This week in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math news, a new report released by the White House details the efforts the Obama administration has made to improve STEM education since 2009.

Such efforts include Obama’s initiative to train 100,000 STEM teachers by 2021 and his $4 billion budget proposal to get computer science taught in all K-12 schools.

The report also highlighted Obama’s first-ever White House science fairs:

"The President has hosted the first-ever White House Science Fairs—six in all—which celebrate student winners of math, science, and robotics competitions. The President also hosted the first-ever Maker Faire in 2014, which showcased students and adults accessing the tools and skills necessary to design and make just about anything,” the report said.

Read more about the report here. 

Early Education Platform Gets Shark Tank Investment 

Early education platform brightwheel impressed the hard-to-please investors that participate in the hit TV show Shark Tank last week.

Brighthweel is a platform with many functions useful to both educators and parents; its technology enables parents to be updated with their child’s learning while allowing for teachers to keep track of student progress in one easy place.

Brightwheel also helps daycares and early education centers collect payment with ease through its digital service among other functions as well.

Upcoming National Report Card Could Reveal More About Maker Movement

The first-ever national report card for technology and engineering literacy will be released May 17.

The report will reveal data about how students are learning about the respective fields, and could reveal a lot more about how the maker movement is encouraging students to build and create.

Robotics Competition Draws Thousands of Students

Participation in robotics clubs and activities in schools is taking off, as evident by the fact that a St. Louis robotics competition drew over 29,000 student participants.

The three-day long The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology featured diverse groups of students who traveled from all over the country and beyond to design, build and program their own robot to compete in tasks and games.

Nicole Gorman, Education World Senior Contributor