| (2) | As funding allows, the director of the STEM Action Center shall:
| (a) | support high quality professional development for educators regarding STEM education; |
| (b) | ensure that the STEM Action Center acts as a research and development center for STEM education through a request for proposals process described in Section 9-22-107; |
| (c) | review and acquire STEM education related materials and products for:
| (i) | high quality professional development; |
| (ii) | assessment, data collection, analysis, and reporting; and |
| (iii) | public school instruction; |
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| (d) | facilitate participation in interscholastic STEM related competitions, fairs, camps, and STEM education activities; |
| (e) | engage private industry in the development and maintenance of the STEM Action Center and STEM Action Center projects; |
| (f) | use resources to bring the latest STEM education learning tools into public education classrooms; |
| (g) | identify at least 10 best practice innovations used in Utah that have resulted in a measurable improvement in student performance or outcomes in STEM areas; |
| (h) | identify best practices being used outside the state and, as appropriate, develop and implement selected practices through a pilot program; |
| (i) | identify:
| (i) | learning tools for kindergarten through grade 6 identified as best practices; and |
| (ii) | learning tools for grades 7 through 12 identified as best practices; |
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| (j) | collect data on Utah best practices, including best practices from public education, higher education, the Utah Education and Telehealth Network, and other STEM related entities; |
| (k) | keep track of the following items related to best practices described in Subsection (2)(j):
| (i) | how the best practices data are being used; and |
| (ii) | how many individuals are using the data, including the demographics of the users, if available; |
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| (l) | as appropriate, join and participate in a national STEM network; |
| (m) | work cooperatively with the State Board of Education to designate schools as STEM schools, where the schools have agreed to adopt a plan of STEM implementation in alignment with criteria set by the State Board of Education and the board; |
| (n) | support best methods of high quality professional development for STEM education in kindergarten through grade 12, including methods of high quality professional development that reduce cost and increase effectiveness, to help educators learn how to most effectively implement best practice learning tools in classrooms; |
| (o) | recognize achievement in the STEM competitions, fairs, and camps described in Subsection (2)(d); |
| (p) | send student results from STEM competitions, fairs, and camps described in Subsection (2)(d) to media and ask the media to report on them; |
| (q) | develop and distribute STEM information to parents of students in the state; |
| (r) | support targeted high quality professional development for improved instruction in STEM education, including:
| (i) | improved instructional materials that are dynamic and engaging for students; |
| (ii) | use of applied instruction; and |
| (iii) | introduction of other research-based methods that support student achievement in STEM areas; and |
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| (s) | ensure that an online college readiness assessment tool be accessible by:
| (i) | public education students; and |
| (ii) | higher education students. |
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