Camas School District Letter of Interest Washington STEM: Replication and Expansion

Camas School District Letter of Interest Washington STEM: Replication and Expansion

Summary

Our overarching goal is to transform the learning and teaching model in the Camas School District towards a project-based STEM focus, using a Response to Intervention model where time and instructionare the variables and mastery learning is the constant. We will achieve this goal by replicating and expanding existing STEM programs throughout our district: after-school elementary STEM programs; STEM career pathways program; and high school Math, Science & Technology (MST) Magnet program. To assess our progress and effectiveness, we will implementa robust business-directed evaluation program.

Needs statement

Our project targetsfour main goals:

• Goal #1- provide engaging, project-based STEM activities through existing and new programs,
• Goal #2 - engage at a young age, retain, and support students in STEM education,
• Goal #3 - expandour high school MST Magnet programs to meet increased student demand,
• Goals #4 - implement a comprehensive oversight, evaluation and reporting program.

Beginningearly in their school career, our studentsneed to be immersed in a STEM-rich environment and exposed to the breadth of opportunities in STEM-related careers. This pedagogy is most effective when primarily project-based and in a setting that parallels a profession setting. Our teachers need to be trained on how to utilize more project-based learning strategies within the STEM curriculum. Furthermore, our teachers need to obtain an understanding of the opportunities in STEM-related careers by being exposed to STEM professionals.

At the elementary level, we need to engagemore students in our STEM activities. We need to expand participation across a broader demographic, especially our under-represented and underserved populations. Furthermore, we need a dedicated and targeted approach to retain these students in STEM activities throughout their educational careers.

One key focus will be our Science Olympiad program, as our participation data highlights the need to engage and retain more students. Each fall, approximately 180 of our elementary studentsparticipate in our after-school Elementary Science Olympiad program. In our middle schools,we have roughly 50 students participating in Science Olympiad. At the high school level, we currently have 41Science Olympiad students. In elementary and middle school the participation by gender is roughly even. At the high school level,this ratio shifts to approximately 65% male, 35% female. Less than 10% of ourother under-represented and underserved students are involved in these programs. We are simply not engaging these student groups as effectively as we could.

Ourhigh school MST Magnet program is built on student research projects and successful internships in STEM. Over its 6 years in existence, enrollment has averaged 46% female and 54% male, while maintaining an average cohort of 28 students in each grade level. The program’s retention rate has been 80% for females and 82% for males. Less than 10% of other under-represented students currently participate. This year,77 students appliedfor the 32 positions available. Thus, we need to increase the number of our MST Magnet sections in order to meet the demand of this successful and popular program. Furthermore, byincreasing the number of participants in our elementary and middle school after-school STEM programs, we expect a corresponding increase in demand for our MST Magnet. As a result, wewill need to replicate and expand ourhigh school STEM programs.

We need to implement a STEM-specific support structure that assists students with the post-secondary selection, scholarship and admission process. One goal forourcurrent MST Magnet has been that each graduate attend one of their first two choices of post-secondary education institution. The first MST Magnet cohort graduated last spring, and 58% achieved this benchmark.

Strategic alignment

Camas School District would benefit greatly from a Washington STEM award. The award would provide the resources necessary to quickly and successfully implement effective STEM learning practices throughout the district. Our projectwill replicate and expand our successful Science Olympiad, Science Engineering Fair, and FIRST Roboticsafter-school programs to expose more students to project based learning and STEM concepts. This early exposure willencourage and prepare our students for our high school STEM magnet programs. To accommodate this increased demand, we willreplicate and expand our successful high school MST Magnet program. Throughout all of these programs, student learning will center onSTEM-focused group problem solving and real world experiences. Our combined emphasis on these three after-school STEM programs in concert with our high school MST Magnet program, resonates with the NGSS framework: “engineering and technology provide a context in which students can test their own developing scientific knowledge and apply it to practical problems; doing so enhances their understanding of science—and, for many, their interest in science—as they recognize the interplay among science, engineering, and technology.” (p.12, NGSS)

Our current STEM programsserve nearly equal numbers of male and female students. Our focus will be to maintain this ratio as we replicate and expand, thus greatly increasing the numberof female students engaged in STEM education. To date, other under-represented student groups have not heavily participated in our STEM programs. We will evaluate why they aren’t engaged andmake the adjustments necessary to keep these students engaged inSTEM education. This combined effort will provide these students with the desire and skills to thrive in our MST Magnet program.

