The 7th annual STEM Day at the Minnesota State Fair promises to be bigger and yes, better, than ever.   Fair guests can get an up-close look in intriguing, interactive adventures brought to the fair by 35 organizations in the Minnesota STEM Network, an initiative of SciMathMN.  Attendees can design features for a State Fair building and a zoo exhibit; build a battery with coins; make a food web; step inside the Bell Museum’s ExploraDome to see the night sky; test principles of aerodynamics with paper airplanes and clay model cars; learn about the role of polymers in diapers and movies; experiment with water pressure; maneuver robots to tackle challenges; test your engineering abilities by building a bridge; learn about biosecurity, rocketry, aquatics robotics and computer coding; and more! On the Carousel Park Stage, engaging presentations feature the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, Physics Force, the Flying Gizmo Show, and the Best of the Science Museum of Minnesota.

 

We are grateful for the many sponsors who are making this event possible.  They include 3M, Boston Scientific, MTS, OrbitalATK, MN 360, MnDOT, and HB Fuller.

The 7th annual STEM Day at the Minnesota State Fair promises to be bigger and yes, better, than ever.   Fair guests can get an up-close look in intriguing, interactive adventures brought to the fair by 35 organizations in the Minnesota STEM Network, an initiative of SciMathMN.  Attendees can design features for a State Fair building and a zoo exhibit; build a battery with coins; make a food web; step inside the Bell Museum’s ExploraDome to see the night sky; test principles of aerodynamics with paper airplanes and clay model cars; learn about the role of polymers in diapers and movies; experiment with water pressure; maneuver robots to tackle challenges; test your engineering abilities by building a bridge; learn about biosecurity, rocketry, aquatics robotics and computer coding; and more! On the Carousel Park Stage, engaging presentations feature the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, Physics Force, the Flying Gizmo Show, and the Best of the Science Museum of Minnesota.We are grateful for the many sponsors who are making this event possible.  They include 3M, Boston Scientific, MTS, OrbitalATK, Bemidji State, MnDOT, and HB Fuller.

STEM educators fear spending bill undermines goal of new U.S. law

By Devi ShastriJun. 21, 2016 , 5:15 PM

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ESSA is the most recent version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and will be replacing the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB has been in place since 2002. NCLB brought us:

• Required state standards in the areas of mathematics, reading and science
• Required state to create English Language Development (ELD) standards for English learners
• Mandated state testing annually for all public school students in the areas of reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once in high school. Minnesota responded by creating the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Reading and Mathematics tests.
• Required state testing annually for all public schools in the area of science once in each of the following groups of grades: 3-5, 6-9 and 10-12. MN responded by creating the MCA Science tests at grades 5, 8 and high school.
• Requirements that schools must improve the percent of students testing as proficient over time, culminating in 100% of students proficient by 2014;
• The groups of students that must show adequate yearly progress (AYP) included all students as a group, 5 ethnic groups, Sepecial education students, Linited English Profeciency students, and free and reduced price lunch students
• A requirement that 95%+ of the eligible students participate in the annual testing
• Sanctions for schools that failed to meet their proficiency targets
• Highly qualified teacher requirements

As the NCLB requirements phase out and the ESSA requirements are phased in, some of the NCLB requirements are carried forward. In some areas, the requirements have been modified, and in other areas, states are given some flexibility in determining how to implement the ESSA requirements.

• States must still have standards in the areas of mathematics, reading and science
  • The academic standards must now be aligned with entrance requirements for credit-bearing coursework in higher education
  • The academic standards must now be aligned with relevant state career and technical education standards
  • The US Secretary of Education is prohibited from requiring specific academic standards, such as the Common Core State Standards
  • States must still have English Language Development (ELD) standards for English learners
• The annual testing requirements for mathematics, reading and science remain the same as under NCLB
• The 95% participation requirement in testing remains in place
• However, the AYP measurement system and related sanctions are now eliminated
• ESSA now requires that states/school districts inform parents of their right to “opt out” (opt their children out of state testing)
• If certain technical requirements are met, ESSA allows school districts the option of using locally adopted assessments instead of the state assessments; At the high school level, a nationally recognized college entrance exam could be used instead of the state test.
• 7 states will be awarded grants to develop Innovative State Assessments

As the MN Department of Education prepares for the implementation of ESSA, they have shared the following timeline:

General MN ESSA Planning Timeline for 2016

 

Jan 27	Meeting with legislators
Feb 9	First large stakeholder informational meeting
April-May	Topic area meetings with stakeholder groups to dive deeper into the requirements of ESSA
May-June	USDE is expected to release draft regulations
June-July	Topic area workgroups may begin to meet
Aug-Oct	Regional meetings to lay out ESSA requirements and framework
Oct	USDE is expected to release final new regulations
Nov-Dec	Re-convene stakeholders for final workgroup discussion on ESSA
Early 2017	Be prepared to submit ESSA state plan. Timelines for submission are unknown at this time.

