THE STATE OF STEM

A perspective by Robert Voigt after attending the

National Science Teachers Association Conference
St !o"is# Misso"ri
May $%&$'# ()$*
STEM generally supports broadening the study of engineering within each of the other
subjects, and beginning engineering at younger grades, even elementary school. It also
brings STEM education to all students rather than only the gifted programs. In his 2!2
"udget, #resident $bama renamed and broadened the %Mathematics and Science
#artnership &MS#'% to award bloc( grants to states for improving teacher education in
those subjects.
In 2), the *nited States +ational ,cademies e-pressed their concern about the
declining state of STEM education in the *nited States. Its .ommittee on Science,
Engineering and #ublic #olicy developed a list of ! actions federal policy ma(ers could
ta(e to advance STEM education in the *nited States to compete successfully in the
2!st century. Their top three recommendations were to/
increase ,merica0s talent pool by improving 12!2 science and mathematics
education3
strengthen the s(ills of teachers through additional training in science, math and
technology3 and
enlarge the pipeline of students prepared to enter college and graduate with
STEM degrees.
http+,,en-i.ipediaorg,-i.i,STEM/fields# accessed %&$0&$*
STEM 1S A!1VE AN2 3E!!
The interest in and resolve to pro4ote STEM ed"cation across the 5nited
States appears to be alive and -ell 1n fact# by 4y observations at this
NSTA conference# -here so4e (%)) ed"cators gathered to foc"s on the
topic# STEM ed"cation see4s to be fir4ly on trac. to recognition and
adoption in A4erican schools The advent of the highly anticipated Ne6t
7eneration Science Standards 8N7SS9 appears to have strengthened the
allegiance to STEM ed"cation and the effort to increase 4ore grad"ates
than ever ready for careers in STEM fields
State of Stem_VoigtPage 1
Over the three days 1 spent at the St !o"is STEM Conference 1 4et and
heard presentations by ed"cators fro4 Maine to California# fro4
3ashington State to Florida 1 heard fro4 4any teachers and
ad4inistrators# as -ell as representatives of higher ed"cation# that STEM
-as a top priority 1ndivid"al teachers so"ght inspiration as -ell as
4aterials to s"pport their teaching 7ro"ps of teachers# so4eti4es
acco4panied by their district ad4inistrator# -ere b"sy gaining the
:rofessional 2evelop4ent necessary to strengthen their progra4 and raise
the level of their STEM progra4 offerings :rivate and p"blic charter
acade4ies see4ed -ell represented# especially those -hose na4es and
4ission stood for STEM ed"cation# eg# Manor Ne- Tech High or ;oo.er
T 3ashington STEM Acade4y
STEM 7A1N1N7 :ROM1NENCE 31TH THE A2VENT OF THE N7SS
That STEM ed"cation is the -ay of the f"t"re -as the 4essage of Ted
3illard# a progra4 director for NSTA He cited the strengthening effect that
the ne- N7SS -ill have on STEM# e6plaining that these ne- Standards
are not only abo"t refined science ob<ectives# b"t also their relation to other
core standards and previo"sly separate s"b<ect 4atter The N7SS also
4andate the incl"sion of =cross c"tting concepts> to help st"dents
"nderstand the conte6t and relation of science to their -orld And# in order
to heighten "nderstanding of the scientific process# as -ell as ens"re the
develop4ent of s.ills that -ill be re?"ired in the -or.place# st"dents are
e6pected to design and b"ild as they constr"ct their .no-ledge# acting very
4"ch li.e engineers 3ith s"ch co4ple6 perfor4ance e6pectations# the
N7SS -ill re?"ire a ne- 4odel of teaching@enter STEM
STEM ed"cation has gro-n over the past decade beca"se of the
recognition that A4erica needed 4ore -or.ers in the fields of science#
technology# engineering and 4ath# and related fields 1ts i4portance -as
"nderscored by the flagging test scores of st"dents in these acade4ic
