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“Celebrating our STEM Journey: Reflections of a Continuous Improvement Process”

For Consideration of Publication in the Fall 2015 “Celebrations” Issue of Palmetto Administrator Submitted on June 30, 2015

Co-Authors Jeannie Pressley, Trevor Ivey, Jenaii Edwards,

Stephanie Barrineau, Cherlyn Anderson, & Lori Smith Jeannie Pressley, Principal Alice Drive Middle School 40 Miller Road; Sumter, SC 29150 803-840-5754 / jeannie.pressley@sumterschools.net

Jeannie Pressley has taught elementary and middle level ELA and math. She previously served as the principal of Cherryvale Elementary, a Palmetto Silver School.

Trevor Ivey, NBCT, Assistant Principal Alice Drive Middle School 40 Miller Road; Sumter, SC 29150 803-316-7849 / trevor.ivey@sumterschools.net

Trevor Ivey has taught elementary and middle level science. He has won numerous teaching awards, including state finalist for Teacher of the Year in 2013.

Jenaii Edwards, Assistant Principal Alice Drive Middle School 40 Miller Road; Sumter, SC 29150 803-236-8688 / jenaii.edwards@sumterschools.net

Jenaii Edwards previously served as the Lead Special Education Teacher at Chestnut Oaks Middle School, where she was named Teacher of the Year.

Cherlyn Anderson, Education Specialist S2TEM Centers SC 1041 George Rogers Blvd., Columbia, SC 29201 803-917-7062 / cherlynanderson@gmail.com

Cherlyn Anderson has taught middle level science and ELA. She has won numerous awards including the Milken National Educator and an Albert Einstein Fellowship. !

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!Lori%Smith,%NBCT,%Science,%Fine%Arts,%&%STEM%Coordinator! Sumter School District 1345 Wilson Hall Road; Sumter, SC 29150 803-469-6900 / lori.smith@sumterschools.net

Lori Smith serves as the Science, Fine Arts, STEM/AVID Coordinator for Sumter School District and also on the SC Coalition for Mathematics and Science Board.

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Stephanie%Barrineau,%Curriculum%Coordinator! Alice Drive Middle School 40 Miller Road Sumter, SC 29150 803-775-0821 / Stephanie.barrineau@sumterschools.net

A National Board Certified Teacher, Stephanie Barrineau serves as the ADM Curriculum Coordinator. !!

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“Celebrating our STEM Journey: Reflections of a Continuous Improvement Process”

Abstract: Alice Drive Middle seeks to provide a quality STEM education to all students. Located in Sumter, this choice school recently earned national AdvancED STEM certification. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Albert Einstein once said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking

we used when we created them.”

With the complex demands placed upon us in this ever-changing world, this sage advice

from Einstein is something that we in public education have seemed to forget. While reform

initiatives have been a constant, the overarching goal has been to improve the trajectory of

student outcomes; preparing students to become productive citizens. More recently, the national

public education narrative has sought to improve our academic reputation on the global stage

through the implementation of many initiatives driven by STEM (science, technology

engineering, and math) as a vehicle for improving student outcomes. A team of dedicated and

forward thinking educators are transforming education in Sumter, South Carolina. Educators at

Alice Drive Middle (ADM), a choice school in Sumter School District (SSD) are making STEM

learning a reality for all of its students in order to give them the competitive edge in the local,

national, and global workforce.

ADM began the process of becoming a STEM school in 2012 through a partnership with

South Carolina’s Coalition for Mathematics and Science and S2TEM Centers SC. Throughout

the three year partnership, a focused plan for transforming Alice Drive Middle into a STEM

school was developed and implemented. With the assistance of a S2TEM Centers SC Education

Specialist, the school created a vision, developed short and long term goals, took actions to

implement strategies, while documenting their progress along the way. S2TEM Centers SC

Specialist, Cherlyn Anderson credits the focus of the STEM Leadership Team and the

collaborative and innovative culture of the faculty and staff at ADM for the rapid progress of the

school towards its goal. “The leadership and faculty have been a phenomenal group to work

with. They have been dedicated to infusing quality STEM opportunities for all students into

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their curriculum.” Through a transdisciplinary focus, the STEM program impacts all four core

subjects (math, science, language arts, and history) as well as the related arts areas (art, band,

strings, music/chorus, gym, and technology education). A unique characteristic of ADM’s STEM

focus is that the STEM program is all-inclusive, serving all 850 students in grades 6-8.

