Developing a Model of STEM-Focused Elementary Schools · harvesting of vegetables, herbs, and...

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Developing a Model of STEM-Focused Elementary Schools July 2019 eSTEM Project Webinars


Agenda

▪ Introduction

▪ Model of eSTEM Schools

▪ Critical Components of eSTEM Schools

▪ Ask an Expert Principal

▪ Resources and Wrap-Up


Discussion

During the webinar:

▪ Post questions in the chat area

After the webinar, visit: www.inclusivestemschools.org

▪ select webinar

▪ Follow up discussion with expert principals

▪ Materials from this webinar

▪ Resources shared by principals (in the resources section)

http://www.inclusivestemschools.org/



Introduction


Participating Schools

▪ Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, Las Vegas NV

▪ Weaver Lake Elementary, Maple Lake MN

▪ Summit Road STEM Elementary, Reynoldsburg OH

▪ Brentwood Magnet Elementary School of Engineering, Raleigh NC

▪ Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. Elementary Center for Mathematics and Engineering,St. Petersburg FL


eSTEM Project Design

▪ Designed to provide insights into successful STEM-rich elementary schools

▪ Purpose is to inform other schools interested in adopting a STEM focused model or improving their STEM teaching and learning, and to advance knowledge of STEM-focused school design

▪ Grew out of our research into inclusive STEM-focused high schools

▪ Multiple case studies (Yin, 2003) and cross case analysis (Stake, 2006)

▪ Produced narrative school profile for each case study, available on the website

▪ Resulting product is a synthesis model, summarizing the 17 critical components of our 5 STEM-focused elementary school exemplars



Model of eSTEM Schools








Critical Components

of eSTEM Schools



Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary▪ Students randomly selected through

lottery▪ School demographics reflect diversity

of the neighborhood▪ All students engage in collaborative

engineering design challenges▪ Lessons include hands-on

and interactive experiences, providing entry points for students into a culminating design challenge

Foundational Components

Inclusive STEM Mission

The school has a prominent theme

of inclusive STEM learning that

serves to organize the school design and decision making. The school’s

mission is to serve a diverse student

body with the expectation that all students can be successful STEM

learners. To accomplish this, the

school has some liberty (which varies over time) within the district to

provide a STEM focus unique from

other elementary schools.


Summit

▪ Summit Road▪ Trust and respect are established at

whole-school meetings that highlight successes of the week, showcase student work, and share announcements

▪ Classroom-level meetings are used to establish strong relationships, emphasize core school values and build community.

▪ “Spark Point” program rewards students who enact school values such safety, patience, attentiveness, responsibility, or kindness.


Climate of Intellectual Safety

The school emphasizes trust, respect,

and a culture of continual learning as

foundational to a STEM community. The staff presents risk taking and failure as

inherent in learning and improvement and

promotes a respectful tone and style among and between students and the

staff.


Walter Bracken STEAM Academy▪ Grade-level Professional Learning

Communities (PLCs) determined what PD and resources they needed for lessons and other activities

▪ PLC leaders attend weekly leadership meetings where school-level decisions are made through consensus

▪ Requests for resources and supports are made to leadership by PLC leaders who represent an entire grade level


Distributed Leadership

School leaders provide teachers with

professional freedom in classrooms

and decision-making input across the school. Top-down approaches

are seen as incompatible with an

improvement-oriented and inquiry-based STEM community.



Walter Bracken STEAM Academy

▪ Drop-in family volunteer station

▪ Constant recruitment of community volunteers and donors, such as the neighborhood car body shop that provided hubcaps for an art project

Weaver Lake

▪ Pollinator project has students make appeals to community members

Participants & Resources: Community Relationships

Community Engagement in STEMStudents and school staff members engage community and family members in STEM-related activities, such as school exhibitions and projects.


Brentwood Magnet Elementary School

▪ Partnership with nearby North Carolina State Engineering department for original STEM transition, then provided professor and graduate students with expertise

▪ WakeEd Partnership nonprofit brokered relationships between schools and external partners

• Situated in region with strong engineering sector

• Volunteers from local organizations, such as SAS engineers that participated in 5th grade Hour of Code projects with Spheros

Participants & Resources: Community Relationships

Supporting STEM PartnershipsExternal partnerships broaden student STEM learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Partners provide STEM resources, expertise, and opportunities for students to engage with STEM professionals and authentic STEM experiences.