areas An added i4pet"s ca4e fro4 those -ho sa- in STEM practice as a
4eans to bring 4ore a"thenticity to the ed"cational e6perience of st"dents
;"t no-# according to Mr 3illardAs vision# STEM ed"cation has act"ally
State of Stem_VoigtPage 2
gotten 4arching orders in the 4andate of the N7SS -hich calls for
relevance in science teaching# integration of related s"b<ect 4atter# and the
contin"al practice of learning by a"thentic engage4ent and involve4ent in
=engineering> enco"nters
The NE3 HAN2S&ON :ERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
1t is perhaps 4ost evident -hat direction science teaching -ill have to ta.e
by loo.ing at the assess4ent 4eas"res c"rrently "nder constr"ction to test
the teaching of N7SS Conference presenter 2eborah T"c.er# Science
Ed"cation Cons"ltant to Napa Valley Schools# sho-ed several =hands&on
science perfor4ance tests> that are in line -ith the e6pectations of the ne-
N7SS She presented assess4ent e6a4ples fro4 Connectic"tAs NECA:
science tas.s and CaliforniaAs C!AS assess4ents fro4 the 4id&0)As As
4ight be e6pected# these assess4ents departed sharply fro4 the typical
4"ltiple&choice# fact&oriented assess4ents 1nstead these hands&on
e6a4ples presented conte6t&e6plicit# 4"lti&layered proble4s -hich called
for deep thin.ing# the ability to dra- fro4 several content areas# a need for
hands&on "nderstanding -ith 4"lti&leveled s"btas.s and finally an ability to
synthesiBe everything for a "ni?"e sol"tion
To 4any attendees# these perfor4ance assess4ents for science shared a
re4ar.able si4ilarity to the proposed S4arter ;alanced Assess4ents
c"rrently "nder develop4ent for the ne- Co44on Core State Standards
8CCSS9 For those -ho have been fa4iliariBed -ith the evolving S4arter
;alance tas.s 4eant to test the CCSS# it is easy to see that they share
4any of the sa4e tas.s and traits 1f one hypothesiBes that these
assess4ents -ill infl"ence classroo4 instr"ction in order to 4a.e st"dents
s"ccessf"l on these assess4ents# it is possible to s"r4ise instr"ctional
practice -ill "ndergo a sea change as it see.s to involve st"dents in the
sa4e types of a"thentic# integrative# 4"ltileveled learning e6periences as
they -ill enco"nter on assess4ents
State of Stem_VoigtPage 3
N7SS+ COMMON V1S1ON# ;5T 1N21V125A! STATE A5TONOMC
Altho"gh (D states have signed on to =serio"sly consider> adoption of
N7SS# Mr E"an&Carlos Ag"ilar# Science :rogra4 Manager for 7eorgia
2epart4ent of Ed"cation# e4phasiBed that each state 4"st proceed at its
o-n pace and in its o-n 4anner to ens"re that the adoption of ne-
Standards fits its partic"lar needs# processes of adoption# and 4anner of
i4ple4entation 3hile the N7SS provide a co44on "nderstanding of a
ne- vision of science ed"cation# the e6pression of that vision 4"st be
4atched to the needs and e6igencies present in each state
E!EMENTARC SC1ENCE 1NSTR5CT1ON NEE2S MORE T1ME
Mr :atric. 2AA4elio# Chief E6ec"tive Officer of STEM Ed"cation for
3ashington State# presented evidence of the econo4ic i4portance of
STEM ed"cation in his state 3ashington# he stated# -ith its concentration
in co4p"ter technology and the aerospace ind"stry ran.s n"4ber one in
STEM&related <obs Cet it ran.s virt"ally last in the nation for prod"cing
grad"ates choosing STEM fields
2AA4elio tal.ed abo"t ho-# in 3ashington as in other states# 4ath and
reading have been assigned increasing i4portance d"e to NC!; That
foc"s has effectively precipitated a grad"al slide of science instr"ction to
the bac. b"rner As schools have raced to prioritiBe sched"les for delivery
of 4ath and reading instr"ction# science instr"ction# especially in
ele4entary classroo4s# has been p"shed to the side -ith as little as an
ho"r given each -ee. This# he asserts# has a direct i4pression on
st"dents -ho are the 4ost for4ative and has res"lted in a decline in
