A Colorado-based public policy organization has launched two Web databases intended to help policymakers and others stimulate work force development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and for those establishing programs for advanced skills in career and technical education (CTE).

Last week, the Education Commission of the States (ECS), located in Denver, introduced http://www.ecs.org/hsdb-stem, which is the Web site for the STEM database, and http://www.ecs.org/hsdb-cte, which is the site for the CTE database.

The STEM database offers information from 50 states on 10 benchmarks defining quality and access to high school-level STEM programs. The database also provides information on state programs targeted at STEM achievement among low-income, female and minority students — groups seen as underrepresented in STEM classrooms. The CTE database offers 50-state data on 13 state policy benchmarks associated with program access and quality, including: the use of employability skill assessment tools, the inclusion of CTE courses in graduation requirements, and funding sources.

“STEM and career and technical education (CTE) both address burning issues for policymakers today. STEM and CTE programs respond to the outcry for more highly-qualified workers to meet growing state and national technical work force needs. At the same time, CTE and STEM courses answer many high school students’ calls to bring relevance and real-world applications into the classroom,” says Jennifer Dounay, an ECS senior policy analyst and manager of the organization's High School Policy Center.

Formed in 1965, the ECS is a nonpartisan organization established by the states, territories and the U.S. Congress to assist state governors, legislators, state education officials and educators to discover, develop, and implement public policies to boost student learning at all levels. In recent years, ECS officials have focused on how, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the United States “continues to suffer from a shortage of qualified IT workers with flexible and portable skills who can readily adapt and respond to ever-changing IT demands and processes.”