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PREPARING FOR A PLTW SITE VISIT:
Lisa Woodrum and Ann HermanFrancis Howell North High School
A COUNSELOR’S PERSPECTIVE
PLTW at FHSD
What are students and teachers saying?
“I’ve learned a lot about computers.” “I love all the fun activities that we do.” “Kids are really excited about the
curriculum.” “I have kids that are meeting me at the
door when I unlock the door in the morning.”
“I think I will be really prepared compared to other kids next year (in college).”
http://www.schooltube.com/video/a1b51579ba3e1cac9909/FHSD-PLTW
PLTW and the Professional School Counselor
Professional School Counselors
(PSC’s) play an integral role in the PLTW certification
process.
How can PSC’s at your school contribute to the certification process?
What should PSC’s focus on throughout the three-year certification process?
What can PSC’s expect during the site visit?
How can PSC’s continue to support the PLTW program after certification?
PSC’s Role: An Overview
Provide Education about PLTW Educate Others
Attend PLTW Conferences Educate Self
PLTW Partnership Team Collaborate with Community
Provide Education about PLTW
The counselor helps to educate students, staff,
and the community about
the PLTW program.
PLTW website Provide informational
brochures and other marketing materials
Add PLTW information to course catalog and website
Host STEM-related guest speakers and activities
Share PLTW information with middle school students
Spend time in PLTW classroom
Attend PLTW Conferences
The PLTW certification
process requires that at least one
counselor attends a PLTW conference
annually.
Counselor conferences are designed to provide information about PLTW programs and student recruitment
Typically take place in the Fall and are hosted by PLTW University Affiliates
Appropriate for counselors, post-secondary advisors, administrators, teachers
Be Actively Engaged in the PLTW Partnership Team
A Partnership Team supports the
program and meets on a regular basis
with a specific agenda and goals
to accomplish.
Membership should include at least one counselor, site and district level administrators, persons working in diverse business, industry, and education roles.
Collaboration with counselors helps ensure that the team’s goals are consistent with the academic and career planning needs of students.
The PLTW Site Visit: An Overview
The PLTW certification team visits PLTW classroom(s) to observe students work, interview students, and check the equipment.
The PLTW certification team visits with school counselors and PLTW teachers.
The PLTW certification team visits with the Partnership Team.
PSC’s Role During the Site Visit
PSC’s will be interviewed
without administrators or
PLTW teachers present.
Classroom experience Program promotion
and student invitation Diversity of student
population Knowledge of middle
school PLTW program Understanding of
engineering in today’s local and global society
Interview Questions to Consider:Professional Development
Have you attended a PLTW conference?
Have you been on the PLTW website to get information?
Describe how you think the PLTW program fits into the overall school?
Interview Questions to Consider:Students
How are students identified for the PLTW program? What strategies have you used to recruit girls and
underrepresented minorities into the program? Describe how girls and underrepresented minorities
are supported and/or encouraged to be comfortable and successful in the program.
How would you describe the PLTW program to parents who are considering it for their son or daughter?
What kinds of extra help are available to those students who struggle in PLTW and other academic classes?
What would you consider the most challenging aspect in recruiting and retaining students into the program?
Interview Questions to Consider:Post-Secondary
What role do you take in helping student develop a four-year plan of study? Post-secondary plan of study?
How do you involve parents in the guidance/advisement process?
How does the career planning process address the student’s career aspirations?
How do you use data to help develop a program of study?
How do you help students see the relationship between the courses they take and their future plans?
What dual credit or post secondary articulation opportunities are available to the students?
PSC’s Continued Support After Certification
How will PSC’s in your school
provide ongoing support of the
PLTW program?
Utilize MAP, Explore scores to invite students to experience PLTW intro course
Facilitate high school students visiting middle schools annually
Describe the PLTW classroom experience to students and families
Connect college/career pathways to PLTW courses
PLTW and Diversity: The Facts
PLTW programs are distributed across the entire economic spectrum including the least affluent schools.
The vast majority of PLTW programs need to add or subtract only one or two students from any race/ethnic group to achieve proportional representation.
The biomedical sciences curriculum enrolls about 70% female students.
Females make up nearly 24% of all PLTW students.
Source: PLTW Student Outcomes Fact Sheethttp://www.pltw.org/sites/default/files/PLTW%20Student%20Outcomes_1.pdf
Examine Diversity in Your School
Does your school’s PLTW
program enrollment reflect your
school’s diversity?
Collaborate with teachers and administrators to develop a plan for improving the diversity of your school’s PLTW program.
Extracurricular activities showcasing their designs
Students and guest speakers presenting to eighth grade students
Personal invitations
PLTW and Gender Equity: Retention Is Not The Problem
Women earn over half of all bachelor’s degrees, but only about 20% of degrees in engineering.
Women who enter engineering programs earn degrees at rates equal to or higher than those for men.
Civil, environmental, and chemical engineering are among the disciplines in which women are more likely to complete their studies than male students.
Recruitment, not retention, is the problem!
Cohen, C., & Deterding, N. (2009). Widening the net: National estimates of gender disparities in education. Journal of Engineering Education, July, 211-226.
PLTW and Gender Equity:Early Career Education is Key
Engineering topics and objectives should be explicitly incorporated into K-12 standards, curriculum, and testing
Robotics and other STEM activities should actively recruit females at the middle school level
Students need a better understanding of the many paths to engineering
Invite female students with strong math/science ability to consider a PLTW course in 9th grade
Provide information about STEM experiences within the community Missouri S & T, Saint Louis University, and Washington University sponsor
engineering summer camps for females Females often show an interest in helping others
Students already know engineers build skyscrapers and bridges Do they know that engineers also design prosthetic limbs, dental implants,
accessibility devices for persons with disabilities?
PLTW and Connection to Common Core
Throughout PLTW, students learn and apply the design process, acquire
strong teamwork and communication proficiency, and
develop organizational, critical-thinking, and problem-
solving skills
PLTW provides real life experiences to students
This approach mirrors the Common Core curriculum
Final Thoughts for Counselors
Partner with PLTW teachers Learn about the program and
be engaged in the certification process
Be creative in recruiting females and underrepresented minorities
The site visit interview is an opportunity to collaborate and highlight the vital role of counselors in the certification process
Lisa Woodrum
Professional School Counselor
Counseling Department Chairperson
Francis Howell North High School
Ann Herman
Professional School Counselor
Francis Howell North High School
Questions?