interest and desire to choose STEM&related classes and s"bse?"ent
careers Mr 2AA4elio believes there is a direct correlation bet-een the
a4o"nt of ti4e spent on science instr"ction in his State and the n"4ber of
STEM grad"ates
State of Stem_VoigtPage 4
N7SS ST52ENTS 31!! NEE2 MORE T1ME
2r Ann McMahon# an engineer and for4er .&$( ed"cator# e4phasiBed the
i4portance of iteration in the e6perience of st"dents in the STEM
classroo4 1teration# she said# -as the process -hereby engineers act"ally
evolve their -or. 1t is a process# she said# -hich incl"des the act of
analyBing a proble4 and devising a sol"tion and 4"st also incl"de the
opport"nity for the engineer to eval"ate his,her creation 1n addition#
iteration de4ands the ti4e to reconsider his,her original hypothesis# 4odify
fa"lts in design# and reprod"ce the creation in a 4ore acceptable for4 1t is
this iterative process that "lti4ately leads engineers to a better
"nderstanding of the proble4s they solve and allo-s better sol"tions
2r McMahonAs point -as that the N7SS -ill re?"ire this .ind of
engineering practice of o"r st"dents tooF and teachers 4"st be ready to
provide the latit"de in the classroo4 for st"dents to labor longer over their
pro<ects in order to prod"ce better res"lts This -ill lead to better o"tco4es
in both classroo4 prod"ction and achieve4ent o"tco4es
S5::ORT FOR STEM
As a ne- 4e4ber of NSTA# it -as confir4ing to find a strong advocacy
instit"ted in that gro"p&& not only by 4eans of their yearly conference on
the s"b<ect# b"t in its s"pport of progra4 as -ell -ith 4any boo.s and .its
designed to s"pport STEM teaching Most "sef"l to the ele4entary teacher
is the =:ict"re :erfect> progra4 This progra4 spans the ele4entary
grades and foc"ses on pict"re boo.s to provide st"dents -ith springboards
for disc"ssion# to anchor in?"iry and gro"p interaction# and# -ith optional
4aterial .its# pro<ects and engineering spin&offs NSTA hosts yearly
conferences on STEM and has a variety of articles on its -ebsite on the
topic incl"ding a page dedicated to STEM iss"es
---nstaorg,p"blications,archive& stem asp6
State of Stem_VoigtPage 5
1t -as also enco"raging to 4e to find that there is a national =STEM G>
net-or. -ith grassroots advocacy gro"ps for4ing aro"nd the co"ntry
These gro"ps are "s"ally co4prised of ed"cational professionals# state
govern4ent leaders# and b"siness and ind"stry leaders The pri4ary goals
of the national STEM G are to -or. for st"dentsA s"ccess in STEM st"dies#
enco"rage ed"cator effectiveness# and to ens"re 4obiliBation at the state
and co44"nity levels
:resently there are =STEM G> organiBations in $H states MichiganAs gro"p
is the Michigan STEM :artnership
http+,,4iste4partnershipco4,contactht4
One of the s"rprising points to 4e# 4ade by spea.er Ms Reo :r"eitt#
:rogra4 Officer for Ed"cate Te6as# -as the essential role of b"siness and
ind"stry plays in STEM advocacy in her state She e4phasiBed the
absol"te i4portance of -or.ing -ith b"siness and ind"stry partners to
"nderstand their thin.ing and their needs She posited that this .ind of
collaboration -as essential to 4oving their STEM agenda ahead
TEACH1N7 TEACHERS TO TEACH STEM
There -as 4"ch tal. at the Conference abo"t the need for teacher
ed"cation and providing the reso"rces and .no-ledge -hich teachers and
school districts need to s"pport STEM teaching And organiBations are
e4erging to serve that need
The STEM Acade4y is one s"ch gro"p A nonprofit organiBation# it has
so4e five yearsA e6perience -or.ing -ith schools 1t offers a -ee.&long
analysis of a districtAs c"rric"l"4 and a prescription for change incl"ding
ready&4ade STEM c"rric"la that can be i4ple4ented in 4iddle and high
schools ---ste4$)$org
Another pro4ising gro"p is N7SG This e6e4plar progra4 is presently
"nder develop4ent by a gro"p -hich represents several -ell&.no-n
