LinkedIn+STEM+Group

= STEM comments from a variety of educators of the LinedIn [|STEM Connections for K-12 Education] group. Good example of different programs and approaches. =

[|Valerie B. Brown-Schild], [|Paul Tennyson] and 3 others like this 32 comments • [|Jump to most recent comments]

[|Follow Cindy] [|Cindy Moss] • I am the Director of STEM for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and we have great partnerships with STEM industry in our area. I started a group call CASTLE-Charlotte Area STEM Teaching and Learning Environment Coalition nearly 3 years ago. This group (composed of 50 STEM industry partners, 5 universities, community college, technical colleges, informal science institutions and nonprofits (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Junior Achievement, Parks and Rec, Freedom Schools, etc) meet monthly for breakfast to share what we are doing so that we can work smarter. It resulted in "virtual field trips" that provide 10 day units to show students how STEM is used in our local community. We have completed the following: 1-Physics of safe driving with Richard Petty Racing 2-Chemistry of Coca Cola; 3-Geology of NC; Math and Science of Recycling with Gerdau Ameristeel; 4-Forces and Motion with Hendricks Motorsports and Bank of America; 5-Sustainability with Metrolina Greenhouses; 6-Physics of Flight with the Carolina Raptor Center and Goodrich, the Math of Sports Broadcasting with the SPEED Channel. We are also in the process of developing: Food Chemistry with Johnson and Wales and the Sounds of Music with the Charlotte Symphony. In these virtual field trips students see a 10-12 minute clip, do a virtual lab, do a hands-on lab, read about careers affilliated with this company and get a taste of the possibilities in the STEM pipeline. I would love to participate in a webinar on this topic. 1 month ago

[|Follow Sarah] [|Sarah Wille] • Thanks, Cindy, I'll be in touch soon! 1 month ago

[|Follow Trevor] [|Trevor Sparks] • Hi Sarah, Project Lead The Way's (PLTW) University Partners includes more than 40 colleges and universities that provide college-level recognition to students who complete certain PLTW courses in high school. Students can earn college credit, admissions preference, scholarships and more. In addition, these University Partners host Core Training sessions during the summer which train 3,000 educators to teach our courses. Schools that implement PLTW's STEM education curriculum also form Partnership Teams (sometimes called Advisory Councils) which include local STEM professionals. These partnerships bring STEM professionals into the classroom to participate in project-based learning or to discuss careers in STEM fields as well as provide tours of facilities and internships to students. We have many great examples of these partnerships that engage students in STEM including girls and underrepresented populations. Let's connect and I can share some with you. Thank you. Trevor (tsparks@pltw.org or 518-836-3354) 1 month ago

[|Follow Amelia] [|Amelia J-Lewis] • Hi Sarah. In Oregon we have the TechStart Education Foundation (www.techstart.org), a non-proft affiliated with the Software Association of Oregon, the software and IT cluster industry membership group. TechStart collaborates with and is funded by the state university system and corporate partners to deliver teacher professional development in computer science, robotics and web/IT curriculum, as well as 2 student CS competitions. Our goal is to ensure technology education/STEM curriculum is available in all K-12 schools and after school programs in the state. Please check out our website, and feel free to contact me at (503) 703-7894 if you would like more information. I am the current board president of our 100% volunteer-run organization. 1 month ago

[|Follow Barbara] [|Barbara Houtz] • Sarah, I'm the Director of Outreach for the College of Science at Penn State, and we have a very strong partnership with our local K-12 schools and several STEM programs and centers throughout Penn State. We run many grassroots programs with grant funds, but our staffing is paid for by the Dean of the College of Science. We have a huge summer camp program called Science-U (http://www.sciencecamps.psu.edu), teacher professional development workshops, after school clubs, programs for the general public, an Upward Bound Math & Science program, and many others. We have research faculty engaged in every programmatic effort. Feel free to call me at 814.856.4158 or email me at beh179@psu.edu. Our website is http://www.science.psu.edu/outreach. 1 month ago

[|Follow Hope] [|Hope Wilson, CPSM] • I don't know about STEM in particular, but I serve on a city council advisory committee that has been researching business/education partnerships. In speaking with school districts around the country, I've heard about some pretty innovative approaches. I'm also very interested in hearing about strategies that you discover. If you'd like to talk, I can be reached at 1.303.204.8563 or hope@wilsonbgc.com. 1 month ago