Withinthe Teaching and Learning and Out-of-School focus areas,our project best aligns with“differentiated instruction”, “authentic and applied learning”, and “classroom culture”. Under the Partnerships focus area our project best demonstrates the “mutually beneficial” and the “engagement in authentic STEM experiences” characteristics. While all mathematics common core standards are embedded in these programs, the most explicit are #1 (Make sense of problems and persevere to solve them) and #5 (Use appropriate tools strategically).

Project description: Long term impact and outcomes

The long term impact is outlined in the Summary and the Needs statement of this LOI. Specific outcomes most directly addressed by our project are “STEM proficiency”, “STEM identity”, “College ready”, “Connecting classroom and community”, and “Peer mentoring”.

Project description: Strategies and activities

Our STEM-focused learning and teaching model will be accomplished by several concurrent strategies and activities:

• We will replicate and expand our existingMST Magnet program. This high school program, one that is already project-based and includes a workplace internship. We will add one new section per year for the next three years, according to demand.
• We will replicate and expand our after-school Science Olympiad programs. Our programs currently have participation from grades 3-12; we will increase the number of students in each of these grade levels. Additionally, we will add K-2 Science Olympiad at each of our elementary schools.
• We will replicate and expand our Science & Engineering Fair from one elementary school (currently) to all five elementary schools, as well as to our two middle schools. Additionally, we will begin an elementary schoolprogram that will mirror and feed into our existing middle school Lego-Robotics.
• We will educate and promote theProject-Based Learning (PBL) and “flipped” teaching methods.
• We will reinstate a modified version of our “Teacher in the WorkForce” (TiWF) program. In this program, teachers spend a week (halftime) in one of our local STEM businesses, learning the use of presentation, analysis, and job-ready behaviors and skills.
• We will add the following personnel to lead our projects and model desired behaviors:
• The 0.5FTE career guidance counselor willsupport all under-represented and underserved students identified in the 7th grade through Science Olympiad, Lego-Robotics and Science Engineering Fair or by their teachers and set up the process to continue through graduation.
• The “1.0FTE Building TOSAs” will be shared in STEM activitiesat 0.1 FTE in each building.
• The “0.5 TOSA project manager” will coordinate all of these STEM activities and positions.
• The “Contract-after school” will provide logistics for elementary school STEM programs.
• The “Contract – internship” will develop additional internship opportunities to meet our growth needs and develop a processto be maintained by staff after the grant is complete.
• The “Contract – outside evaluation” will lead thedesign and implementation of the project evaluation program outlined in the next section of this LOI.
• The administrative and secretarial positions will support the entire project.

Project description: Evaluate the project

We will convene a team of local, knowledgeable business professionals to evaluate our project,to include representatives from The Stewart Groupand Underwriters Laboratories’ UL University. Since we are expanding our careers pathways, it makes sense to utilize the talents of industry project management professionals. The data to be collected for each of our fourproject goals:

• Goal #1: numbers of students in each program,numbers of males and females, numbers of students in other under-represented and underserved categories;numbers of teachers who have participated in the TiWF program; numbers of teachers participating in the peer-coaching program; numbers of teachers who have delivered one or more units using a project-based learning approach; and a survey of all staff each February regarding their perception of the STEM programs’ effectiveness.
• Goal #2: numbers of students identified 7th thru 12th, males or female orother underserved or under-represented status, their intended post-high-school goals, possible scholarships pertaining to their goals, and upon graduation whether or not they attended one of their top two choices and if not why not;maintain a record of internships and projects, numbers of students who participate in the Fall, Winter and Spring STEM activities K-12, their gender, and their continuation rate;sample each year of all STEM participants to learn why they choose to continue or withdraw from a program.
• Goal #3: number of students applying to enter our STEM magnet programs and program interest; several measures continued from the measures stated for Goals 1 and 2.
• Goal #4: evaluate the results given in the other measures from a costs/benefits perspective.