entities# a4ong the4 the Tide4ar. 1nstit"te of Maine# Clar. 5niversity and
North-estern 1t -ill be offered in beta for4 in several states d"ring this
State of Stem_VoigtPage 6
ne6t year Recently a-arded an NSF grant# the N7SG syste4 is
constr"cting a 4"lti&layered self&advocacy 4odel of teacher professional
develop4ent that feat"res a tea4 st"dy approach -ith participants 4eeting
to e6perience caref"lly crafted -eb&based 4aterials and engage in
s"bse?"ent dialog"e and analysis 1ts ob<ect is to e6pose participants to
STEM instr"ction in classroo4s by "se of short videos and str"ct"re
?"estioning and interaction to help evolve an "nderstanding of STEM
practice http+,,---tide4ar.instit"teorg,pro<ects
SC1ENCE C5RR1C5!5M+ A2O:TF OR A2A:TI
2r EliBabeth :arry# North Carolina State 5niversity fac"lty and 4e4ber of
the A4erican Society for Engineering Ed"cation# re4inded her a"dience
that STEM c"rric"l"4 does not have to be 4ade or p"rchasedF b"t# -ith
the right set of s.ills# 4"ch of c"rrent c"rric"l"4 can be adapted 8At this
point a collective e6hale co"ld be heard by the teachers in the hallJ9
;oston M"se"4 of Science representative# Ms Cvonne Spicer# 4entioned
briefly that instit"tionAs =Engineering is Ele4entary> progra4 This -ell
established progra4 offers a 4en" of s4all Engineering 5nits 4eant to be
appended to traditional science lessons in order to provide an a"thentic
engineering ele4ent and facilitate thin.ing and interaction to bring abo"t
=STEM conscio"sness> And# for districts that are see.ing to transfor4 their
entire c"rric"l"4# the M"se"4 offers a =7ate-ay 1nstit"te>@a series of
e6periences for a district tea4 designed to help the4 eval"ate their present
c"rric"l"4 and plan a process of adaption to 4eet the ne- N7SS
e6pectations
AN N7SS MO2E! SCHOO! :RESENTS
:robably the 4ost inspiring e6a4ple of a STEM school# and the best
represented at the Conference# ca4e fro4 a gro"p of teachers and their
principal fro4 Eohn Tho4as School of 2iscovery in Ni6a# Misso"ri Ne-ly
State of Stem_VoigtPage 7
chartered by the Ni6a district# 2iscovery is <"st co4pleting its first year as a
STEM school 1t -as evident by the several presentations 4ade by teacher
gro"ps over the co"rse of the Conference that their =e6peri4ent> -as
highly engaging for the4# e6citing# and prod"cing desired res"lts
All teachers at the 2iscovery School foc"s on the science standards They
revise these standards into .id&friendly lang"age to describe o"tco4es#
then design activities to help st"dents achieve those ob<ectives Their
presentations -ere filled -ith stories and pict"res of st"dents analyBing
proble4s and b"ilding pro<ects to solve the4 Teacher tea4s specialiBed in
their vario"s s.ill areas# fro4 introd"ctory proble4 scenarios to tool
-ielding# and st"dents had the opport"nity# alone or in gro"ps# to engage in
b"ilding and revising their pro<ect sol"tions
The presentations by these teachers left 4e thin.ing that an e6ploratory
visitation to this Ni6a School -o"ld be -ell -orth the effortJ
MAK1N7 CONNECT1ON TO CCSS
There -ere several sessions -hich e4phasiBed i4portant connections
bet-een the Co44on Core State Standards and the N7SS A session
titled =3riting in STEM> -as led by teacher Carrie !a"ni"s fro4 HaBel-ood
School 2istrict# Florrisant# Misso"ri 3or.ing -ith a s4all tea4 of teachers
-ho sho-ed applicability across their grade levels# the foc"s -as on
learning to integrate pers"asive -riting -ith STEM "sing the4es fro4 both
N7SS and the CCSS 1 sa- teachers nodding as the presenters tal.ed
abo"t narro-ing -riting topics# insisting on 4"ltiple# a"thoritative so"rces#
and 4odeling for st"dents ho- to identify an arg"4ent and the infor4ation
-hich s"pports it
STEM CAREERS EM:HAS1LE2
On the topic of STEM careers# Ms !eesa H"bbard fro4 The Sally Ride