As the MN Department of Education does the planning for implementation of ESSA in the 2017/2018 school year, it is holding stakeholder meetings to involve stakeholders from all levels. SciMathMN has distributed the schedule of stakeholder meetings to Board members and we are encouraged to participate.

 

Monday, April 24 Representative John Kline (MN-2), Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce, along with Ranking Member Robert “Bobby” Scott sent a joint letter to Chair of the House Appropriations committee and ranking members urging that the Appropriations committee fully fund the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants at their authorized level.  Representative’s Kline and Scott point out that the funding of the Every Student Succeeds Act this year sets a precedent for future funding and implementation of the new federal education law.  A copy of the Kline and Scott letter can be found here: Kline-Scott Letter.

Annual STEM Day at the Fair August 25, 2016

The 7th annual STEM Day at the Minnesota State Fair will again be on opening day of the Fair this year,.  On Thursday, August 25, 2016 STEM education providers will take over Carousel Park and engage thousands of children, parents, and grandparents with hands-on activities.  Want to participate?  The exhibitors application can be found here.  Applications are due by May 16.

Powering STEM Learning with Computational Thinking conference a standing room only success

Keynote speaker Sarah Reeves-Young, STEM Liaison for the Utah State Office of Education and STEM Action Center, set an exciting tone for the 7th annual Minnesota STEM Network conference April 5th.   Young shared her perspective on computer science for all based on her background as K12 Science Specialist with the Utah State Office of Education.

Ms. Young shared her experience leading Utah’s Computer Science For All initiative, which has included state partnerships with Code.org and Utah industries to train and retain teachers to teach computer science.  She emphasized an equity focused approach to computer science assuring that when we say “computer science for all” we mean all and plan it into efforts from the beginning. You can see Young’s presentation slides here.

Learn more about the conference on the MN STEM Network website.

TPT’s SciGirls to offer targeted professional development for high school counselors and STEM teachers

Twin Cities PBS (TPT), producer of the acclaimed PBS Kids STEM program,SciGirls, is looking for high school teachers and guidance counselors who teach and advise girls in CTE/STEM courses to be part of an innovative effort to change how girls think about their future!

After a successful pilot year, we are currently recruiting schools for year two of SciGirls Strategies: Gender Equitable Teaching Practices in CTE Pathways for High School Girls. With funding from the NSF, SciGirls Strategies is a professional development and research initiative to recruit and retain more girls in CTE/STEM pathways, especially computing, engineering and manufacturing.

SciGirls will offer a six-session (18-hour) course in 2016 and 2017 hosted evenings or weekends at TPT in Lowertown, St. Paul.   Faculty take the training in the fall, utilize the strategies and in-person and video-based role model resources provided by TPT, complete a pre-post-course evaluation and welcome one classroom observation in the spring. Their female students  will participate in a pre-post survey and one year follow up. Teachers will receive a $600 fee, reimbursement for travel to the training and continuing education credit.

SciGirls plans to enroll participants during April-May 2016, so if you’re interested in participating or have questions about this project, please contact Leah Defenbaugh (ldefenbaugh@tpt.org) as soon as possible.  Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference in how girls envision their possibilities in CTE/STEM education and career pathways!

Shaping Minnesota’s Guide to Quality STEM Learning in Afterschool 

Ignite Afterschool, Minnesota’s Afterschool Network, is convening STEM and afterschool stakeholders in regional meetings across Minnesota to shape a draft guide to effective practices for STEM learning in afterschool. Join your regional STEM and afterschool peers to participate in defining a common understanding of quality STEM learning in afterschool, which will connect and benefit both fields.

These meetings are ideal for both STEM and afterschool stakeholders, including educators, youth workers, program coordinators, funders, and systems-level leaders in both the STEM and afterschool fields. The meetings will be held at the following locations and dates:

Rochester (Southeast MN): March 4th, 1:00 – 3:00pm at Northrop Community Education.
REGISTER AT: https://stem-afterschool-mn-se.eventbrite.com

For more information on advancing quality STEM learning in afterschool  visit www.igniteafterschool.org.

Mouse IT Curriculum, Professional Development Available for 200 MN High Schools

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has announced that Mouse technology curriculum, professional development and web-based learning platform is available for 200 high schools throughout Minnesota. Mouse will provide an innovative and engaging opportunity for high school students to graduate with certification of the skills and competencies that continue to fuel future technology jobs and innovation throughout the state.  Link to more information.

STEP-UP Achieve Recruiting More Employers of STEM Interns

STEP-UP Achieve, a program of AchieveMpls, is seeking more STEM businesses and industries in the Twin Cities metropolitan area who would host a high school intern in summer 2016.  STEP-UP Achieve recruits talented and highly-motivated youth and trains them with requisite skills that enable them to positively contribute to their organizations. STEP-UP interns bring energy and creativity to their workplaces.

Employers provide internships for middle or high school interns for 6-10 weeks at 15-40 hours per week. STEP-UP Achieve makes initial matches, and sends qualified candidates for employers to interview before hiring.

