Minnesota’s framework for monitoring and supporting the STEM cradle-to-career continuum Allison Liuzzi Minnesota Compass, Wilder Research September 30, 2014

What is MN Compass? A community indicators project, Minnesota Compass provides a common foundation of information and data that people need to identify, understand, and effectively act on community issues.

+ = Working to change the equation Good intentions From: + No common base of information = Inefficient decisions

+ + = Working to change the equation Good intentions Sound, credible information + Common sense of purpose = Productive decisions for a strong region

What is STEM? Science Technology Engineering Math

PROJECT BACKGROUND Shared information to better understand the state of Minnesota’s STEM cradle-to-career continuum, and to target resources more effectively Achievement gaps Aspiration gaps Workforce needs Collaboration between Minnesota Compass and Boston Scientific

GOALS Provide a cohesive framework for supporting Minnesota’s STEM cradle-to-career continuum Share a common foundation of knowledge for decision-making Address disparities through actionable data Strengthen the STEM workforce and Minnesota’s economy

PROCESS Cradle-to-career framework developed with input of advisory committee Convened more than 70 Minnesota STEM stakeholders Variety of sectors, including early childhood, K-12 and postsecondary education, informal education, business, policy, research, and foundations Smaller core advisory group met more frequently to consider feedback

ADVISORS 3M Foundation 3Ring Augsburg College The Bakken Museum Bemidji State University Bethel University Boston Scientific Boy Scouts Generation Next Girl Scouts Greater Twin Cities United Way High Tech Kids Inver Hills Community College Madigan, Dahl & Harlan PA Metropolitan State University MinnCAN Minneapolis Public Schools Minnesota Business Partnership Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics Minnesota Department of Education Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Minnesota High Tech Association Minnesota Independent School Forum Minnesota Project Lead the Way Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Minnesota STEM Network NASA & NOAA National Center for STEM Elementary Education Office of Senator Al Franken Osseo Area Schools Rochester Area Math & Science Partnership Rochester Chamber of Commerce Saint Paul Public Schools Science Museum of Minnesota SciMathMN STARBASE Minnesota Thomson Reuters University of Minnesota University of St. Thomas Wilder Research The Works

LOGIC MODEL A logic model was developed through a literature review and informed by advisory committee input. The model describes important experiences, opportunities, and resources that contribute to developing and sustaining interest and proficiency in STEM. This theoretical framework underlies the indicators chosen and the visual of the STEM cradle-to-career continuum developed for this project.

KEY MEASURE CRITERIA 1. Relevant and valid. Relates to stated goals and measures what it is intended to measure. 2. Consistent over time. Regularly collected the same way. 3. Leading. Signals broader changes to come, allowing the community to respond proactively. 4. Actionable. Outcomes that can be impacted by programs and policies and change the cradle-to- career trajectory.   5. Affordable. Can be collected within project budget. 6. Understandable. Easy for target audience to understand. 7. Comparable. Allows for comparisons by different groups – race/ethnicity, income, gender. 8. Standardized. Allows for comparison with other regions, metro areas, states, or countries. 9. Coherent. Provides coherent picture of progression along the cradle-to-career continuum. The STEM advisory committee suggested a large number of potential key measures to track. All potential key measures were vetted by criteria established for the site, which include scientific qualities as well as being actionable and related to the life cycle of the STEM cradle-to-career continuum.

With funding from Boston Scientific, we launched a new STEM section of Minnesota Compass in October. The purpose of the new STEM section of Minnesota Compass is to help us better understand the state of Minnesota’s STEM continuum from cradle to career, and to help us target resources most effectively. The site helps us answer some key questions: How does Minnesota fare on key measures of STEM success from early childhood-career? What are best practices for supporting these measures? Are we making progress over time?

When you go to the new STEM section of Minnesota Compass, you’ll see an interactive visual of the STEM cradle-to-career continuum, which brings together the logic model and the key measures selected for this project. Across the top are different segments of the continuum, spanning early childhood to mid-career. The squares in the middle, starting with “Support early learning,” reflect themes that describe important experiences and opportunities at that stage of the continuum. And there are 11 points along the continuum that form the “key measures,” developed with the guidance of advisory groups. You can explore the site by clicking any theme, key measure, or topic of interest on our interactive visual.

SEGMENTS ON THE CONTINUUM When you click on a theme or key measure from the main visual, you enter an expanded section for that segment of the continuum with key measures, benchmarks, disparities and best practices. This information can be used to understand what are important markers of success on the continuum, where we see disparities among different population groups, and strategies that may be effective in supporting students or workers in STEM.

CHARTS AND BREAKDOWNS When you click on a theme or key measure from the main visual, you enter an expanded section for that segment of the continuum with key measures, benchmarks, disparities and best practices. This information can be used to understand what are important markers of success on the continuum, where we see disparities among different population groups, and strategies that may be effective in supporting students or workers in STEM.