[|Follow Michelle] [|Michelle Freeman] • In Orange County, CA, we have developed the OC STEM Initiative which is a local partnership of educators and administrators, funders, businesses, and other key community stakeholders invested in STEM teaching and learning in our county. We also serve as the regional alliance for our area in the California STEM Learning Network, which allows us the opportunity to collaborate with other regional, state and national STEM networks in order to leverage resources and successes. A webinar is a great idea. Please let us know if we can help out in anyway. Our website is: http://ocstem.org/ 1 month ago

[|Follow Sarah] [|Sarah Wille] • Thanks everyone for the great information! I will keep the group in the know about the details of upcoming webinars hosted by Researchers Without Borders. 1 month ago

[|Follow Tom] [|Tom Peters] • Sarah,

There are a few organizations you might consider tapping into for this sort of expertise. Among these are the Triangle Coalition (www.trianglecoalition.org/) and the National Alliance of State Science & Mathematics Coalitions (www.nassmc.org/). Both advocate and support STEM partnerships that include education, government and business/industry on a national level like South Carolina's Coalition for Mathematics & Science does on a state level. Partnership is what our STEM Summit is all about! By the way, our nation's armed forces are significant employers of STEM talent and are very much interested in partnering with educators and others to increase and improve STEM learning opportunities. 1 month ago

[|Follow Sarah] [|Sarah Wille] • This is so very helpful! I'm wondering if there are any classroom teachers or K-12 school administrators in the group who'd also like to share some of their own experiences with working with outside partners to support education? 1 month ago

[|Follow Jo] [|Jo Oshiro] • We've got a loose collaboration of state holders influencing policy, making some grants, promoting conversation and collaboration ... http://opas.ous.edu/index.php 1 month ago

[|Follow Dr. Bill] [|Dr. Bill Glass] • Hi Sarah - we have a very successful STEM magnet school program in place. We also have been partnering with two surrounding school districts and our local university in Danbury, CT. We have a multiyear initiative underway that provides training and college credits to elementary teachers. We are training them to be STEM coaches for their peers. There is always a limited amount of science that is actually taught in elementary school because of NCLB and the focus on literacy and math. This initiative allows teachers to experience an inquiry-based approach to the STEM areas and is all about project-based learning. We have a grant for approximately $1,000,000 that is driving this initiative. We are partnering with Art Costa and his team on a Cognitive Coaching component for this project. We are also working with the CT State Department of Education and the CT Science Center to enrich the initiative. It will eventually involve about 5,000 students. 1 month ago

[|Follow Tom] [|Tom Peters] • Hi Sarah,

I had a nice chat with my contact at Boeing yesterday. They are supporting some interesting teacher partnerships in our state. I'll have contact info for you after our Summit.

Tom 1 month ago

[|Follow Tom] [|Tom Peters] • Bill,

Our statewide Mathematics & Science Coaching Initiative was based on a melding of Cognitive Coaching with content specific strategies for improving instruction in mathematics & science. We've got 8 years and 300+ instructional coaches worth of experience in doing what you are doing...and some pretty good student learning data in elementary and middle grades science. We are happy to share lessons learned.

Tom 1 month ago

[|Follow Cathy] [|Cathy Ammirati] • I work for the Micron Technology Foundation. We are a non-profit education-focused organization in Boise, Idaho. Our job is to take STEM related hands-on lessons to the elementary schools, provide career information and job shadowing in technical careers to secondary students. We put on a free technology summer camp to middle school students, and we provide STEM-related grants to educational and non-profit organizations in cities where Micron Technology has manufacturing facilities. I'd be happy to share more information about what we do. 1 month ago

[|Follow Dr. Bill] [|Dr. Bill Glass] • Tom,

We are always happy to learn from others. We have another two-day reinforcement training session this coming week with our 30 new coaches and I'm sure they would appreciate any key points you have to offer.

