Valley Middle School: A Case Study

With the globalization of the economy and education, the industries and colleges are looking for well-rounded, experienced students to add to their perspective companies and universities. Secondary schools have focused more on college and career readiness courses than ever before. One major trend in college and career readiness is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, commonly referred to as STEM. An increasing trend to teach these four subjects is introducing the Arts to the classroom. This trend is referred to as STEAM.

STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematic) includes some of the most versatile and important careers in the modern world. Most new developments that are making the world a better place to live are from the influences of STEM fields. As the world becomes more technologically developed there is an increase demand for students well-trained in the STEM related fields. To keep pace with this rapidly expanding area of the economy requires an adequate number of P-12 teachers with the necessary content knowledge and skills to train the next generation. Currently, Texas is facing a critical shortage of teachers with strong backgrounds in STEM. This STEM teacher shortage is impacting student learning and if too many teachers pursue degrees

Evaluation is vital to education, whether it is a new reform or a back to basics approach. STEM education remains open to interpretation. Drew states that the quality and efficacy of programs across the United States require quantitative and qualitative evaluations (2011). These studies should include the long-term benefits of grant funding and best practices for sustaining effective STEM programs when the grants and funds from corporate sponsors terminate (Johnson, 2014). Ultimately, the evaluation and research requires dissemination to schools across the country in order to affect the necessary reforms.

The reauthorization of ESEA, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) renewed the nation’s commitment to equal opportunity for all students. The revision in ESSA included STEM education and professional development, but not to the extent originally proposed in the ECAA. The ESSA required the integration of engineering design skills and practices into the states’ science assessments (§1201). States were expected to carry out programs that provided alternative routes for State certification, “especially for teachers of… science, technology, engineering, mathematics” (§2101). The ESSA made states and local agencies responsible for developing and providing professional development for teachers in order to promote high-quality instruction in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (§2101, §2103). The ESSA used the acronym STEM in two separate sections of the policy. A “STEM Master Teacher” referred to “a State-led effort to elevate the status of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teaching profession” (§2245). The second usage of the acronym described

Across the nation, students attending K-12 schools have extremely poor options when the bell rings for lunch hour. School lunches served in the cafeteria are not only commonly unhealthy and lacking nutritional value, but outright unappetizing. While the "empty calories" served contribute to the growing rate of obesity in America, poor nutrition also has a significant impact on student concentration and performance in school. According to the County of Los Angeles' Public Health Department, nearly 20% of children in grades 5, 7, and 9 are obese, and approximately 21% of adults are obese within the San Fernando Valley. For these reasons, I am proposing a program to offer a small farmer's market once a week at Verdugo Hills High School (a medium sized public high school located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles) during lunch hour, selling both affordable and healthy food options.

While reading an article entitled, STEM Education Must Start in Early Childhood,” this article specifically entail and discuss the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in Early Childhood Education. Many children are exposed to STEM circumstances in school, but some are said to start at home. Since children are exposed to a little of STEM it makes it very difficult for any child to perform a mathematic problem. It is believed that many children would rather play video games than do a mathematics problem. With STEM majors increasing, there are many jobs that are becoming most effective as an entry level job, while the education system for making an impact on student’s interest and achievement gap in early childhood

Introducing American students to STEM-related academic programs during K-12 and higher education can lay the foundation for a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. According to Hill, Corbett and Rose (2010), there are so few American people in the STEM workforce because there has been a drastic decline in the number of students who matriculate into STEM undergraduate degrees and who complete post-secondary education. Colleges and universities that provide a broader overview of the STEM fields in introductory courses, implement mentoring programs and effective policies for all faculty members, and hire more science and engineering faculty can increase female and male student recruitment and retention in STEM-related academic

