Mission, Vision, & Commitments

Adams 12 STEM Model

Mission

To engage and inspire all students to innovate, achieve, and succeed in a safe and supportive environment by ensuring high quality instruction in every classroom, every day. Adams 12 Five Star Schools exist so the students it serves are well-prepared for the next stage of their lives and obtain the skills, knowledge, and expertise to thrive in our world.

Vision

Student Learning

Commitments

1. Promote a rigorous, relevant, and responsive education with multiple pathways to success 2. Provide an environment that reflects high expectations that all students can and will learn 3. Encourage students to own their learning through authentic engagement which leads to success

Professional Practices

1. Collaborate effectively to improve outcomes for students and staff through the implementation of the Teaching/Learning Cycle 2. Ensure a highly skilled, dedicated, caring staff that positively influences student learning 3. Utilize reflection as an essential element for learning, growth, and development

Collective Responsibility

1. Support shared responsibility for student success through involvement of students, staff, families, and community 2. Establish a safe, supportive, respectful and productive learning environment for all students and staff 3. Celebrate and honor diversity as an essential asset for learning

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Core Beliefs

As a STEM K-12 community of students, staff, parents, and partners, we are committed to

Giving Students a Compass

focusing each students plan of study on achieving essential learning outcomes. assessing students progress and guide their learning with academic and life opportunities to achieve post-secondary workforce readiness.

Teaching the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation

immersing all students in analysis, discovery, problem solving, communication, and creativity in meaningful content and context. Teaching beyond the curriculum to far-reaching issues both contemporary and enduring in science and society, culture and values, global and local interdependence, politics and economics, and human dignity and freedom. Emphasizing personal and social responsibility in every field of study and promoting mutual respect, thoughtfulness, and courage.

Guaranteeing Relevant, Engaging, and Transferable Experiences

Fostering Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning

We fundamentally believe in the educability of all students. All students deserve to have access and opportunity to STEM education and demonstrate their learning in varied, challenging ways each day. We believe schools systems can be better. We recognize the complexity of the learning process and strive to be intentional and responsive to all stakeholders needs. As committed and strategic educators, we embrace and celebrate each students history and future. We have an obligation to our communities and to our families to teach well and nourish the human spirit with a love of learning and inquiry.

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

STEM Schools

Beliefs in Practice

bring relevance to student work and make connections to society and the global world we live in by establishing partnerships (P20 and industry). Observable indicators o Students in the field working alongside industry and field-based experts o Mentorships, externships, and internships o Industry and partnerships providing authentic problems for students to solve o Work collaboratively with students and teachers to solve authentic problem o Experts in the field co-teaching with STEM teachers.

include a fully integrated arts curriculum that teach the arts standards through mathematical, technological, scientific, engineering, or social science lenses to support the STEM instructional model. Observable indicators: o Students may apply mathematical concepts to their musical compositions o Students may apply historical and cultural understandings and contexts through artistic expression o Students may apply scientific concepts and processes to the creation of artistic works o The artistic design process is aligned to the engineering design process

STEM Learning Environments

are problem-based and solution driven. Students, teachers, industry, and community come together to facilitate and participate in culturally relevant and academically rigorous learning. are most effective in collaborative, cooperative groups with authentic, relevant problems that span content areas in a transdisciplinary, problem-solving approach. are student-centered environments rich in questioning and inquiry, where students have frequent opportunities to apply the engineering design and problem-solving processes to authentic, contextual problems. are places of discourse and idea development, applied programming and curriculum. are flexible in design. serve as transformative teaching and learning communities, linked to the network of innovative opportunities both locally and globally. Are technologically diverse and develop students ability to choose and use appropriate tools engage in authentic learning and solve problems.

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

STEM Students
realize the value of collaboration with peers and resources. seek to apply and transfer knowledge to a range of problems and projects. understand that failure and tenacity are part of the innovation process. are self-directed, prepared to learn, and ready for the next step. approaches difficult problems with ingenuity. generates questions independently, and question the common or unusual. stewards of peace within the community and the environment. are technologically literate. able to relate their own culture and history to their present and future education. are dynamic learners and take advantage of extended learning opportunities.

STEM Educators:
facilitate learning in and out of their classroom using a variety of internal and external resources such as industry partnerships, authentic field experiences, and technology to connect with the world outside of the classroom. are intellectual and reflective practitioners who engage in professional learning experiences. have a deep understanding of the content and concepts they are teaching. demonstrate innovation daily in their teaching and see themselves as researchers about the integration of theory and practice. they provide authentic feedback and constant opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills to authentic situations. seek critical feedback about their pedagogy and content knowledge from peers, administrators, and students.