Thanks, Bill 1 month ago

[|Follow Steve] [|Steve Carroll] • Hi Sarah,

my colleague and I developed a partnership with the local chess club and 12 primary schools 6 years ago. In that time we have won a State Numeracy Award, a $50,000 Schools First Award, presented at an International Conference in Scotland, had a documentary shown at 80 workshops around the country as a best-practice example of a school community partnership, run the largest rural chess schools chess tournamnet in Australia, maintained a blog, had coverage on other blogs around the world, and had a minor thesis published exploring the social capital of the program.

A video can be found here:

http://vimeo.com/4624269

And our blog can be found here:

http://mtalexandercluster.blogspot.com/

Hope it is of some interest.

regards

Steve 1 month ago

[|Follow Valerie B.] [|Valerie B. Brown-Schild] • I am the director of the Kenan Fellows Program for Curriculum and Leadership Development. This North Carolina program offers competitive fellowships for K-12 public school teachers from across disciplines. Its objective is to keep exceptional teachers in classrooms by providing authentic opportunities for professional advancement and to give them the knowledge and skills to lead change in their schools, districts and communities.

The research-based program provides sustained professional development in curriculum design, inquiry-based instruction, leadership and communication in a rigorous two week residential summer program. The centerpiece of the program is a 5-week research externship in an academic or industry laboratory where teachers engage in hands-on collaboration with a research mentor and a culminating mid-year institute. Embedded in an ongoing project, teachers gain content knowledge, learn about the structures and processes that characterize research endeavors, practice new technological skills, and become aware of new developments in fields related to what they teach.

Each Fellow creates, pilots and revises curriculum materials that translate the 'field' experience into instruction that is relevant and engaging for students. Fellows follow up by presenting their work at a professional conference. They are supported in long-term efforts to design and implement plans for sharing their expertise with other educators through workshops, professional conferences and virtually via webinars and online courses.

The Kenan Fellows Program is designed to scale positive educational impact by:

Leveraging Partnership Power

The Kenan Fellows Program taps a wealth of professional expertise in North Carolina’s university and private sector research facilities. The program enriches teachers’ knowledge and promotes innovation and creativity by supporting collaboration between K-12 public school teachers and professionals in rapidly developing areas of science, technology, engineering and math. Teachers selected as Fellows engage in partnerships with distinguished scientists to learn about important new developments and to gain an understanding of the significance of current research and scientific practice for students.

Energizing School Curriculum

Each Mentor/Fellow pair works to translate the research experience into relevant lessons for use in classrooms. Interaction with practitioners of state-of-the-art science, and professional development in the area of curriculum design helps Kenan Fellows create innovative curricular tools and resources aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. In Summer Institutes focused on instructional leadership, Fellows build advanced skills in collegial environments that allow for sharing of knowledge and encourage them to apply their experiences in the context of their own classrooms. The 21st Century workplace challenges students to be problem solvers, team players and to think systemically. Relevant and engaging lessons designed by Fellows reflect those needs by providing rich, new opportunities for hands-on, inquiry-based study.

Promoting Teacher Leadership

The Kenan Fellows Program builds strong leadership skills in outstanding teachers eager to develop their understanding of the real “enterprise” of scientific research and translate their new knowledge into improved teaching and learning in their classrooms. Fellows work to develop strong communication and advocacy skills. They engage regularly in dialog with leaders and policy-makers whose work impacts schools and classrooms. They learn how to maximize the effectiveness of the diverse talents in their school communities.

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To learn more, please feel free to contact me at 919 515 5118 or go to www.kenanfellows.org 1 month ago

[|Follow Linda] [|Linda Coyle] • Hi Sarah,

I am the coordinator of a small specialty public high school that specializes in STEM education. At the Center for Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST), we have three extensive programs of study- engineering, biotechnology and sustainability. We are a four-year rigorous HS program for honor students. I'd be happy to share with you both our facility and program development. We have done a ton of work in establishing partnerships with members of higher education and business and industry. To much to list here. Check out our website: http://cmweb.pvschools.net/pvhscrestweb/

You can contact me at lcoyle@pvschools.net 1 month ago

[|Follow Patricia] [|Patricia DeCoster] • Hi Sarah,

A few years ago I was working with Six to Six Magnet School in Bridgeport CT (K-8) and we had a MSAP grant from the federal government that allowed the school to partner with several non-profits in our area including the Discovery Museum, Norwalk Aquarium, and the Eli Whitney Museum. This partnership is still alive and well - we also do the Jason Project and GAVERT with NASA. Although I am no longer at the school you can check out their STEM program at www.k12.ces.ct.us. 1 month ago