Project description: Project timeline

2012 /

• August: replicate and expand MST Magnet to two sections, fill staff positions, award contracts, launch project website, replicate and expand after-school STEM programs

• November: complete all pre-project survey data collection, Eval. Team completes plan

• November: present project results at CTE Fall conference (yearly)

2013 /

• February: complete annual surveys (yearly)

• February: begin TiWF program and peer training for Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

• March: present project results at CTE Winter/Spring conference (yearly)

• August:replicate MST Magnet into Engineering Magnet, assuming sufficient demand

2014 /

• August: replicate MST Magnet into Health Sciences Magnet, assuming sufficient demand

2015 /

• July: Complete and publish summative project report

Project description: Identify, generate and share new knowledge

Our project evaluation process will identify and evaluateall key measures and lessons learned. We will share this knowledge directly with our district stakeholders, other school districts, on our websites, at CTE conferences, at the national magnet schools consortium annual conferences,at Science Olympiad coaching forums, and in all appropriate Washington STEM venues.

Project description: Partners

Camas School District has a broad base of partners throughout SW Washington, many of whom are STEM organizations. We havereceived letters of support fromsome of them: (1) Mr. K.C. Hsu, CEO of WaferTech America; (2) Mr. Richard Forcier and Mr. Brad Freeman, R&D Lab Directors for Hewlett-Packard; and (3) Mayor Scott Higgins, City of Camas. A project evaluation specialist (Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma) is being provided by Underwriters Laboratories to support our project.

RESOURCES / Year 1 / Year 2 / Year 3
TOSAs - 1.5FTE Project Manager +Bldgs / 75,000 / 113,000 / 75,000
Counselor/Careers - .5FTE / 38,000 / 38,000 / 38,000
Administrator – 0.1FTE + secretary .7FTE / 50,000 / 39,000 / 50,000
Release time, TiWF+ peer coaching / 15,000 / 20,000 / 20,000
Contract - after school, internship, evaluation / 40,000 / 25,000 / 35,000
Materials/Supplies/Equipment / 11,000 / 4,000 / 4,000
Travel / 10,000 / 10,000 / 10,000
TOTALS / 239,000 / 249,000 / 232,000

Budget

Organizational Capacity

“The mission of the Camas School District is to provide students with the ability to communicate effectively, use technology, reason, be self-confident, possess mental and physical health, and work effectively with others. In broader terms, our mission is to create a "learning community" where staff, students, and citizens are involved jointly in the advancement of knowledge and personal growth.”

Ten years ago, Camas School District’senrollment was 3863 students, of whom 8% were listed as under-represented other than by gender and 15% were listed as underserved. Last year, we had 5996 students enrolled, of whom 20% were listed as under-represented other than by gender and 20% were listed as underserved. During this same period, our students have excelled. As one example,we increased our percentage of 7th grade state math proficiency achievementfrom 30% to 76%.

Seven years ago, our district leadershiprecognized the need to increase the amount and rigor of project-based education in our high school. As a result, we began our MST Magnet program. This program provides students with real-world experiences that add value to their educational development as well as to our community. The MST Magnet has succeeded in every measure. Witness the businesses that provided letters of support within days of the request, the numbers of students who want into our MST Magnet program, the crowd that views our student project Symposium each May, and our student success at Science Engineering Fair, Science Olympiad, and Imagine Tomorrow.

Six years ago,we began our Science Olympiad, Lego-Robotics and FIRST Robotics programs. Over the short period these programs have existed here, Camas School Districthas become the only district in the state to have Science Olympiad at all of itselementary schools. Our district hashelpedClarkCounty become the only county in the state to host a regional elementary Science Olympiad tournament. Our First Robotics team is one of the best in the state. Both of our middle schoolsScience Olympiad teams are in the state championship tournament this year. Last, but not least, for the fifth year in a row our high school Science Olympiad is vying for the state title.

With the support of our business partners and community, we can and will use this grant to replicate and expand our successful STEM programs throughout the Camas School District. Thank you.

March 23, 2012"Camas Schools... a Tradition of Caring and Quality"1 | Page