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Instructional Model: Inquiry and Problem-based Learning

The Adams 12 STEM Instructional Model aligns to authentic, real-world work and exploration. The inquiry-based model is replicable at all levels, K-12. The model is inquiry-based through the use of problem-based learning with transdisciplinary approaches.

Inquiry
Inquiry involves the science, art, and spirit of curiosity. Effective inquiry is more than just asking questions. A complex process is involved when individuals attempt to convert information and data into useful knowledge. Useful application of inquiry learning involves several factors: a context for questions, a framework for questions, a focus for questions, and different levels of questions. Welldesigned inquiry learning produces knowledge formation that can be widely applied (National Science Standards, 2000).

(Sincero, P., 2005, inquirylearn.com)

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Problem-Based Learning
Problem-based learning is based on the educational theories of Vygotsky (1978), Dewey (1938), and others, and is related to social-cultural constructivist theories of learning and instructional design. Characteristics of Problem-Based Learning (PBL): Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended, loosely-defined and loosely-structured, practical problems worthy of the most elite team in a particular field of study. Problems that students encounter and attempt to solve are significant and important to the world around them. Students generally work in collaborative groups. PBL environments may be designed for individual learning. Teachers take on the role as facilitators of learning. PBL can be used to enhance content knowledge and foster the development of communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skills. Students use varied learning strategies to explore and identify the nature of a problem, identify variables and constraints, discover differing perspectives and viewpoints of the problem, and develop solutions for the problem by negotiating the complex sociological nature of the problem. By seeing multiple solutions to the same problem, students can advocate for the feasibility of their solution by comparing it to solutions of experts in the field and their peers. problems can be solved through various methods and students work collaboratively to identify the strengths and flaws of their ideas, and ultimately choose to put forth the strongest idea. PBL includes engagement with experts in the field and may be accompanied by authentic field experiences that correspond directly to the content of the problem.

Transdisciplinary Learning
What sets transdisciplinary studies apart from the others is a particular emphasis on engagement, investigation, and participation in addressing present-day issues and problems in a manner that explicitly connects various disciplines across the unit of study. PBL experiences are built around three key concepts: transformative process, constructive problem-solving, and real-world engagement.

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

PBL in practice
PBL experiences engage students with an authentic problem rooted in content (science, social science, engineering) and have them analyze, research, study the problem with a cultural, social, political, economic, historical, scientific lens. The PBL can come from media sources, your own thinking, your students thinking, and business and industry partnerships. The PBLs are directly aligned and correlated to state standards across the content areas. One well-developed PBL will cover multiple disciplines and standards and develop conceptual understanding. Students, through authentic experiences (video conferencing with specialists, researching, interviewing, surveying, etc.) and collaboration propose solutions to the problem(s) presented. Through a digital lens, they present their findings and solutions to an authentic panel of experts and receive critical feedback to be able to rethink and redesign their solutions, findings. Some PBL units of study take a few weeks while others may last several. The goal of each is to immerse students in real world, contextual problems and employ strategies and knowledge to seek solutions, find evidence to support their thinking, and collaborate and share and engage with experts in the field.

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Problem-Based Learning: What it is and what it is not.
What is it Planning with and studying the district overviews and state standards to gauge outcomes for students Anchoring a unit of study around content (science, social sciences, or engineering) and developing a contextual, authentic problem with math and literacy being the essential skills to understand and analyze the problem. Engaging students with the problem is an authentic way-asking an expert to present it, letter received, email, personal askidentifying the purpose of the inquiry With a content-centered, rich problem, students take on various lenses to view, analyze, and research the problem-historical, cultural, social, economic impact, political Leverage of high-quality, researched curriculum materials/programs to support and promote problem-based unit; materials are responsive and dynamic to need Students have the opportunity to share their findings and ideas to an authentic audience and get critical feedback; student self-assessment built in and digital/multi-media component Business/industry/higher education partnerships involved throughout entire process from planning, implementation, and sharing What it is not Planning with programs and curricular materials at the forefront to gauge outcomes Math and literacy are anchors and content as secondary pieces, content knowledge in silos or isolation Telling them without purpose or direct connection to prior experiences and learning Forced integration into theme-based units or a favorite unit (i.e. dinosaurs); coating disciplines with each other (doing math in social studies, etc.) Materials that do not support the inquiry

End of unit presentations; single format presentation; absent of student self-assessment Business donating materials or just being the expert once in a while

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Development of a Global Language of Innovation

STEM Curricular Components

Language is not limited to the more traditional view of modern language. Language includes technological languages that can transfer across culture and space.