[|Follow Marian] [|Marian Murphy-Shaw] • I have attended the National Partners for Equity (NAPE) Conf in DC for 3 years now and each year projects and partnerships present some very exciting STEM and non-traditional school to work practices. A sub-set research project known as the STEM Equity Pipeline Project is funded by NSF and has great case studies and contacts you could add to your work.

stemequitypipeline.org 1 month ago

[|Follow Emily V.] [|Emily V. Wade] • In Massachusetts MITS, Museum Institute for Teaching Science, runs one or two week graduate level Institutes for K-12 teachers every July. they started today with 118 teachers enrolled. They take place in six regions of the state from the Cape to the Berkshires and use four or more educators from ocal museums to do the teaching. this program has been going since 1986 with one year out. From 1993 - 2008 teachers of 133,000+ students were participants in learning how to use inquiry-based, hands-on, minds-on methods in their science classes. Check out the syllabae on our web page www.mits.org. Have a good summer. See the write up in the NSTA book, Exemplary Informal Science Programs.Cheers, Emiily Wade President 1 month ago

[|Follow Sarah] [|Sarah Wille] • Hi Everyone, Thanks for all the helpful posts, it's great to hear about diverse partnerships that exist to support STEM teaching and learning! Researchers Without Borders (RWB, www.researcherswithoutborders.org) will be holding 2 webinar series this coming year - 1 in the fall to examine STEM Schools and another in the spring of 2012 that will focus on Schools and Partnerships. I'll continue to share information as these approach, but feel free to become a member of the RWB community now to keep up on the latest happenings and conversations. Thanks! 1 month ago

[|Follow Joseph] [|Joseph Scandura] • So-called intelligent tutoring systems attempt to duplicate the way a human might tutor a student. Experiments have demonstrated significant improvements over standard classroom education. The problem with existing ITSs is that they are extremely time consuming and expensive to build, literally requiring millions of dollars each. Furthermore, once developed ITS’s are difficult and costly to change, much less improve.

We have developed a revolutionary new approach to the problem using our advanced AuthorIT authoring and TutorIT delivery systems. One can develop ITS that are not only highly adaptive but also easily configurable -- all in a small fraction of the time traditionally required. Demonstrated savings are well over an order of magnitude (10x). Moreover, these systems are very easy to improve based on feedback form the field.

For more information, please see my recent article “What TutorIT Can Do Better Than a Human and Why: Now and in the Future”, available at http://www.scandura.com/tutoritmath/Articles/191-What_TutorIT.pdf. For further information please see www.tutoritmath.com. We are just now setting up relationships with a few select elementary and middle (and soon high schools) for field trials. Anyone interested may contact us at scandura@scandura.com. 1 month ago

[|Follow Mary Kaye] [|Mary Kaye Bredeson] • Hi Sarah,

I am the Director for the Center of Excellence for Aerospace & Advanced Manufacturing, Everett Community College, based in Washington State. Centers of Excellence are hosted and housed in the community and technical colleges system. Our CoE along with the Marine Technology Center of Excellence have partnered with numerous industry partners such as Microsoft, Boeing, Shell Oil and others to put on a 4 hour hands - on workshops for middle school girls and their moms. We team with Celeste Baine, a well known engineering author, Biomedical Engineer and CEO of Engineering Education to put on the "Mother Daughter TEA (Technology, Engineering Apptitude) to educate young girls about careers in engineering! The Mother Daughter TEA's have been very successful! We would not be able to do this if it were not for our industry partners. The goal is for our middle school math and science teachers to come with at least 6-8 girls from their classes to the workshops and we then provide them with a "resource kit" for after school projects or engineerig clubs to continue the energy and momentum the girls learn about STEM and engineering careers. You can learn more at this website link :) http://www.a2m2.net/newsletters/newsletter_story.asp?id=39 25 days ago

[|Follow Linnea] [|Linnea High, Ed.D.] • Do you know about the National Girls Collaborative Project (ngcp)? We gather information

about girl-serving STEM Pojects around the country, so that someone from say Illinois can find someone in Illinois or across the country in California who have a project you'd like to share resources with. Maybe I find someone in Illinois that has funds, but no girls and I have the girls, but no funds -collaboration is key and sharing resources lets us all accomplish our goals. If you have a STEM project or want to do one, go to www.ngcproject.org and register in the PROGRAM DIRECTORY.

