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A publication of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center

Volume 4 • Issue 2 • AprIl 2014

Leading the Way in STEM EducationWith a focus on equitable student access and theme-based instruction, magnet school programs are in a unique position to answer our nation’s call to provide students with high-quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Successful STEM magnet programs prepare students to meet 21st century challenges, including global competition. However, implementing a new or revised STEM magnet program, particularly one that is fully integrated, can be challenging.

STEM implementation requires magnet leaders and staff to think and make decisions about goals for the

school, students, and community, as well as the skills they will develop in students. Success grows out of a concerted effort by administrators, teachers, and community stakeholders to support all magnet students in becoming college and career ready.

When implementing a STEM program, rethink students’ entire learning experiences—this includes approaches to instruction and assessment, uses of technology, exposure to real-world situations, and more. With innovation grounded in research-based practices, magnet programs can be at the forefront of advancing STEM education.

This issue of The Magnet Compass helps magnet leaders focus on factors that contribute to successful STEM program implementation. The articles offer perspectives from research and practice, and provide principles and strategies for creating a magnet program that fully integrates all four components of STEM.

Developing a STEM VisionA vision will lead the STEM magnet program to its goals and help staff communicate the school’s mission to stakeholders. To develop a vision, consider the following elements.

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Definition of STEM. Be specific about how STEM is characterized in your magnet program. Determine whether you will focus on a certain STEM discipline while integrating all four STEM components equally.

Program goals. Have an explicit plan on how you will deliver and achieve equitable STEM education and increase student performance so it is clear to all stakeholders.

Instructional and assessment methods. Think about classroom-based approaches such as project-based learning and rubric-based assessments, and identify teacher-focused supports such as professional learning communities.

Staff expertise and needs. Determine what staff members must know to implement the program effectively. Staff with specific expertise can provide peer coaching or other supports.

Available resources. Cultivate long-term partnerships with district staff and community members who have the time, technology, expertise, and other resources your magnet program needs.

Promoting diversity, academic excellence and equity through magnet schools

INSIDE THIS ISSUEPrinciples for Full Integration 3

Ensuring Equity in STEM Education 5

What Do We Mean by STEM? 6

Developing Intelligent Behaviors 8

REGULAR FEATURES

The Needle Point 2

Mapping the Way 4

Magnet Moments 7

A Message From the Magnet Schools Assistance Program

AprIl 2014 • pAge 2

Left to right: Anna Hinton, Director of Parental Options and Information; Brittany Beth, MSAP Program Officer, Management and Program Analyst; Tyrone Harris, MSAP Program Officer, Management and Program Analyst; and Justis Tuia, MSAP Program Officer, Management and Program Analyst .

The U.S. Department of Education shares the President’s goal to increase the number of STEM teachers, graduates, and authentic learning experiences for students over the next decade. Secretary Duncan echoed this

commitment when he said, “The President and I believe that ensuring our nation’s children are excelling in the STEM fields is essential for our nation’s prosperity, security, health, and quality of life.”

Delivering great STEM education means opening the doors to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to help all students become STEM-literate citizens—and to excite many of those students about pursuing STEM careers. It means seeing the connections among disciplines as well as using technology to enhance our understanding of the natural world and to solve new problems in engineering. STEM can make learning relevant for students and encourage innovations that help solve problems in our communities and our world.

Magnet schools are in a particularly strong position to provide diverse students with equitable access to STEM and other 21st century skills. By providing rigorous STEM education, magnet schools can help close opportunity gaps and help students from

traditionally underrepresented groups find their place in the increasingly competitive and innovative job market, where the fastest-growing careers require STEM skills.

However, establishing a magnet program that provides rigorous instruction requires sustained and targeted professional development, strong commitment from administrators and teachers, highly developed community partnerships, and rethinking instructional strategies. As you implement your program, consider partnering with local offices of federal agencies (e.g., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the Department of the Interior) because they all share the President’s STEM goals. Federal agencies can provide content, curriculum, and expertise to support your magnet program. Also utilize the resources available at http://ed.gov/stem.

STEM can make learning

relevant for students and

encourage innovations

that help solve problems

in our communities and

our world.

As you implement STEM programs in your districts, we encourage you to use the strategies presented here to make sure your program meets the Magnet Schools Assistance Program purposes of diversity, equity, and excellence. Together the magnet schools community can help our nation achieve its goals for STEM education.

This publication is produced by the Magnet Schools Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center (MSAP Center), a technical assistance resource for MSAP grantees and the general magnet schools community. The MSAP Center provides grantees and magnet schools with technical support by offering tools, information, and strategies to assist in planning, implementing, and sustaining programs. The ultimate goal of the MSAP Center is to help magnet schools provide communities with educational opportunities that promote diversity, academic excellence, and equity.

www .msapcenter .com

DIRECTOR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Manya Walton

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Elizabeth FordNancy Balow

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Maggie Bray

EDITORIAL SERVICES

Synergy Enterprises, Inc .

