STEM education and resilience are connected through one of the most fundamental features of genuine scientific and engineering work: the expectation that things will not work the first time. In a well-designed STEM program, failure is not an accident or an aberration. It is a built-in part of the process, and learning to respond to it productively is one of the most valuable things a child can develop during their elementary years.

The idea that STEM and literacy pull in different directions is one of the most persistent misconceptions in education. It leads some parents to worry that a STEM-focused school will neglect their child’s reading and writing development, and it leads some schools to treat literacy and STEM as separate tracks that rarely intersect.