Implementing a STEM Focus

The belief at ADM is that it is vital to prepare students for an increasingly global

economy. We acknowledge that science and engineering jobs are growing at a rate exceeding

any other occupation. A recent McKinsey Report states that, “By 2018, 1 in 20 global jobs will

be STEM related—an estimated 2.8 million jobs in total with over 90% of these opportunities

requiring secondary degrees and two-thirds requiring a bachelor’s degree.” Due to technological

advances, Americans will compete with others from all over the world for the high-tech, high-

wage jobs of the 21st century. We expect our students to approach the world’s problems and

acquire the necessary tool kit to solve these problems. This expectation is meaningful for

everyone involved: students, families, public and private institutions of higher education, and the

businesses and industries our students could potentially work for and develop. Having a program

intentionally designed to ensure college and career readiness will positively impact our students.

As STEM education research continues nationwide (NAP 2012) many agree to the importance of

a focus on innovation through science, technology, engineering, and math now. But many ask,

how do you build a STEM school? What does it look like?

Our Philosophy of Successful STEM Learning Experiences in Action

Strategic Planning: As school leaders, it has been an overarching goal to strengthen the

overall cohesiveness of our STEM program through a collaborative focus on strategic planning.

Our school renewal plan is reviewed each year by a variety of stakeholder groups and is referred

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to when making programmatic decisions on activities, field studies, and projects both in and out

of the classroom. Revisions to our school renewal plan over the past few years have helped to

recognize the interdependence of various aspects of the school as outlined in the Harvard

developed PELP Coherence Framework—culture, systems and structures, resources, stakeholder

relationships, and environment—and its collective impact on student achievement (2003). With

the following theory of action governing our school renewal plan, the work of strategic planning

has become more easily navigated with greater buy-in among all stakeholder groups: If we fully

coordinate and align our school’s policies, practices and partners to increase student interest,

participation and achievement in STEM, expand student access to effective instruction, reduce

our gap in STEM access and build community awareness and support for STEM, then we will

increase the quality of STEM talent development for our community, state, and nation. Our plan

is unique in that it contains a vision and mission statement, a supporting philosophy, and clearly

defined STEM core competencies and school-wide goals.

INSERT PICTURE 1: ADMS STRATEGIC PLANNING POSTER

Curriculum: The STEM curriculum is delivered to students through the form of an

alternate A/B type of flexible scheduling. Students are scheduled to have eight classes, taking

four classes each day, with each class lasting 90 minutes in length. Students take the core courses

of history, science, language arts, and math for the entire year, in which the student coursework

is focused on STEM. Yet, students also have the opportunity to take STEM-based electives

throughout their three years at ADM, including art, digital literacy, band, strings, foreign

language, enrichment, and/or remediation classes to meet the individual learning needs of

students. Students also take physical education and health for one semester. The flexible

schedule has allowed students to see the interconnectedness of all areas of study as they relate to

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an essential question. In some classes where teachers have fully embraced problem-based

learning, students are creating projects that have ties to the community, which helps to solidify

the importance of STEM as a powerful educational experience.

Problem-Based Learning as the Vehicle for STEM Learning: Based on self-assessments

conducted by administrators, faculty, and stakeholders utilizing the S2TEM Centers SC

Innovation Configuration Maps (Total Instructional Focus), the South Carolina STEM

Continuum, and Indicator 6.2 of the AdvancED STEM rubric, ADM is in the

emerging/practicing stage of implementing problem-based learning across the building. Through

the school renewal planning process, and supporting professional development, the faculty and

staff have agreed to the following norms in a STEM-based classroom:

• The project or problem is central rather than peripheral to the curriculum. • The project or problem is broken down into measurable pieces. • The project or problem has real-world relevant connections. • The project or problem could conclude with a product or a performance. • Digital technologies support and enhance student learning. • World-class skills are integral (Profile of the South Carolina Graduate). • Instructional strategies are varied and support multiple learning styles. • Projects involve ongoing and multiple types of assessments.

Core Tenets of an Effective STEM Curriculum: Faculty and staff have agreed that students

should master certain core competencies to truly become college and career ready:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving 2. Communication 3. Collaboration and Teamwork 4. Information Literacy 5. Appreciation for Diversity 6. Learning to Learn (Metacognition)

Sustaining Actions/Goals: In implementing the core tenets of an effective and age-

appropriate STEM curriculum, the following actions augment our program’s coherence:

1. Increasing student interest, participation, and achievement in STEM.

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We coordinate, implement, and scale up innovative, rigorous, and inspiring STEM

experiences from a variety of challenging curricula (including Project Lead the Way-Gateway)

with the greatest promise of piquing student interest, securing student participation, and boosting

student achievement in STEM. During the course of our students’ three years at ADM, all

students, including those typically underrepresented in STEM careers, have the opportunity to

participate in STEM classes. Currently, specific STEM-based instruction is delivered through

STEM electives such as CSI-Forensics, LEGO Robotics & Engineering, STEM Go-Green,

Google CS First, STEM Aeronautics and the integration of problem-based units within core

content classrooms. Our school day is extended through the use of afterschool STEM activities

(available three days a week), impacting approximately 50 students per quarter.