The views expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect the position or policy

of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and no official endorsement by ED should be inferred.

This newsletter was produced in whole or in part with funds from the U.S. Department of Education under

contract number: ED-OII-13-C-0073.

Principles for Full Integration Some STEM schools focus on just one discipline, usually science or math. While every lesson may not include obvious STEM concepts, to truly prepare students for STEM degrees and careers, magnet programs should integrate all four components throughout students’ education. Here are some principles for creating a fully integrated STEM magnet program.


Support curricular integration. Encourage staff and students to think of STEM as related parts of a whole by providing curricular and other supports for operating in the common areas

among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For example, an engineering design project can incorporate mathematical concepts, scientific investigation, and technology to conduct online research or design a product, resulting in a classroom that fully integrates STEM. In addition, emphasize STEM skills such as inquiry, investigation, analysis, and communication in all content areas.

Adapt instruction and assessment.Use project-based learning or a similar strategy

to move from teacher-driven instruction to student-centered learning, where students discover what it means to be a scientist, mathematician, or engineer. Use alternate assessments to capture a child’s evolving understanding of STEM concepts over time, and to help teachers identify and fill learning gaps.

Use STEM goals to drive the work.To demonstrate commitment to this exciting

program, everything you do should further STEM goals. Integrate these goals into the school vision, school improvement plans, core courses, extracurricular activities, partnerships, professional development, and anything else that contributes to school culture.

Demonstrate learning concepts to teachers.Integrate technology into professional development

so staff experience how technology facilitates learning. This often does more to ensure integration of technology in the classroom than simply teaching staff new technology features. Use group activities during staff meetings and professional development to provide hands-on training and insight on how project-based learning works. When possible, teach basic science and math concepts to non-STEM teachers.

Critical Components of Inclusive STEM Schools“Mapping the Way” spotlights exceptional, innovative researchers. This article features Sharon Lynch, Ph.D., Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the George Washington University. Lynch has been researching equity and science reform for more than 20 years. Her current research looks at critical components of inclusive STEM-focused high schools in a project titled Opportunity Structures for Preparation and Inspiration in STEM (OSPrI). Here she shares emerging best practices and strategies that magnet leaders can implement in their STEM programs.

courses. Others may include early entrance into community college or university courses.

Other key components include a strong yet collaborative administrative structure that communicates the vision to staff, students, and other stakeholders so “there is a unity in understanding what they’re trying to do,” Lynch said. The schools also offer strong support systems to students. For example, students are monitored using data systems and personalized learning structures so they receive tutoring before they fall behind. Advisory programs foster equality by advising students on financial aid in addition to other aspects of college because high-need students often “need help navigating the financial aid systems,” she explained.

Successful STEM schools create students who “have choices in how they view the world, are more informed citizens, and have knowledge and skills at their fingertips that allow them to live rich and full lives,” Lynch said. STEM education provides skills that will serve students well regardless of their career choices, as many non-STEM jobs now require STEM skills, such as the ability to evaluate evidence, present findings, and solve problems.

Sharon Lynch, Ph .D ., Professor


Inclusive STEM schools are STEM schools that serve students from underrepresented groups. They are particularly important because “young people, especially those in underrepresented groups, need a high-quality STEM education” to be ready for college and career. Inclusive STEM programs help increase social mobility and close achievement and economic gaps, according to Lynch, something that ties closely to magnet school goals.

The OSPrI project is conducting in-depth case studies of eight successful STEM high schools, many of which are magnet schools. Based on a literature review, Lynch and her team developed a list of 10 critical components and looked for evidence of those during document reviews and school visits. For example, they examined curriculum, instructional methods and strategies, the school’s STEM vision, and partnerships. “We also captured the characteristics of the teaching staff as individuals and how the teachers work together,” she said.

“Now we’re doing cross-case analysis,” she explained. Once that is complete, “We hope to offer the field a theory of action of how these schools work.” A few key aspects of the schools have already emerged as strong indicators of success.

First, the schools “are positive learning environments—kids like to be there,” Lynch said. In addition, each school “has a curriculum that is STEM-focused in some unique way. Calling yourself a STEM school is not enough.” For example, some schools take an interdisciplinary approach with combined

Be willing to tear down the school

walls and the normal school day to

get STEM experiences flowing into

the schools and students out into

the community. Sharon Lynch

Based on these findings, Lynch suggested that magnet leaders garner “support from the school district, the principal, and teachers” when implementing new STEM programs. In addition, “creatively use community resources and be willing to tear down the school walls and the normal school day to get STEM experiences flowing into the schools and students out into the community.” For example, provide field experiences, internships, and externships—anything that provides more hands-on opportunities that excite students about STEM concepts.

