A Case for STEM Education

ScienceTechnologyEngineeringMath

Project based learning for all students Opportunities to increase STEM literacy A rigorous curriculum aligned to state and national standards Full integration of technology in all classes for all students Ongoing involvement of business and industry with mentors for each student Ongoing professional development for each teacher Connection to students’ pathways to postsecondary education

Real examples from North Carolina New Schools  A community college instructor who teaches in the one of the STEM Early College High Schools arranges for his class to tour a bio-manufacturing facility to see firsthand how science becomes medicine.  A business executive sits down with a STEM school's 10th grade math team to share the kinds of real-world problems involving math his employees encounter so that students as a way to help improve tomorrow's workforce.  A chemistry teacher at a rural STEM school is accepted for a summer externship at a prestigious biotech company in Research Triangle Park; she'll use the experience to help make her classes more relevant.

“STEM job growth has been three times greater than that of non- STEM jobs over the last 10 years.” Economy -The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that of the 2.6 million unfilled jobs in May 2010, many were STEM jobs. -Eight million STEM job openings are expected by the year Yet currently, only 17 percent of high school students are graduating with the demonstrated interest and math skills to begin a STEM college major, and only half of them will actually complete a STEM degree. Equal Opportunity -Minority students and first-generation college-going students are dramatically under-represented in STEM training and jobs.

STEM school student performance successes include the following:  7 of 9 STEM high schools in 2011 had graduation rates exceeding 90 percent.  The state's STEM schools had a dropout rate of 1.6 percent, less than half the 3.75 percent rate for all high schools in North Carolina.  STEM-school students together achieved a gain of nearly 20 percentage points in 2010 on their passing rate for all state EOC exams. The state's overall gain was 8.8 points.  Students in STEM schools are taking more rigorous math courses, as measured by the percentage of all students enrolled in Algebra II. In STEM schools, 31 percent took the math course in compared to 18 percent of all high school students statewide.

 Partner with businesses  Provide funding  Create afterschool programs  Expand STEM curriculum by offering new electives  Fund STEM workshops and conferences for teachers

Establish professional learning communities Educate teachers in proper PBL methods Implement PBL in the classroom through group collaboration

Works Cited Capraro, Robert Michael, Mary Margaret Capraro, and James R. Morgan. STEM Project-based Learning: An Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Approach. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense, Print. "North Carolina New Schools: STEM Education | Overview." STEM Education. North Carolina New Schools. Web. 10 July North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center. "Strategies That Engage Minds: Empowering North Carolina's Economic Future." 2013 NC STEM Report Card (2013). Print. "STEM Education." Science and Engineering Indicators 2012 Digest. National Science Foundation, Jan Web. 10 July 2014.