National Landscape of STEM Education

&West Tennessee STEM

CollaboratoryAlfred L. Hall, Ph.D.

Director, West TN STEM Collaboratory HubAssistant Professor of Science Education

The University of Memphis

STEM Education• Science• Technology • Engineering • Mathematics

STEM Education

STEM does not just imply content knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but encompasses a way of teaching and learning that is project-based, collaborative, focused on solving real world problems, and integrated across disciplines.

STEM graduates will be skilled at quantitative reasoning, critical analysis, and problem solving, and be ready to enter the workforce in a 21st century

global economy.

Times are Changing. Have We?“Students today can’t prepare bark to calculate their problems. They depend on slates, which are more expensive. What will they do when the slate is dropped and it breaks? They will be unable to write.”

Teachers Conference, 1703

Times are Changing. Have We?“Students today depend on paper too much. They don’t know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean the slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?”

Principal’s publication, 1815

Times are Changing. Have We?“Students today depend too much on ink. They don’t know how to use a pen knife to sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil.”

From the National Association ofTeachers Journal, 1907

Times are Changing. Have We?“Students today depend too much on store-bought ink. They don’t know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or cipher until their next trip to the settlement. This is a sad commentary on modern education.”

From The Rural American Teacher, 1928

Times are Changing. Have We?“Students depend on these expensive fountain pens. They can no longer write with a straight pen and nib. We parents must not allow them to wallow in such luxury to the detriment of how to cope in the business world, which is not so extravagant.”

From the Parent Teachers Association Gazette, 1941

Times are Changing. Have We?“Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices and then throw them away. The American values of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Businesses and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries.”

From Federal Teachers, 1950

Times are Changing. Have We?

THE WORLD IS FLATTom Friedman

STEM Workforce

• Dr. Nicole Smith – Commissioned Study, January 2012Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce

• STEM jobs will grow from 6.8 million to 8 million by 2018– Jobs requiring STEM competencies – 45 million

• STEM will provide 2.4 million job openings in 2018– 1.1 million net new jobs and 1.3 million replacement jobs

• 92% of STEM jobs will require some postsecondary education and training

• For women and minorities, STEM is the best equal opportunity employer (although pay gaps still exist)

STEM Career Pathway Leverages (GCEW)

• For every 100 students who enter college and obtain a Bachelors Degree, 19 will graduate with a BS in STEM– 10 of those graduates will work in STEM after college;– 8 of them still working in STEM 10 years after college

• 63% of Assoc. degree graduates in STEM earn more than BA graduates in non-STEM

• 65% of BS in STEM earn more than MA in non-STEM• 47% of BS in STEM earn more than PhDs in non-

STEM• Certificate holders in engineering earn more than

Assoc. degree graduates in business and more than BA degree holders in education

Next Generation Science Standards

Conceptual Shifts• K-12 Science Education Should Reflect the

Interconnected Nature of Science as it is Practiced and Experienced in the Real World.

• The Next Generation Science Standards are student performance expectations – NOT curriculum.

• The science concepts build coherently from K-12.• The NGSS Focus on Deeper Understanding of Content

as well as Application of Content.• Science and Engineering are Integrated in the NGSS

from K–12.• The NGSS and Common Core State Standards (English

Language Arts and Mathematics) are Aligned.

A FRAMEWORK FOR

K-12 SCIENCE

EDUCATION

Released July 19, 2011

http://www7.nationalacademies.org

National Research Council

Framework Goals: By 12th Grade…

All students… •have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science•possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on related issues•are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives•are able to continue to learn about science outside school•have the skills to enter careers of their choice, including (but not limited to) careers in science, engineering, and technology

Currently,

“K-12 science education in the U.S. fails to achieve these outcomes, in part because it is not organized systematically across multiple years of school, emphasizes discrete facts with a focus on breadth over depth, and does not provide students with engaging opportunities to experience how science is actually done. The framework is designed to directly address and overcome these weaknesses.”

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

To address these concerns,“A coherent and consistent approach throughout grades K-12 is key to realizing the vision for science and engineering education embodied in the framework: that students, over multiple years of school, actively engage in science and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of each field’s disciplinary core ideas.”

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

Tennessee’s STEM

Strategic PlanSummary

Executive Summary

• Will Tennessee have the competitive and skilled workforce it needs to prosper in a STEM-driven economy?

• Today’s students – Tennessee’s future workforce – must be comfortable with ideas, abstractions, analysis, and synthesis through STEM literacy and proficiency.

• Forecasts based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics project Tennessee will have 100,000 STEM jobs in 2018 (14,000 more than in 2008).

• The Strategic Plan calls for the alignment and coordination of STEM education policies, practices, and partners across Tennessee so that all efforts can work efficiently to achieve the same outcomes.

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Vision for STEM in Tennessee

• Tennessee’s students will lead the nation in STEM knowledge, skills, and practices as critical and creative thinkers, problem solvers, innovators, and collaborators to compete and succeed in the state’s emerging innovation economy.

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Theory of Change for STEM in Tennessee• If Tennessee fully coordinates and aligns

STEM policies, practices, and partners to increase student interest, participation, and achievement in STEM; expands student access to effective STEM teachers and leaders; reduces its STEM talent and skills gap; and builds community awareness and support for STEM, then it will lead the nation in STEM-talent development.

WEST TENNESSEE STEM COLLABORATORY

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West Tennessee STEM Collaboratory• Goal

– To provide West Tennessee students with access to an education that will promote the skills necessary to pursue successful STEM careers in the 21st century workforce

STEM Collaboratory Objectives1. To enable and encourage STEM learning for all2. To provide enhanced STEM learning that

incorporates project-based, technology-integrated strategies with expectations for student success

3. To integrate STEM across the curriculum4. To incubate, deploy, and share innovative and best

practices5. To establish robust partnerships that reflect unique

community/regional attributes and needs6. To design the Platform School to facilitate

sustainability

Role of the STEM Hub• To support the successful operation of the Platform

School• To assemble and facilitate utilization of curricula

aligned with state and common core standards that effectively engage K-12 students in STEM learning

• To create a sustainable culture of sharing and collaboration in the local and state STEM community through the establishment of productive partnerships among K-12 and IHE STEM faculty, industry representatives, and community organizations

Partner Engagement• Higher Education Institutions

– Coordinated engagement with LEA’s– Provide professional development– Assist in fund-raising efforts

• Local Education Agencies– Identify initial partner institution and teachers– Identify performance metric(s)– Complete an MOU within 1 year

STEM Master Teachers• Teacher Leadership Program

– 12 teachers for Year 1 – 30 teachers for Year 2 – Professional Development Modules– Survey of Teachers and Supervisors

• Leadership Opportunities– Conduct STEM education training sessions– Lead community conversations– Identification and documentation of STEM GEMS

STEM GEMS• Great Experiences for Motivating Students

– Schools, Teachers, STEM programs or partnerships

– Innovative, creative, relative STEM learning opportunities that engage students and pique their interest in STEM careers

• Identification and Documentation Effort– Video clips– Student and Teacher Interviews– Parent and Community vignettes

STEM Online Curriculum• STEM Curriculum Resources and Instructional Guides

for rural districts and schools• To be developed by

– UM lead faculty in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT)

– STEM Teachers from Rural LEAs in NW and SW TN– STEM Professionals from business and industry

• Free Curriculum Resource to advance the teaching and learning of STEM for all students

Questions?• Stephanie Ivey – Project Director

(ssalyers@memphis.edu)

• Alfred Hall – Hub Director (alhall1@memphis.edu)

• Peter Bridson – Hub Partnership Coordinator (pbridson@memphis.edu)