Engineering Design
Just as STEM education is for all students, we believe all STEM students will be educated in engineering. We believe engineering contributes to what all students should know in preparation for their individual lives and for their roles as citizens in this technology-rich and scientifically complex world. We are convinced that engagement in the practices of engineering design is as much a part of learning science as engagement in the practices of science. The actual doing of engineering can also pique students curiosity, capture their interest, and motivate their continued study. The insights thus gained help them recognize that the work of engineers is a creative endeavor, one that has deeply affected the world they live in. Students may then recognize that engineering can contribute to meeting many of the major challenges that confront society today, such as generating sufficient energy, preventing and treating disease, maintaining supplies of fresh water and food, and addressing climate change. In Adams 12, we believe engineering is the convergence and application of all disciplines and cannot stand on its own without rich content.

Entrepreneurship
Adams 12 STEM schools desire to offer students an experiential curriculum for their students to be 1) empowered individuals, 2) serial entrepreneurs, 3) potential business owners, and 4) self-starting, entrepreneurial employees of corporate America. This programs over-reaching goal is to establish a national leadership position in introducing and empowering students to be entrepreneurs within a public school environment by providing top subject matter experts, best available curriculum and practices, community involvement, and innovation and technology. The first goal is to fully prepare students through eighth grade, at a minimum, to be able to have the knowledge, confidence, and experience to create any business on their own. The second goal for ninth through twelfth grade students who would continue with this program outside of STEM (but within Adams 12), is to have these students leave with the equivalent of an MBA, but with the distinction of a number of startups or businesses already under his/her belt.

Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Disciplinary Literacy
There are important differences in how experts in their respective disciplines use language and create and interact with the literacy artifacts of the discipline. Experts have a stronger understanding of the unique text structures in their disciplines. They understand how to use discipline-specific texts and resources to solve problems, explore topics of interest, and communicate with others about disciplinary issues. In Adams 12 STEM schools, teachers are the experts in their discipline and make the disciplinespecific literacy practices linked to reading, writing, speaking, and listening in their discipline obvious for students. Teachers model how to engage in the literacy artifacts of a discipline like scientists, mathematicians, artists, engineers, authors, and historians. Students regularly engage in the tools of the trade by reading authentic discipline-specific texts, and by engaging in academically rich speaking and listening activities that support students learning of the content and the literacy practices of the discipline. Teachers provide scaffolded tasks and experiences for students as they engage in those practices so that students experience a gradual release of responsibility and work toward greater expertise and control of the literacy practices in the discipline.

Internships and Externships

STEM Internships are typically one-time work or service experiences related to a students major or career goal. The internship plan generally involves a student working in a professional setting under the supervision and guidance of practicing professionals. Adams 12 STEM educators are committed to supporting students in finding and securing internship opportunities in STEM fields. Each placement must be mutually beneficial and fall under any and all Adams 12 Superintendent policies for credit and graduation requirements. STEM externships or job shadowing experiences allow a student to spend time observing a professional on the job. Through the interaction of experts during problem-based experiences, students may opt to explore a career field more in depth. Externships and job shadowing experiences are generally not done for academic credit and students must inquire through their school counselor and STEM coordinator for opportunities.

STEM Challenge Projects

Adams 12 STEM students will experience STEM Challenge Projects and key junctures in their educational training. STEM Challenge Projects include the following: Students develop a new innovation or solution that responds to a local, national, or international problem. The student idea must be a new innovation or solution and cannot simply be a behavioral change or a new use for an existing product. The work is collaborative, integrates technical vocabulary has an identified and targeted audience, and is tied to the students career or long-term personal goals. The student o clearly demonstrates the significance of the problem on the community or the world. o explains the science, technology, or math behind the innovation. o explains how their innovation could both address the everyday problem they have identified and could have an impact on the larger problem worldwide. o addresses the problem or issue differently than how it is currently being addressed.

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Mission of Professional Learning in STEM

Professional Learning

We will be a professional learning community centered on professional learning classrooms; recognizing the classroom will be at the heart of inquiries and reflections as educators. We will deliver professional growth opportunities that are differentiated and relevant. Our professional development will reflect and promote the teaching and learning cycle and best instruction. Professional learning at an Adams 12 STEM School will arise from and return benefits to the real world of teaching and learning. It will require the collection, analysis, and presentation of real data, and honor the professionalism, expertise, experience, and skills of staff, and will be content-rich. It also may not have an ending, but a constant strive to improve and make progress. Professional development should be site-based, long-term, grounded in teachers practice and an ongoing part of the workweek (Willis 2002).

