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BATTELLE Education

1 ú Tennessee STEM Innovation Network

STEM Platform SchoolsThe TSIN Platform Schools were designed to function as demonstration sites, where educators and other stakeholders from across the state can observe STEM teaching and learning in practice. Platform Schools often try new methods of teaching and learning and share local innovations with Regional Hubs to be disseminated more broadly with surrounding schools. The Platform Schools utilize problem and project-based learning in partnership with local STEM industry partners, integrated curricula, and emphasize technology as a way to enhance teaching and learning.

Regional STEM Innovation Hubs Regional STEM Innovation Hubs are the nucleus of STEM activity, representing a formal partnership among school districts, post-secondary institutions, STEM businesses, and community organizations that are committed to amplifying and accelerating the impact of STEM programs in their regions. Regional Hubs amplify local innovations to transform classrooms in surrounding school districts. Through the support of an array of STEM stakeholders and partners,

In 2010, the Tennessee Department of Education partnered with Battelle Memorial Institute to launch the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network. Focusing on “kindergarten to jobs,” the Network is developing high-quality STEM programming to further ensure Tennessee students are college and career ready upon graduation. The Network utilizes STEM Platform Schools and Regional STEM Innovation Hubs located across Tennessee to increase student interest and participation in STEM fields.

hubs across the state create effective educational programs, such as teacher professional development or after-school programming for students, to address the needs of partnering schools, students, and teachers. Regional Hubs have the unique ability to leverage statewide impact by collaborating and sharing projects that have shown promising results with other hubs across the state through the network.

The Tennessee STEM Innovation Network is committed to helping the State of Tennessee inspire and train the next generation of innovative leaders. The presence of these highly skilled workers will enable the state to grow businesses and industries that can successfully compete in the global economy.

TSIN supports the growth and quality of STEM education

in Tennessee by:

CONNECTING THE BEST STEM SCHOOLS,

TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO NATIONAL

RESOURCES

DRIVING LOCAL STEM INNOVATIONS

THROUGH A NETWORK APPROACH

FOR STATEWIDE IMPACT

ASSISTING SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

THAT WANT TO CREATE NEW STEM

SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS

STEM education is a direct response to the realization that other states and nations are gaining competitive advantages by asserting their scientific and technological leadership - and that Tennessee’s future will be built on its own capacity for innovation, invention and creative problem solving. STEM education prepares exactly the kinds of thinkers, innovators and problem solvers such a world demands.

What is STEM? STEM is much more than an acronym for the four subject areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. STEM is a unique approach to teaching and learning that fosters creativity and innovative thinking in all students.

THE IMPORTANCE OF STEM IN TENNESSEE

The Significance of STEM EducationSTEM education is one of the most effective tools we have to prepare students for tomorrow’s workforce and success in college and career. At its foundation, STEM is focused on building critical and creative thinking and analysis skills by addressing how students view and experience the world around them. Strong STEM teaching and learning opportunities rest on inquiry-, technology-, and project-based learning activities and lessons that are tied to the real world. It is a diverse, interdisciplinary curriculum where activities in one class complement those in other classes. In the STEM classroom, robust partnerships reach beyond the walls of the school to include higher education and business partners in real-world lessons.

An Exciting STEM Jobs Forecast for TennesseeAccording to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, forecasts show that by 2018, Tennessee will have more than 100,000 STEM jobs - nearly 14,000 more STEM jobs than the state had in 2008! This, coupled with natural STEM labor trends, will guarantee an abundance of STEM jobs over the next few years and beyond. Tennessee must be poised to fill these jobs with home-grown talent.

STEM JOBS will increase by 14,000 from 2008-2018


WILL TENNESSEE HAVE THE COMPETITIVE AND SKILLED WORKFORCE IT NEEDS TO PROSPER IN A STEM-DRIVEN ECONOMY?

TENNESSEE STEM

STRATEGIC PLAN

The Tennessee STEM Strategic Plan seeks to make certain that the answer is “yes” by offering state, regional, and local policy leaders and STEM stakeholders clear direction on aligning STEM policies, practices, and partners – from K-12, higher education, and business – to cultivate, attract, and retain STEM-capable talent. Outlined within the plan are four strategic goals, each with a set of supporting strategies and corresponding metrics, which will catapult Tennessee forward as a national leader in STEM talent production and economic prosperity.