In addition, school-wide activities are regularly planned to include all students during the

school day such as our recent problem-based “STEM Boot Camp” that every staff member

helped to execute. As part of the camp, all students at each grade level solved an engaging

problem and were exposed to opportunities emphasizing STEM as highly relevant to their lives.

Such school-wide activities assisted in developing a common STEM language.

2. Expanding student access to effective student instruction.

Our STEM program aligns with the newly adopted South Carolina Academic Standards and

Performance Indicators for Science, the newly adopted South Carolina College and Career

Readiness Standards for ELA and Mathematics, and the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate,

which all collectively emphasize science and engineering practices, inquiry, as well as reading

and writing comprehension and skills through engagement with content. In each of our STEM

classes, students are provided multiple opportunities to learn skills through tiered activities.

Students are assessed not only on their technical skills, but also the 21st century “world class”

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skills as outlined in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate (2015). In addition to statewide

summative assessments (ACT Aspire and SC Palmetto Assessment of State Standards),

formative assessments via CASE Assessment TE21, as well as conferences, portfolios, rubrics,

checklists, interactive notebooks, self & peer reflection are used to provide regular feedback to

students. ADM utilizes the structure of a Building Data Team that organizes and prepares data in

a user-friendly format so that the faculty can dedicate meeting times to analysis and discussion.

INSERT PICTURE 2: SOUTH CAROLINA PROFILE OF THE GRADUATE

Our administration recognizes that teachers have the greatest impact on student achievement

and understand the need for focused and personalized professional development, based on the

data driven needs and collaborative school STEM Goals, and such experiences are regularly

made available to all teachers through the use of an on-site curriculum coach (Stephanie

Barrineau), Clemson 4H, Patriot Grant Advisor, and a S2TEM Centers SC Education Specialist.

The development of professional learning communities and the use of backward design planning

in strengthening curriculum has resulted in an expansion of student access to effective STEM

instruction and has led to a more rigorous curriculum and higher student performance with

respectable growth in all areas. Built into the Edivate PD360, the use of the ELEOT classroom

observation instrument has provided teachers with instantaneous and personalized additional

assistance and feedback.

In addition to school and district based STEM professional development, several of our

STEM teachers have successfully sought out additional STEM-related learning activities. Some

activities include conducting peer observations at other high-achieving STEM/STEAM school

across the state, the afterschool robotics coach presenting at the national conference for middle

school math teachers, and both the Math Counts advisor and STEM Learning Coach being

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accepted for STEM training at the United States Naval Academy. Other teachers have attended

and participated in TEACHFIT, summer professional development activities that teach cross-

disciplinary teams of middle school teachers how to get their students excited about STEM

through innovative technology-based fitness games. Once trained, it is a norm for participating

teachers to share with the rest of the faculty through professional learning community meetings

by department/team.

3. Building Community Awareness and Partnership Support for STEM

We acknowledge the imminent STEM talent and skills gap that the state of South Carolina

and our country is facing in the years ahead. In Year Two, a STEM Advisory Board was

established, comprised of department heads, a military liaison from Shaw Air Force Base,

industry representatives, local college and university professors, and district office

representatives. Through the efforts of the on-site Career Specialist, STEM students have been

afforded regular opportunities to participate in a variety of field studies and experiences with

partners to include visiting local manufacturers, businesses, and colleges/universities, such as the

University of South Carolina Sumter, Central Carolina Technical College, Boeing, Caterpillar,

Continental Tire, and Becton Dickinson. Outreach activities targeting younger students in our

feeder elementary schools are used to increase STEM awareness.

INSERT PICTURE 3: STEMMIE THE ROBOT

Events such as a STEM Parent Night, field research with the University of South Carolina

Sumter, and school board presentations are a few examples of how we are continuing to build

community awareness and partnership support. As a result of a Department of Defense Patriot

Grant and a Clemson 4H Grant, additional partnerships have been established with Boeing,

Honda, Caterpillar, Santee Lynches, University of South Carolina Sumter, Central Technical

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College, Shaw Air Force Base, and various community agencies within our county municipality

to include the local police department and forensics lab. We are building a base of diverse

partners and supporters to communicate the rising importance of STEM education in workforce

development and job creation in our community and stage, beginning at the grassroots level.

