About
What is an AOE?
The Academy of Engineering is a dynamic collaborative between AOE partners, schools, parents, corporations, mentors, local advisory boards, two- and four-year colleges/universities, and community resources.
Academies of Engineering are designed to answer an acute need for well-trained engineers by educating high school students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as preparing them for postsecondary engineering colleges and careers. By 2012, the AOE will open a national network of 110 Academies of Engineering in urban areas.
Mission
The Academy of Engineering will prepare a more diverse group of students to meet national college readiness and national learning standards for engineering education at the college and university level and for engineering-related careers.
Objectives
- Recruit and encourage more high school students to choose careers in engineering and engineering technology;
- Increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities (African American, American Indian and Latino) in the study of engineering; and
- Prepare high school graduates to enter postsecondary engineering and engineering technology programs fully competent in required mathematics, science, and technical subjects.
Core Beliefs
- The national shortage of engineers, coupled with the increasing diversity of our population, has made minority representation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers more than a matter of basic fairness.
- Diversity drives innovation and its absence imperils our designs, our products, and, most of all, our creativity–all components of competitiveness.
- All children can learn and achieve in the study of STEM at any grade level, K-12.
- The achievement of increased diverse participation in, and improved student perception of, contemporary engineering resides in the successful implementation of rigorous and relevant teaching and learning processes.
- The small learning community model, organized around the engineering theme which offers rigorous engineering instruction, reinforced by the integration of relevant core academic teaching and learning, provides the best approach for secondary student success in engineering study.
- Internships teach students about the workplace and themselves in the world of work, helping them be successful in school and providing them with career skills for future workforce success.
- Gender, race or limited financial resources should not be barriers to post-secondary studies for any student in the pursuit of engineering and related STEM degrees.
Selfless and altruistic partnership with business and industry, government, educational institutions, foundations, and nonprofit agencies is essential in the achievement of the Academy of Engineering (AOE) mission.