GOAL #1INCREASE STUDENT

INTEREST, PARTICIPATION AND ACHIEVEMENT

IN STEM

GOAL #2EXPAND STUDENT

ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE STEM TEACHERS AND

LEADERS

GOAL #3REDUCE THE STATE’S

STEM TALENT AND SKILLS GAP

GOAL #4BUILD COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND

SUPPORT FOR STEM

STEM INNOVATION HUBSRegional STEM Innovation Hubs are the nucleus of regional STEM activity, representing a formal partnership among school districts, post-secondary institutions, STEM businesses, and community organizations that are committed to amplifying and accelerating the impact of STEM programs in their region.

Reaching Students in Rural Tennessee: The STEMmobile is a mobile learning laboratory that provides a unique, on-site educational experience for Pre-K through 8th grade students. Housed in a 53-foot tractor-trailer with self-contained power, the STEMmobile has its own heating and cooling system, a satellite uplink for Internet connectivity, and adjustable-height workstations to accommodate 24 students at a time. This classroom on wheels is stocked with equipment from the Regional STEM Innovation Hub in Cookeville and includes iPads, laptops, hand-held data collection devices, and other standard STEM instructional materials. Currently, the STEMmobile travels to 21 districts in the rural Upper Cumberland region and spends one week at each site. Teachers are trained in advance at the STEM hub, so they are ready to make the most of the STEMmobile when it arrives!


Experts in the ClassroomCritical to STEM education is the process of connecting classroom learning to the real world. Students need to see how the concepts they are learning today relate to the jobs they may have tomorrow. To make this connection, Regional Hubs help STEM professionals from a variety of organizations to work alongside STEM teachers to co-teach real-world learning experiences that are relevant to the workplace.

Student Workplace Learning STEM education isn’t just about what students learn, it’s about how students learn! Regional Hubs work with local STEM businesses to bring students more hands-on learning experiences outside the classroom via work study internship opportunities.

Teacher Professional Development Regional Hubs are committed to giving educators the resources and skills they need to expand STEM learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Through partnerships with local school districts, Hubs collaborate on professional development opportunities to assist in expanding high-quality STEM teaching and learning throughout the state.

Teacher Job Shadowing As they educate their students, teachers have the opportunity to incorporate the skills and knowledge their students will need for future career success by spending time at local STEM industries. Regional Hubs work to connect educators with job shadowing and externship experiences that can help shape their instruction in the classroom. These experiences provide teachers with a clear picture of today’s modern workforce and give them insight in crafting classroom activities related to real working environments.

STEM Hub ProgramsEach Regional Hub is unique and was created through

local partnerships to build upon local innovations.

STEM PLATFORM SCHOOLSSTEM Platform Schools are designed to encourage local educational innovation. The Network’s STEM Platform Schools enroll over 4,000 students and serve to explore and create new STEM teaching and learning models that provide students with the skills necessary to compete and succeed in the 21st century workplace. These teaching and learning models can then be replicated and disseminated to school districts across Tennessee through the Regional STEM Innovation Hubs.

Student Achievement on the Rise: Strong student performances in STEM education are vital to Tennessee’s future well-being. STEM knowledge is a core requirement for careers in some of the fastest-growing industries across the Volunteer State and is closely linked with our economic strength and competitiveness.

The 2014-2015 TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) data shows that approximately 131,000 additional Tennessee students are on grade level in math and 60,000 additional students are on grade level in science compared to 2011 statewide results. Particularly strong growth was shown in high school mathematics, leading to a greater level of readiness for those students about to enter college and career.iv

Early STEM Learning Experiences: By giving our kids the tools they need to succeed in STEM, we are giving them a huge leg up as they enter the job market. But when we think STEM, we often think of middle school and high school, robotics and chemistry - not first graders in elementary school. While any exposure to STEM is important, research studies show that kids who experience STEM early through hands-on learning are the ones who will be best equipped to develop a strong understanding of STEM concepts as they get older.