INSERT PICTURE 4: STUDENTS WITH ROCKET LAUNCHERS ACTIVITY

National STEM Certification Process

In the spring of 2015, ADM continued the learning process by applying for AdvancED

STEM Certification. The STEM certification process is similar to the AdvancED External

review process, yet different in that the STEM certification process primarily focuses on the

school or program’s STEM education model. The STEM Certification Reviewers used the

AdvancED STEM Standard 6 and its (the) 11 Indicators and related criteria to guide the analysis,

looking not only for adherence to the standard but also for how STEM education is provided to

the school’s students and embodies the practices and characteristics of a quality, relevant, and

age-appropriate STEM education. As a result of the STEM Certification Review conducted in

late May, ADM earned the distinction of the AdvancED STEM Certification. The certification

was a rigorous process that involved observations of 26 of the school's classrooms using the

ELEOT observation tool and 68 interviews of teachers, students, advisors, business community

partners and parents. The certification is valid for five-years.

INSERT PICTURE 5: ROBOTICS PROGRAMMING

Dr. Jeff Wooten, one of two site reviewers and Director of AdvancED in Alabama stated,

"Alice Drive took the most difficult route in making STEM learning available for all. Many

schools start out by initiating the STEM curriculum in a few classrooms or a school-within-a-

school approach." Dr. Wooten also noted that ADM was able to achieve in two years what

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usually takes three to five years to accomplish. The reviewers noted the school’s outreach and

partnership program as two of its most powerful practices. Yet, the transformative story comes

from student testimonials. Students at ADM have embraced the STEM offerings. Eighth-grader

Luke DuRant, who has experienced the STEM offerings since sixth grade, stated, "It's about

learning technology and skills that we can use when we graduate. With project-based learning, if

we don't come up with a solution, we go back to the beginning and start the project over again.

Being in the robotics class is just as cool as playing and winning football games." Hannah

Merchant, a sixth-grade student, is finishing her first year at the school. "I had no clue what

STEM was when I first came here. Now I love it," she said.

INSERT PICTURE 6: GIRLS STEM CAMP

Looking Ahead: Strengthening our STEM Commitment

As we move forward with a sense of urgency to more fully transform our school into a

STEM-centered culture, ADM faculty plans to explore these possibilities:

1. Flip additional classrooms across the school building. 2. Develop long-term problem-based units with opportunities for students to present to “expert audiences.” 3. Maximize STEM immersion. 4. Regularly collect & analyze data to authentically measure STEM literacy. 5. Implement a One to One Chrome Book technology initiative. 6. Increase opportunities for structured collaboration among faculty and staff members. 7. Explore integrating the arts into the STEM program. The success of the STEM program at ADM cannot be possible without the support and

dedication of our school’s teachers who have put in many hours to create, develop, enhance,

enrich, and improve the educational experiences for our students. Our teachers’ innovative and

collaborative spirit and willingness to transform and do what is best for our students has been a

true joy to witness. It is because of their love of our profession, students and our school that has

allowed them to move beyond traditional teaching to ensure all the students we serve are college

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and career ready. They work diligently educating themselves on STEM competencies and best

practices. Let’s be clear: our great teachers are the ones who have brought the STEM vision to

fruition. By no means has this endeavor been simple and easy. The teachers have transformed

our school into something incredible—students are engaged like never before at ADM because

of the ADM community who give them the best opportunities each day to become productive,

competitive, globally aware citizens.

INSERT PICTURE 7: MEASUREMENT LAB ACTIVITY

References

AdvancED.!(2015)!http://www.advanc7ed.org/!!Coherence!Framework.!(2003).!http://pelp.fas.harvard.edu/book/coherence7framework!! Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. (2015). http://sccompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Profile-of-the-South-Carolina-Graduate-20150120-page-001.pdf STEM Continuum (2014, July 1). https://ed.sc.gov/agency/ccr/Standards-Learning/documents/STEM_Continuum_With_Evidence-Middle_School.pdf STEM Innovation Configuration (IC) Maps. (2014). http://www.s2temsc.org/stem-innovation-configuration-ic-maps.html STEM Support - Theory of Action. (n.d.). http://www.s2temsc.org/stem-support---theory-of-action.html Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. (2011). http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13158/successful-k-12-stem-education-identifying-effective-approaches-in-science The World at Work: Jobs, pay, and skills for 3.5 billion people. (2012). McKinsey & Company. Vasquez, J. (2013). STEM Lesson Essentials, Grades 3-8:Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (1st ed.). Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann. Vasquez, J. (2015). STEM-Beyond the Acronym. Educational Leadership, 1-15.