Lynch summarized, “STEM helps bring different groups of kids and different communities together under the same roof to learn challenging new ideas in a very open, safe way.” Working with equitable STEM programs to close opportunity gaps “gives kids and their families the agency to get ahead,” she concluded.

Ensuring Equity in STEM EducationHistorically, minorities and women have been underrepresented in the STEM disciplines. Magnet schools, with their commitment to providing high-quality instruction to diverse students, can help change this imbalance. These strategies can help your magnet program equitably serve and encourage all students to pursue their interests in STEM.

Establish high expectations for all learners.Tracking may keep minority, limited English proficient, or low-performing students out of

courses that encourage them to reach their full potential. This can be especially true of STEM courses, which often have prerequisites that some students cannot meet. Magnet programs should offer STEM courses as early as possible and to as many students as possible to eliminate this obstacle. Provide tutoring and other supports to students who have difficulty with certain courses.

Provide multiple entry points to STEM learning. Project-based learning is one way to establish high expectations for all learners because it enables

students to explore a topic through various lenses and to demonstrate what they have learned through different formats. Classroom projects should link to real-world situations that students can understand and see as relevant. Emphasize STEM literacy and its benefits, so students understand why these subjects are important to learn. Ensure multiple cultures are represented in classroom materials and projects, and, where possible, tailor these to the cultures and languages prominent in your magnet school.


Make cultural assumptions explicit. Provide cultural competency training that offers clarification and guidance to staff on

the underlying assumptions and cultural practices of the scientific process that may not be shared by all students. This training will help teachers recognize their own and their students’ biases and help students from different cultures understand and participate in scientific inquiry.

Develop peer teaching programs. Train older students to serve as teaching assistants in lower grades. For example, establish a for-credit

course that provides students with the necessary teaching skills. Also, train students from underrepresented populations who have been successful in STEM to tutor or mentor their peers.

Encourage underrepresented students to participate. Work to help staff understand that stereotypes about who is “good” at STEM are false, so students

get the message that everyone can succeed. Provide out-of-school activities that excite and interest students to encourage participation. Consider holding events specifically for underrepresented groups to help them identify with STEM role models who are like themselves. Train families on the concepts and importance of STEM education so they can encourage their students to succeed in this field.


What Do We Mean by STEM?The definitions for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics may seem obvious, but they are not always. The way the subjects are defined by a magnet school and its staff impacts how integration will be viewed. Use the definitions below to broaden the view of these content areas, and discover links between them. When staff and students view the subjects in this way, full integration becomes easier.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology education involves instruction on creating and using technology in its broadest sense—the tools that humans have created over the course of history to manipulate their environment. Technology is an integral part of both engineering and science, and often results from advances in these fields.

SCIENCE

Science is the study of the natural world and the process of inquiry people use to investigate and learn about the world. The scientific process often involves math and technology. Knowledge from science informs the engineering design process.

INTEGRATION

Integration should occur at all levels—in curriculum design, professional development sessions, and activities with community partners.

Logic and analysis skills have value in math and other subject areas, and in real-life experiences. Viewing technology in its broadest sense allows for easier connections to other subjects such as social studies, history, or English language arts. Likewise, engineering themes of innovation and design translate well to other subject areas.

ENGINEERING

Engineering is both a body of knowledge about product design and creation, and a process for solving problems in a set, formalized way under certain constraints. The other aspects of STEM are easily incorporated into engineering lessons.

MATHEMATICS

Mathematics is the study of numbers and shapes, and the relationships between them. Math is key to understanding and creating projects in science and engineering.

Adapted from the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council’s Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects (2009). Retrieved January 22, 2014, from http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12635.

Achieving Excellence in STEM Education for All”Magnet Moments” spotlights personnel from districts and programs that have effectively implemented innovative ideas or research-based practices. This article features Cathy Kindem, Ed.D., Innovative Education Programs Coordinator in Independent School District 196 (ISD 196) in Rosemount, Minnesota. Kindem discusses strategies magnet leaders can use when implementing equitable STEM programs.

Cathy Kindem, Programs Coordinator


“STEM is a priority as we drive this country forward,” Kindem asserted. “A STEM magnet program allows for a broader perspective and gives students a reason to learn, because they see themselves as contributing to actual problems.”

While many people understand the benefits of STEM, implementing a fully

integrated, rigorous program can be a challenge. “Make sure teachers understand and are confident in the distinct habits of mind and practices of science, engineering, math, and technology,” Kindem suggested. Also, provide professional development on writing integrated curricula. Integrated lessons should encourage students to “support their ideas through reasoning and data analysis, and to present their findings.”