There are 14 collaboratives (I'm with the Illinois group currently called the MIdwest Girls Collaborative Project and soon to be the Illinois Girls Collaborative Project) Each collaborative has X number of dollars for mini grants up to $1000. We are in transition now since the Edlab group, the ones who wrote the NSF grant from ngcp. Go to our website and find your regional collaborative, contact the collab lead to see what's available. Good luck! 20 days ago

[|Follow Michelle] [|Michelle Benigno] • Sarah,

Thank you for starting this discussion. I have collected a lot of great information from those who have already posted!

I am the Mountain Outreach Coordinator for The Science House of NC State University. The Science House is currently in its 20th year. Our website is being updated but you can access the work in progress here... www.science-house.org. Our mission is to work in partnership with K-12 teachers and students to promote the use and impact of hands-on inquiry based learning in STEM. This occurs through being the IHE on various grants, professional development workshops for educators, STEM curriculum development, hosting a STEM equipment loan to schools, and many other programs for students.

One of our latest projects I am piloting is a program called S3: Sustained STEM Support. This is a contiguous professional development program for educators within a school or system that is designed specifically for them based on data analysis and needs assessments.

I would love to share more with anyone who has questions or would like to partner in some way. phone- 828-850-0913 or 828-254-6373 ext 318.

Thanks! Michelle Benigno 18 days ago

[|Follow renae] [|renae kelly] • In Nebraska, AIM Institute is trying to be a coordinating force to pull all of the STEM resources together in our Omaha Metro area. We have a focus group of about 10 people that are trying to pull things together so all members of the community have a better understanding of the resources available and the opportunitites students can take advangtage of. 18 days ago

[|Follow Sarah] [|Sarah Wille] • Hearing about all of these different types of partnerships is incredibly informative and makes me want to know more about models the involved K-12 schools, in particular, have in place for establishing, maintaining, and sustaining active partnerships? 18 days ago

[|Follow Kathryn] [|Kathryn Hedges] • I will be trying to start an out reach program for students in northwest Indiana. Many students in this area are very poor and can not travel to do research. I have some funding from the Society for Science and the Public to get a pilot program going. 1 day ago

[|Follow Linnea] [|Linnea High, Ed.D.] • I'm at it again...Kathryn, go to the following website (http://www.ngcproject.org/indiana/index.cfm). It takes you to the website for the Indiana Girls Collaborative Project. If you don't already know about them, get in touch. When you go to their site, click on "leadership" and "local contacts" to connect with them. Their leadership is Elizabeth Mimms, just click on her name; contact Elizabeth Mimms, Ph.D., lndiana Leader,Program Manager, Programs for Educational Opportunity

University of Michigan ,e-mail emimms@umich.edu. Ask if they currently are accepting apps for mini grants. If they are, they will help you through the process. Good luck! 1 day ago

[|Follow Kris] [|Kris Trampus] • Thanks Tom for mentioning NASSMC, I would encourage everyone to join in on this collaboration. Here in Texas, we have the T-STEM Center Coalition which functions as a hub for STEM activities in the state and nationwide. There are 7 STEM centers located at University of Texas Tyler (Ingenuity Center), Texas Tech, Texas A&M, UT Medical Branch Galveston, UT Dallas, Region 1 service center & Trans 2013 (region service centers 20 & 13). These Centers partner with the 52 STEM Academies in the state as well as other non-official STEM schools. We also partner with GLOBE, NASA, PLTW (Project Lead the Way), Texas Instruments, National Instruments, NSTA, WEPAN, TGCP, NGCP, Lockheed Martin, IBM, AMD, Discovery Science Place, Imaginarium, East Texas State Fair, Austin Children's Museum, Girlstart and hundreds of other STEM related programs. Additionally, we support our school's involvement in VEX, FIRST, BEST, Future City, ISWEEP and dozens of other STEM focused events. I am the director of STEM Initiatives at the Ingenuity Center at UT Tyler... We are happy to work with other states in their efforts. Feel free to contact me with questions. ktrampus@uttyler.edu