Weaver Lake

▪ Teacher-developed curricula was viewed as essential to success of STEM focus

▪ No large curriculum package; school curricula was co-developed by teachers

▪ Work from some external materials and district-purchased materials, but always made the lessons their own

▪ Teacher: "STEM isn’t a kit ... It’s better when we make it [the curriculum] ourselves.”

Participants & Resources: School Staff

Teachers Develop and Refine Core CurriculaTeachers create lessons and projects that are foundational to the school model and responsive to local context and student interest. Using a constant process of pilot/revise/test of lesson design, practices, and programs, teachers develop ownership of and work to sustain the school’s STEM-focused curricula.


Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary▪ Received training to increase teachers'

knowledge, including graduate level engineering courses designed for elementary educators

▪ Jamerson teachers developed and implemented the engineering design theme curriculum

▪ That curriculum is being refined iteratively

Weaver Lake▪ Many teachers began with limited science

backgrounds▪ Received high-quality professional

development provided by the Science Museum of Minnesota

▪ STEM-integrated programs developed collaboratively by administrators & teachers

Participants & Resources: School Staff

Teachers as STEM EducatorsTeachers opt in to the STEM-focused school design and mission. During the first years of the STEM school, teachers participate in supports provided by external STEM partnerships to develop STEM pedagogical content knowledge. Over time, teachers develop a professional STEM identity and ongoing Professional Development becomes self-directed and collaborative.


Weaver Lake Elementary

▪ Two full-time support roles: curriculum integration coordinator and technology integration specialist

▪ Developed STEM across the curriculum, and to support teachers

Summit Road

▪ Art teacher led an “Innovation Station” class for each grade twice weekly

▪ Connected art with science and engineering, creating STEM-focused lessons in a maker space

▪ Able to coordinate Innovation Station activities with homeroom activities

Participants & Resources

Dedicated STEM StaffThe school receives resources or flexibility to dedicate staff to support STEM-focused offerings, such as magnet coordinators or STEM lab teachers.



▪ Students created digital portfolios of their work

▪ 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students used online tools in Google Classrooms

▪ 1st and 2nd grade students took photos of their notebook pages and attached audio discussions through the SeeSawapp

Summit Road STEM Elementary

▪ Students used Facebook to request egg donations from the community

Participants & Resources: School STEM Resources

Technology used to Support STEMStudents use technology as part of the STEM inquiry process, including collection of data, analysis of data, sharing findings, and communicating ideas.



▪ Students in each grade level had their own garden, and participated in the care and harvesting of vegetables, herbs, and flowers

▪ Gardens were used to present science content, including the life-cycle of plants, insects, and biological diversity

▪ Each grade level had science curriculum that incorporated in the garden experiences, resulting in a coherent science pathway

Participants & Resources : School STEM Resources

School Physical SettingThe physical setting in and around the school is used to immerse students in STEM-related themes and activities and to enrich the learning environment. Physical resources include art installations, local wildlife settings, and school gardens.



Weaver Lake Elementary▪ Teachers made time for extra STEM by

integrating STEM content with core lessons.▪ One English lesson involved students using

biology terms to learn about how prefixes and suffixes are used to form words.

Jamerson▪ Students apply skills gained in primary

grades in upper grades in projects such as designing a vehicle

▪ Science lessons provide context for practice with reading, writing, conducting research and debate, and note-taking

▪ Specialist teachers (music, art, PE) align their work to the engineering content, e.g. discussing force when students throw balls in PE.

Outputs: STEM Program

Interdisciplinary STEM LessonsMost lessons are interdisciplinary, integrating knowledge and methods of one or more STEM disciplines, in classrooms and in STEM-focused classes or workshops. While some instruction can be discipline-specific (typically math and reading), the majority of a lessons address multiple subject areas.



▪ Student projects provide opportunities for students to engage in scientific practices. First grade students used incubators to hatch eggs. This created opportunities for questioning, planning and carried out investigations, and interpreting data.