Magnet staff may also need to rethink teaching and learning concepts. “Learning is not something that is done to students, but should be done with them,” she stated; teachers should guide students and encourage them to ask questions and make connections. Incorporate the idea of a growth mind-set into the school so that students and teachers “change their beliefs about what it means to be smart—that smart is not something you are, it is something you become,” she suggested.

Magnet schools, with their inherent focus on desegregation and equity, are in a unique position to ensure that underrepresented students achieve success in STEM. Kindem has worked with her district’s STEM schools and partner

organizations to increase staff knowledge about equity issues in STEM and how to address them. Kindem suggested offering after-school activities or events specifically for groups underrepresented in STEM and bringing in STEM role

models whom students can identify with. These role models help students “see themselves as part of the STEM story,” she said. Kindem also suggests “looking at the materials in the program for disparities and inequities, and regularly looking at the data to understand achievement disparities and pipeline issues with gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic levels so that those groups can be targeted specifically.”

Kindem urged STEM and magnet leaders to “make it fun and exciting.” She continued, “Developing a magnet school brings innovation to a community, to a school, to a district. You are empowering teachers and students to thrive in a changing environment.” Each STEM school will be slightly different, so feel free to think innovatively about implementing research-based practices.

In closing, Kindem stated that STEM benefits everyone; it “provides teachers as well as students with valuable knowledge and training.” Even students who will not pursue STEM careers will develop the skills to be successful lifelong learners and STEM-literate citizens. STEM concepts and habits of mind can “help students succeed and face the challenges of the future,” she concluded.

A STEM magnet program gives

students a broader perspective

and a reason to learn.

Cathy Kindem

More InformationFor more about STEM, visit http://msapcenter .com/resource .aspx .

Developing Intelligent BehaviorsOne way to integrate scientific concepts schoolwide is to guide how students think by helping them develop intelligent behaviors. Link these behaviors to aspects of STEM and infuse them in all staff and student interactions, not just curriculum and assessments. Focusing on intelligent behaviors rather than IQ scores will encourage staff to view all students as capable of intelligence and high achievement.

Here are some intelligent behaviors to consider. Each behavior relates to the others, contributing to a well-rounded student.

Thinking flexibly. Students should be able to adapt their thinking to the situation at hand. Metacognition, or thinking about thinking, is another way to help students recognize how they arrived at a solution and how they could improve it.

Being inquisitive. The scientific process identifies a problem and then investigates possible solutions. Students should always ask “Why?” and always be open to new learning.

Learning from past experiences. Students should be able to apply past experiences when they approach a new problem to identify a better solution more quickly.

Being empathetic. Students should understand and accept people from all backgrounds. This is particularly important in magnet STEM programs that seek to expand opportunities for populations underrepresented in STEM fields.

Creating and innovating. The scientific and engineering processes require persistence in creating and innovating. Encourage these qualities to move students toward becoming scientific thinkers.

Achieving accuracy. Students should consider it unacceptable to do less than their best. For example, they should communicate their ideas as clearly and precisely as possible so that they are easily understood by all.

Persistence. Students should not quit at the first sign of difficulty but continue until they reach a solution; this may mean adjusting the approach.


BibliographyBarakos, L., Lujan, V., and Strang, C. (2012). Science, technology,

engineering, mathematics (STEM): Catalyzing change amid the confusion. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on Instruction. Retrieved January 22, 2014, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED534119.pdf.

Capraro, M. M., Capraro, R. M., and Lewis, C.W. (2013). Improving Urban Schools: Equity and Access in K-12 STEM Education for All Students. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Committee on Highly Successful Schools or Programs in K-12 STEM Education. (2011). Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13158.

Costa, A. L., and Kallick, B. (2008). Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Katehi, L., Pearson, G., and Feder, M. (2009). Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects. National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved January 22, 2014, from http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12635.

Successful STEM Education. (n.d.). Improving STEM Curriculum and Instruction: Engaging Students and Raising Standards. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://successfulstemeducation.org/resources/improving-stem-curriculum-and-instruction-engaging-students-and-raising-standards.

Successful STEM Education. (n.d.). Raising the Bar: Increasing STEM Achievement for All Students. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://successfulstemeducation.org/resources/raising-bar-increasing-stem-achievement-all-students.

The George Washington University. Opportunity Structures for Preparation and Inspiration in STEM. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://ospri.research.gwu.edu/.

For technical assistance, contact the MSAP Center.

Call toll-free: 1-866-997-6727

E-mail: [email protected]

Visit: www.msapcenter.com

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