The United States Department of Education is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a quality Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education (“Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math”, n.d.). Despite this commitment, reports indicate a decline in STEM proficiency as well as a lack of qualified teachers to respond to the deficiency (Holdren, Lander, & Varmus, 2009). The lack of qualified STEM teachers has resulted in critical shortage areas in many districts across the United States, prompting policy reform allowing alternative certification pathways to alleviate shortages (“Alternative Routes”, n.d.). Even with a reduction in critical shortage areas, preliminary reports continue to show little or no

The struggle to find employees with the indispensable technical and critical problem-solving skills has become increasingly complicated. The H.R. 1020 offers a solution to promote these skills into the working class field, inclusively the educators who will teach the generation of tomorrow. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is prime evidence that we need STEM education to widen across the nation. It is an international assessment that measures students ' reading, mathematics, and science literacy skills and is taken every three years. Sadly, results seem to be plummeting, for example in 2009 the U.S. ranked 24 in math and 19 in science. Now, in the most recent assessment, 2012, we are now in 29th place in math and

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher attitude, efficacy, and knowledge of STEM integration at the elementary level. During the study, professional development was provided . . . to increase and improve teacher perceptions and understanding of STEM curriculum and instruction.

Innovation is about how your ideas can make something or someone function better. The first step in getting students excited about STEM is to give them a clear understanding of the challenge at hand. If you present activities as challenges, it immediately increases interest level. Take the time to clearly explain that there is no “single answer”. Properly frame the challenge, problem or hurdle and then set children free to use their brains to find a solution. Voicing this belief in their problem solving abilities is the first step to developing their STEM skills. Solution-oriented thinking is one of the most critical STEM skills.

Despite the growing push for STEM, it is not well understood; there is little consensus about what it is, how to integrate STEM into classroom instruction, and how STEM learning can be assessed (Brown et al., 2011; Huntley, 1998; Pitt, 2009). Stakeholders who are interested in promoting STEM are often confused by the construct. These stakeholders include government officials who are funding STEM initiatives, teachers who are expected to teach STEM, parents, businesses who need to invest in their future employment, and students (Breiner et al., 2012).

Some of our students feel that they are frustrated and they are ready to give up, especially in math and science classes. Some students, no matter what we do, are going to excel in any situation. These students come from backgrounds in which, they have tools and support to learn but other students are not enough lucky to have these support or tools. They are under prepared for next level courses compared to their peers. According to National Center for Education Statistics (2009), students are originally interested in science, math and technology fields, only 40 percent of them graduate in STEM. In our school, 25% of Hispanic-Latino students who are originally interested in STEM fields want to take STEM-related courses in high school.

It is clear that STEM is a rapidly growing and advancing field that is needed for our human progression. There are so many different professions that fall under STEM education and many of them impact the world every day. According to former President Barack Obama "[Science] is more than a school subject, or the periodic table, or the properties of waves. It is an approach to the world, a critical way to understand and explore and engage with the world, and then have the capacity to change that world" (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Here, former President Obama is talking about how important science is as more than just a school subject; science can be taken out of school and used to impact many people and change the world. Some may say that there have been other fields in history that became very popular but

The second text that was evaluated for this paper is entitled, “Teaching STEM: 21st Century Skills”, written by Virginia Jones. This article spends a lot of time talking about how 21st Century Skills can make schooling better for our children. This is done by going through and presenting each aspect of these skills with a brief explanation of what implementing them would do to positively influence the education of our students. It talks about how this change must begin in elementary school and challenges facing teachers that should start integrating these skills into their current teaching plans. The author also provides the readers with example projects that directly relate to a couple of these skills. One of these examples is using chocolate chip cookies to represent coal mines to show students that not all coal minds produce the same amount of material and that such material is in limited supply. The article also offers other examples to help educators integrate these skills into their current teachings. It draws attention to the idea that these will teach students lifelong skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and many more while giving more example lessons that could be used by the educator to start this process. The article then gives a description of what exactly 21st Century Skills are and what they strive to do if implemented correctly. An example of this is how the author spends a good deal of time looking at the different skills that would