Teacher-led professional learning and demonstration classrooms

Goals of Professional Engagement: To develop a tiered professional development model that operates internally to boost our STEM schools and operates externally as a model lab school locally and nationallyincluding observational, demonstration classrooms, professional development sessions (face to face and virtually), learning labs, and co-teaching models. Our STEM schools are environments of systemic collaboration between P-20 teachers, administrators, business and industry partnerships, higher education, and community. The professional learning model will be relevant, rigorous, and sustainable. The goals will be relevant, achievable, and measurable. Through professional learning, we want to establish a culture of quality and excellence. Leadership plan aligned to goals: All professional learning promotes and supports the instructional model. Ensure all students meet the standards for scientific inquiry and technological design Expand opportunities that already exist in school, district, and state; learn from existing models and continually seek, research, and analyze new models and programs Emphasize cognitive abilities and skills as learning outcomes (example: What is your evidence for your explanation? What alternative explanations have you heard from your team?) Include literacy and mathematics as part of all intentional learning outcomes

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Student leadership

Leadership

The goals of student leadership are to 1) provide multiple opportunities for students to hone their leadership and communication skills, 2) provide students with ownership of their school community, and 3) develop quality feedback loops between students and adults within the school community. Each Adams 12 STEM school will support and sustain a student leadership cadre. Student members are representative of the entire student community and represent expertise in varied components of the model (technology, robotics, inquiry, communication, etc.). Student members provide feedback to school administrators on current policies and practices, curriculum, and extra-curricular offerings. They hear student concerns and develop plans for addressing or responding to those concerns in a professional and inquiry-based manner. Student ambassadors represent each classroom. They provide visitors with a brief overview of the current work they are doing in class and the goals for that work.

Parent/Community Group or Teams

Adams 12 STEM schools believe in partnership with parents and community groups to enhance the educational experience of all students. Parental involvement is essential and fostered in numerous ways in each school. Our STEM parent groups promote involvement among students, parents, families, teachers, administrators, and the community to build a supportive, safe, fun, and empowering learning community and leverage resources to enhance the educational experience of STEM students k-12.

STEM advisory committee (teachers & staff)

Adams 12 STEM schools each have a leadership cadre of teachers and administrators who continue to develop and support the vision of the Adams 12 STEM model. This cadre provides feedback on STEM professional development and curriculum and instruction, as well as, facilitates and builds capacity among their colleagues. The committees across the three schools commit to a working relationship that benefits their own school but also unites the three schools with common professional development opportunities, resources, and problem-based learning experiences.

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

"Give Before you get."

Stewardship

Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities and is directly tied to Adams 12s problem-based learning model. It also emphasizes environmental stewardship with a focus on sustainability and use of resources, not only within STEM schools but also as students engage in the field. Through service-learning, STEM student use what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems. They not only learn the practical applications of their studies, they become actively contributing citizens and community members through the service they perform. Service-learning can be applied in a wide variety of settings, including problem-based learning experiences. It can involve a group of students, a classroom or an entire school. Students build character and become active participants as they work with others in their school and community to create service projects in areas such as education, public safety, and the environment (National Service Learning Clearinghouse, http://www.servicelearning.org/what-is-service-learning ,2013). Authentic service-learning experiences, while almost endlessly diverse, have some common characteristics (taken mostly from Eyler & Giles, Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?, 1999): They are positive, meaningful and real to the participants. They involve cooperative rather than competitive experiences and thus promote skills associated with teamwork and community involvement and citizenship. They address complex problems in complex settings rather than simplified problems in isolation. They offer opportunities to engage in problem-solving by requiring participants to gain knowledge of the specific context of their service-learning activity and community challenges, rather than only to draw upon generalized or abstract knowledge such as might come from a textbook. As a result, service-learning offers powerful opportunities to acquire the habits of critical thinking; i.e. the ability to identify the most important questions or issues within a realworld situation. They promote deeper learning because the results are immediate and uncontrived. There are no "right answers" in the back of the book. As a consequence of this immediacy of experience, service-learning is more likely to be personally meaningful to participants and to generate emotional consequences, to challenge values as well as ideas, and hence to support social, emotional and cognitive learning and development. Service-learning is not: An episodic volunteer program An add-on to an existing school curriculum Logging a set number of community service hours in order to graduate Compensatory service assigned as a form of punishment by the courts or by school administrators Only for high school students One-sided: benefiting only students or only the community

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

greater common good. STEM education is open to all students. percentile)

Design Principles

Goal of expansion: build system capacity around STEM literacy, spread innovation, and serve the
Principle 1: All students have the right to be STEM literate (it is not reserved for the top