Science 1nstit"te provided several e6a4ple lessons -hich teachers 4ight
e4ploy in order to teach e6plicit lessons abo"t STEM occ"pations She
State of Stem_VoigtPage 8
stressed the i4portance of children eval"ating those occ"pations in ter4s
of -hat -as personally i4portant to the4&& -hether they had a nat"ral
attraction to the topic# 4aybe a sense of societal contrib"tion# or perhaps it
represented a lifestyle preference
Another tactic she prescribed -as teaching st"dents abo"t 4odern
scientists and individ"als -or.ing in STEM occ"pations relating especially
to the instr"ctional topic being covered in the classroo4 On the topic of
access# she stressed the i4portance of providing 4odels of STEM -or.ers
representing fe4ales as -ell as diverse ethnic bac.gro"nds
:5TT1N7 THE =T> 1N STEM
There -ere several sessions -hich to"ted technology applications#
especially i:ad apps# to facilitate scientific observations 8ca4s and probes9
and the easy recording of st"dent data 8table te4plates# instant graphing
apps# and gro"p&-ide data sharing applications9 2e4onstrations sho-ed
the relative ease -ith -hich st"dents co"ld enter their -or. on devices and
de4onstrated ho- that -or. co"ld be instantly transferred to folders for
teacher vie-ing
FAM1!C STEM N17HT
One of the highlights of the Conference -as Fa4ily STEM Night# an
evening 4oc.&"p of an act"al festival teachers 4ight consider hosting -ith
their o-n school pop"lation# fa4ilies and co44"nity 4e4bers
STEM Night is an event 4eant to broaden the foc"s of the traditional =Math
Night> co44on to 4any schools As one Tennessee district describes it+
STEM Night is an evening for parents to <oin their st"dents for an event
geared to-ards teaching STEM principles Fa4ilies learn abo"t -hat
STEM is# learn the engineering design process# and engage in hands&on
activities led by teachers fro4 their school that teach science# technology#
engineering# and
4ath> http+,,---robcoschoolsorg,ste4,fa4ily/ste4/nights
State of Stem_VoigtPage 9
At o"r Fa4ily STEM Night# held -ith party favors and 4"ch la"ghter#
conference participants for4ed ad hoc =fa4ily tea4s> in order to
collaborate on the sol"tion to a co44on proble4 The proble4 for all
fa4ilies -as to fig"re o"t ho- 4any r"bber bands -ere needed to 4a.e a
b"ngee rope that -o"ld allo- o"r =;"ngee E"4ping ;arbie 2oll> the
4a6i4"4 drop fro4 her three 4eter E"4p@and yet ens"re that she did
not 4a.e contact -ith the gro"nd
As yo" 4ight i4agine# there -as 4"ch hilarity as fa4ilies cond"cted
4"ltiple ;arbie ;"ngee E"4p tests# each ti4e tying an additional r"bber
band to the b"ngee rope# then retesting# recording and plotting the
additional stretch Since fa4ilies -ere li4ited in their predictive tests to only
a t-o 4eter <"4p# it beca4e necessary to e6trapolate the final length by
plotting progress 4ade by adding each r"bber band The final ans-er -as
dependent "pon the caref"l constr"ction of this line plot
The highlight of the evening -as to -atch the ;arbie 2oll co4e crashing to
earth@of co"rse# bla4ed on fa"lty plots or over"sed r"bber bandsJ That
there -as 4ath and science involved -as de4onstrated by the fact that a
fe- gro"ps act"ally did coincide on a prediction that 4et the criterion And
they -on the priBeJ
A::REC1AT1ONS
1 -ish to than. the Capital Area Science and Math for the opport"nity to attend this
NSTA STEM Conference in St !o"is 1t -as an a4aBing e6perience for 4e# 4ade
possible by yo"r a-ard of a Teacher :rofessional !earning 7rant
1 also -ish to than. Mr Clifford Seybert# 2irector of Ed"cational Services for the East
!ansing School 2istrict# for providing 4e ti4e to attend this Conference and
"nder-riting the s"bstit"te teacher 4y absence 4ade necessary
1 also than. Ms Eri.a Cran4er# 4y able intern teacher this year# for filling 4y shoes
-hile 1 -as attending the Conference
State of Stem_VoigtPage 10