▪ Everyday challenges are turned into investigations. For example, birds bumping into school windows resulted in student led R&D


▪ Students used engineering notebooks in all grades and model their use after the practice of engineers.


Participation in STEM PracticesMany lessons offer students opportunities to participate in authentic STEM practices, typically through inquiry or project-based learning. These lessons provide opportunities for active and hands-on learning. Participation in these practices helps support and sustain student interest in STEM.


Brentwood

▪ Students at Brentwood designed a well for a community with contaminated water.

▪ One group continued when the rest were done. Since their project didn’t work the first time, they were still refining it.

Jamerson

▪ Second graders worked on the problem: How can you help an elephant without a trunk?

▪ Teams researched the trunk’s structure and function, and constructed a model that met design criteria for size, length, and function.


Widespread Use of Design CycleA design cycle is used in many lessons, throughout the curriculum, and across grades. This cycle serves as an orienting device for students and is used explicitly to guide and support student learning experiences.


Jamerson

▪ Following the elephant trunk design challenge (see previous slide), students collaborated on reports describing their work and how they used research to inform their designs.

Weaver Lake▪ Students regularly conduct independent

and group research and practice communicating results of scientific investigations.

▪ The fifth grade developed a scientific poster


21st Century Skills Used for STEM LearningPractices such as collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking are valued as skills essential for students’ success as STEM practitioners and as STEM-fluent citizens. Students are frequently given opportunities to practice and improve these skills.



▪ Teachers coordinated across grade levels to provide students with content ahead of their grade levels.

▪ 4th grade lesson on sediment drew on the activities from an annual 3rd grade field trip to a nearby preservation area

Summit Road STEM

▪ The grade 1 teachers had an extended class projects with students incubating and observing chicken eggs. The project met grade 3 standards.


High-Level STEM ContentStudents are engaged with increasingly complex STEM content throughout the curriculum that builds across grade levels. This includes complex STEM content that goes beyond district and state requirements and beyond what is offered in standard elementary curricula.



▪ Students regularly had choices about who they worked with and how they proceed within their projects

▪ For example, in an “Innovation Station” class on wetlands creatures, students


Student Ownership of LearningStudents are supported to use a continuous improvement approach in their own learning, develop a growth mindset, and develop agency as learners. The staff emphasizes that mistakes are part of learning and encourages students to reflect on their own learning process.

chose their creature, upcycled materials, and devised their own engineering solutions to make their pneumatic model animals



Walter Bracken STEAM Academy▪ School constantly innovates, using

feedback to decide whether to adopt an innovation or move on

▪ Staff value data transparency, using it as a tool to support improvement

Evidence-Based Improvement

Evidence-Based ImprovementLeadership and staff rely on evidence as they continually refine STEM programs. Data-driven decision making, informed by multiple information sources, is carried out through a design/implement/evaluate cycle.




Ask an Expert

Principal



Resources and

Wrap Up


eSTEM Web Site Resources

▪ More questions or comments? Visit our web site

www.inclusivestemschools.org

• On the webinar page, you’ll see a place for discussion.

• Please ask questions or start topics there during and after the webinar.

• Our experts will be participating and answering questions over the next couple of weeks.

• Discussion is moderated so your questions and comments may not appear right away.

http://wwwinclusivestemschools.org/


eSTEM Web Site Resources

▪ Narrative school profiles for all 5 schools (visit the schools pages)

▪ Logic models for all 5 schools (visit the schools pages)

▪ Model of the components and examples of the components (visit the critical components page)

▪ Links to the studies of Inclusive STEM High schools ▪ ISTEM, a longitudinal study of student outcomes led by SRI International

and Digital Promise▪ OSPrI, a qualitative study of the critical components of inclusive STEM

high schools



Thank you

Please join our post-webinar discussion. The discussion will remain open through July 29.

http://inclusivestemschools.org

July 2019 eSTEM Project Webinars

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation underNSF grant number DRK12-1621005. Any opinions, findings, andconclusions or recommendations expressed in this material arethose of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe National Science Foundation.

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