Adams 12 STEM schools apply evidence-based approaches to transdisciplinary curriculum using problem-based, differentiated instruction, and authentic assessment. All classrooms are united by the power of inquiry and its best practices. The schools are designed to bridge the gap between how we live and how we learn in the 21st century by blending current state and district standards with collaborative learning experiences involving postsecondary education, business and industry, and informal education. Engineering and entrepreneurialism are core content areas. Evidence of this principle: Problem-based units of study anchored to standards Clear processes for problem solving and creative tension Defined models for inquiry and 21st century learning Expert panels and technology-based student research groups Community Service Learning

opportunity

Principle 2: STEM Partnership- schools engage partnerships to build capacity and broaden

Adams 12 STEM schools are supported by a public and private partnership involving the K-8 STEM schools, partnering High Schools and their programming, institutions of higher education, and private sector entities. These partnerships are all a vital part of the STEM pipeline (Pk-12) and serve the purpose of creating a network of innovative, evidence-based teaching, learning, and leadership in STEM. These partnerships help develop and align economic development and education strategies and resources and serve to engage students in meaningful mentoring and internship experiences. Evidence of this principle: Participating businesses make real, tangible and sustainable commitments (time, materials, resources, grants, internships and externships for students and staff) Participating higher education institutions (2 year and 4 year) work with the STEM schools to improve the quality and access to STEM related dual enrollment and early college credit options STEM influencing higher education pre-service teacher programs in the state Partnerships offer unique curricular programming and authentic experiences to STEM students and staff Serve as mentors, role models, and liaisons to students who can see themselves in dynamic STEM-related fields Funding of a site-based STEM coordinator/specialist to facilitate on site field experiences, partnership opportunities, planning PBL units with grade level teams, support and promote STEM instructional model; coordinator is connected to district STEM coordinator and meets regularly as a district team to foster consistency and collaboration among district STEM schools and programs K-12.

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

Principle 3: STEM schools are models of innovation and use a transdisciplinary approach. STEM educators use inquiry, collaboration and authentic learning activities to increase student achievement and engagement
Adams 12 STEM schools are models of STEM best practice and are expected to house demonstration classrooms. The STEM schools deliver professional development and technical assistance in effective strategies and practices for STEM education. Professionals from within and outside the district can be immersed in effective instructional practice, educational innovation, and student-lead outcomes within each classroom. The school itself retains a commitment to continuous professional learning and being involved in the latest international, national, and local STEM research and initiatives. Shared research models and curriculum development for STEM should reside within the STEM schools and be organic and purposeful in design. Evidence of this principle: Based upon problems of practice, organizations can visit STEM to receive relevant research and visit classrooms to see certain aspects of STEM modeled Schools/organizations trying to begin a STEM school can utilize the STEM schools metrics to develop their own program There is a natural expectation of sharing, collaboration and the knowledge that the school is only one part of the bigger STEM pipeline with a goal to cultivate a college-ready and workready culture even at all levels

Principle 4: STEM schools are partners in the research, study and improvement of the model

Stem school staff and administration work in a collaborative manner where an agreement is developed to promote and challenge the model to grow and develop for the betterment of student achievement. The STEM agreement address student expectations, staff expectations, administrative expectations, parent expectations, along with action research and data based upon student achievement and the STEM identity of students The STEM schools will partner with Higher Education institutions to conduct research and analysis of the STEM Model that will directly benefit the model, student learning and the larger community The STEM model will be reviewed every year between the months of May to July. Action research and data will be used to assess the model and any changes to the model

Principle 5: STEM programs must have a fully integrated arts and humanities curriculum.
Regardless of whether citizens aspire to be professionals in scientific, technological, mathematical, or engineering fields or will remain scientific laypeople, the skills required for civic participation and creative thinking around scientific issues might be most fruitfully learned through engagement with the arts and humanities. The arts and humanities provide methods for exploring problems through different lenses that support creative thinking and problem-solving. In Adams 12 STEM schools, all students will be provided with an integrated arts and humanities curriculum that helps develop students creative problem-solving skills, as well as provides them with discipline-specific experiences that helps students appreciate health, physical wellness, visual art, and performing arts as ends in themselves that supports their health and wellbeing.

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12 STEM Model

STEM Music and Performing Arts Vision Statement: The performing arts will provide comprehensive learning experiences to develop skills that will inspire students to be lifelong musicians who are able to serve the community.

Physical education and visual arts statements are in development.

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Adams 12 STEM Model

2012 Adams 12 Five Star Schools