SEGMENTS ON THE CONTINUUM When you click on a theme or key measure from the main visual, you enter an expanded section for that segment of the continuum with key measures, benchmarks, disparities and best practices. This information can be used to understand what are important markers of success on the continuum, where we see disparities among different population groups, and strategies that may be effective in supporting students or workers in STEM.

BENCHMARKS, GAPS, AND BEST PRACTICES When you click on a theme or key measure from the main visual, you enter an expanded section for that segment of the continuum with key measures, benchmarks, disparities and best practices. This information can be used to understand what are important markers of success on the continuum, where we see disparities among different population groups, and strategies that may be effective in supporting students or workers in STEM.

That’s just people employed directly in STEM fields. AN EMERGING STORY There are almost 455,000 STEM workers in MN, or 17% of MN’s current workforce. We expect to see 79,000 new jobs in STEM over the next decade. That’s just people employed directly in STEM fields. [Allison] From a high-level look at the numbers, we know that STEM education is critical to our future prosperity. In 2012, there were almost 455,000 STEM workers in Minnesota. That’s 17% of the state’s total workforce, and employment in STEM will continue to grow. STEM jobs are expected to grow by 18% in Minnesota in the next 10 years, and we expect to see 79,000 new jobs in STEM in the next decade alone. *And that’s just part of the story. We know that knowledge and skills developed through STEM education are also used in many occupations that may not be categorized as STEM.

of 8th graders meet state 60% of 5th graders meet state science standards 59% of 8th graders meet state math standards 39% of high school graduates are college-ready in math and science And then moving into high school, we see a need to challenge students through more rigorous coursework and to prepare them with the 21st century skills they will need in higher education and the workforce. * And this is where we see proficiency drop pretty dramatically. Just over one third of high school graduates in our state are college-ready in math and science. And this, in part, explains why 40 percent of our state’s high school graduates who enroll in Minnesota postsecondary institutions need to take one or more remedial courses in college, usually in mathematics (81%).

all students students of color lower-income students all students students of color lower-income students all students students of color lower-income students

of 8th graders participate in 57% of 4th graders are highly interested in science 30% of 8th graders participate in extracurricular science activities 10% of high school graduates want to major in a STEM field in college

all students students of color lower-income students all students students of color lower-income students all students students of color lower-income students

54,000 students graduating from Minnesota high schools I want to round out this story with a message of hope, using demographic projections by race to demonstrate what we COULD see in twenty years if we close gaps in achievement by race. I’ll start with our pool of high school graduates. In 2013, nearly 54,000 students graduated from high schools in Minnesota. Here, we see the state of Minnesota and 54 stick figures, each representing 1,000 graduates from high schools in the state. Source: Minnesota Department of Education

17,000 are college-ready in math and science We narrow our pool of 54,000 total high school graduates to 17,000 who are college-ready in math and science. (This represents the 39% of students who are college-ready.) If we closed gaps by race on this measure of achievement, based on demographic projections for 2030, we could see… Source: ACT, Inc.

17,000 20,000 are college-ready in math and science …an additional 3,000 high school graduates who are college ready in math and science. THIS is a number that’s attainable. It’s ALSO a number that’s impactful. If we take those 3,000 additional students and multiply them out over a decade, we’re looking at an additional 30,000 high school graduates who are college-ready in math and science. I started this presentation by saying that we expect to see 79,000 new job openings in STEM over the next decade. Increasing our number of college-ready high school graduates by 30,000 has the potential to get us a long way toward filling these anticipated new job openings. Source: ACT, Inc.

INSPIRING ACTION Policymaker Briefing SciMathMN Policymaker Briefing R.T. Rybak, Generation Next Legislative Panel, moderated by Steve Kelley, U of MN Senior Fellow: Rep. Sondra Erickson, Republican-lead, Education Policy; Sen. Carla Nelson, ranking minority member, Education Committee; Sen. Patricia Torres-Ray, Chair, Education Committee Sen. Greg Clausen, Vice Chair, Higher Education and Workforce Development

INSPIRING ACTION SciMathMN Policymaker Briefing R.T. Rybak, Generation Next Legislative Panel, moderated by Steve Kelley, U of MN Senior Fellow: Rep. Sondra Erickson, Republican-lead, Education Policy; Sen. Carla Nelson, ranking minority member, Education Committee; Sen. Patricia Torres-Ray, Chair, Education Committee Sen. Greg Clausen, Vice Chair, Higher Education and Workforce Development

QUESTIONS? Allison Liuzzi Minnesota Compass, Wilder Research E-mail allison.liuzzi@wilder.org Connect on Twitter @MNCompass @AllisonLiuzzi