at Waco is leading a multi-state effort to develop 



curricula and laboratory materials for student learning in advanced tech- 

 nologies for 15 occupational areas supporting American machining and machine 

 tool industries. 