At Prescott South Elementary School, a TSIN Platform School in Cookeville, elementary students are being engaged in problem-based and project-based learning experiences with ties to the real world. The Prescott South model for harnessing the creativity and curiosity of children is one that can be leveraged to scale up early STEM learning across the state. These in-school opportunities are coupled with extensive out-of-school programs at Prescott South that bring the community and real-world experiences further into the lives of students at a very early age.

Innovative Leaders InstituteThe Innovative Leaders Institute is a year-long training and mentoring experience for educators led by some of the top STEM and innovative school leaders in our state. The Innovative Leaders Institute provides participants opportunities to network with other building-level leaders from across Tennessee, visit innovative schools to examine different models of STEM integration, and share best practices and resources with the expectation of having an immediate impact on leader practice.The Institute is designed to:

– Develop concepts of innovative leadership practices

– Enhance capacities to promote best practices across the curriculum

– Develop strategies to promote staff effectiveness and improve teaching and learning environments

– Prepare leaders with the procedures and policies to promote success

The Institute is led by experienced principals from Tennessee who were selected because they have demonstrated positive impact on their schools through student performance, teacher retention, and creating and supporting an academically challenging learning environment for students.


NETWORK PROGRAMSIn addition to opportunities provided locally by hubs and schools, the Network provides several annual engagements for STEM stakeholders:

Innovative Educator Workshops: Professional DevelopmentRegional Hubs are committed to giving educators the resources and skills they need to expand STEM learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Through coordination with the Network, the Regional Hubs provide targeted and aligned professional development on a variety of topics through the Innovative Educators Workshops. The Innovative Educators Workshops are utilized to deliver aligned professional development through the Regional Hubs to targeted audiences across the state.

Previous hub training topics have included problem- and project-based learning, incorporation of engineering design concepts into everyday instruction, deployment of 1:1 technologies in the classroom, inquiry lesson design, planning for horizontal and vertical curriculum alignment, designing STEM lessons on a budget, and planning for assessment in the STEM classroom.

Tennessee STEM Innovation Summit As the state’s premier annual STEM event, the Tennessee STEM Innovation Summit brings together leaders, innovators, and champions from across the state that are united by a passion to advance excellence in STEM education for all Tennesseans. The STEM Innovation Summit features interactive learning sessions designed to stimulate participants’ thinking around a broad range of strategies used to integrate STEM in the classroom. The learning sessions are intended to provide attendees opportunities to interact with educational leaders and practitioners that are seeing success with STEM practices designed to raise student interest and achievement in STEM education.

The 2015 cohort of the Tennessee Innovative Leaders Institute.

Tennessee teachers working together at an Innovative Educator Workshop. NASA Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore delivering the key note address on day one of the 2015 TN STEM Innovation Summit.

Innovation Academy of NE TNBlountville

423.354.1730 ianetn.org

Southeast TN STEM Innovation Hub

Chattanooga423.668.2426

setennesseestem.org

Upper Cumberland Rural STEM Initiative

Cookeville931.372.3792

ucrsi.org

Middle TN STEM Innovation Hub

Nashville615.298.6767

midtnstem.com

STEMspark East TN Innovation Hub

Knoxville865.329.8440

stemspark.com

West Tennessee STEM Hub

Memphis901.678.4380

westtnstem.org

Northwest Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub

Coming Soon

L&N STEM AcademyKnoxville

865.329.8440knoxcountystemac.knoxschools.org

Prescott South ElementaryCookeville

931.526.2275pses.pcsstn.com

Southwind STEM AcademyMemphis

901.752.2881tinyurl.com/SouthwindSTEM

STEM School ChattanoogaChattanooga423.531.6270

stemschoolchattanooga.net

Stratford STEM Magnet High Nashville

615.242.6730stratfordhs.mnps.org

ETSU NE TN STEM Innovation Hub

Johnson City423.439.7589

netstemhub.com

TSIN Statewide Office ú 1207 18th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 ú 615.727.1437www.TSIN.org ú@theTSIN

STEM Platform Schools

Prescott South MiddleCookeville

931.528.3647tinyurl.com/PSmiddle

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battelle education - tsin.org …stem education is a direct response to the realization that other...

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