Ninety-six per cent of supervisors say the program was a success at their company and that their interns made a valuable contribution to their workplace.  Consider the impact that an internship will have on a young person and contact Matthew Vue or 612-455-1568.

Thanks to a $100,000 Google sponsorship, as well as additional money from private donors, educators will be able to take full-credit engineering-education courses for free this spring and summer at the University of St. Thomas. The three-credit courses offered during June are “Engineering in the P-12 Classroom,” “Digital Electronics and Computing Systems” and “Material Science and Engineering.” Information on the courses, scholarships, and application process is at http://www.stthomas.edu/cee/

Kay O’Keefe, SciMathMN Vice-Chair and longtime member of the MHTA Foundation board, will receive a well-earned Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota High Tech Association at their annual TEKNE Awards gala November 18.

After receiving her Ph. D from the Ohio State University in educational research and evaluation O’Keefe taught at both the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maryland.  She arrived in Minnesota in 1992 and led the science education work of the Medtronic Foundation for 15 years.  Additionally O’Keefe served on the boards of the Triangle Coalition for STEM and the National Association of State Science and Math Coalitions.

The TEKNE Awards are given annually by the MHTA to innovators and leaders in Minnesota’s broad technology community.  This year’s award ceremony is November 18. You can learn more about the Tekne awards here.

 

The NAEP test is often referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card”. It serves in that role because it is one of the few exams used in all 50 states. Since the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) are unique to MN – and each of the other states have their own math, reading and science tests – based on their own state standards, the NAEP serves as a common measure across all states to enable us to do state-to-state comparisons.

In the current political climate where the overuse and misuse of standardized tests is being hotly debated, NAEP rises above the criticism in many ways. First, the NAEP test is not used at each grade; only grades 4, 8 and 12 are tested. NAEP also uses a random sampling approach in each state, so even at the targeted grades, only about 2500 students are tested at each grade level on each topic (MN has approximately 62,000 students at each grade). By using this approach, NAEP can establish a statistically accurate rating of each state in mathematics and reading, yet the vast majority of students will never be inconvenienced by having to take the exam. Finally, the NAEP exam in a given subject such as math is only administered every 2 years. Since the NAEP math test has been administered since 1973, it provides long-term trends.

However, the NAEP test is not without criticism. Currently in mathematics nationally, between 36 and 40 percent of students at the 4^th and 8^th grades are scoring at or above the “Proficient” level on NAEP. While a test that is rigorous is often held in high regard, we don’t really have evidence that the scale that NAEP is built on is a realistic expectation for most students. And that has a ripple effect on the messages that are sent out regarding the results and the performance of schools. Legislation and school budget allocations often reflect decisions based on standardized test results.

As the current results (2015) are released there is often a rush to “claim or blame” policies and political leaders for their role in the results. And this year is no exception (see Diane Ravitch’s comments: http://dianeravitch.net/2015/10/28/naep-scores-released-today-showing-the-fiasco-of-nclb-and-race-to-the-top/).  But the reality is that when an 8^th grade student participates in the exam, the knowledge that they bring to that test reflects their learning from Kindergarten to grade 8 and it is not likely that the NAEP results are sensitive to recent policy or leadership changes.

Historical NAEP results:

Chad Aldeman wrote an interesting article regarding the 2015 NAEP results – interesting from the perspective that it was written prior to the results being released. His wise advice is to pay more attention to long term trends than to what happens over the two year span between consecutive tests. His article and a link to long term trends can be found here:

http://morganpolikoff.com/2015/10/06/friends-dont-let-friends-misuse-

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013456

Aldeman points out the following national trends of point-gains over time:

4th grade math

• All students: +25*
• White students: +27*
• Black students: +36*
• Hispanic students: +32*

8th grade math

• All students: +19*
• White students: +19*
• Black students: +36*
• Hispanic students: +32*

12th grade math

• All students: +2
• White students: +4*
• Black students: +18*
• Hispanic students: +17*

The 2015 NAEP Results:

Results for the 2015 NAEP mathematics performance at grades 4 and 8 were just released and the results for grade 12 will be released in 2016.

National Mathematics Results:

At grade 4 nationally, 40% of students were at or above proficient.

At grade 8 nationally, 33% of students were at or above proficient.

MN Mathematics Performance:

At grade 4 in MN, 53% of students were at or above proficient.

At grade 8 in MN, 48% of students were at or above proficient.

MN ranks second only to Massachusetts and has held a similar location for many years.

So when the 2015 results show a plateau in growth in mathematics, or a one to two point drop (as MN experienced this year) it needs to be placed in that long term perspective. MN, like the other states, has its challenges such as addressing the achievement gap, but also has much to celebrate in its long-term achievement and state ranking. SciMathMN looks forward to partnering with MN education leaders to maintain and improve our K-12 mathematics performance.

Images are from the NAEP Website: http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2015/#?grade=4

Contributed by Mike Lindstrom Ed.D.