One Nation Under-Taught

by Dr. Vince M. Bertram

  We also know that women comprise only fourteen percent of the engineering workforce. Schools like Hilliard Davidson High School near Columbus, Ohio, are great models for recruiting and inspiring more girls in engineering studies. After three years of teaching PLTW engineering courses, instructor Bill Kuch noticed a problem–out of the eighty students in his four engineering classes, only eight were female. “The girls who were in the classes were incredibly successful and were staying in the program,” Kuch said. “So we started brainstorming and thought, ‘What if we had an all-female Introduction to Engineering Design course?’” Kuch discovered The Ohio State University’s (OSU) Women in Engineering (WiE) program that provides mentors to female engineering majors. He partnered with OSU’s WiE program to create Hilliard Davidson’s own Women in Engineering program, replicating some of OSU’s female outreach efforts: inviting female engineers to speak to classes, serve as mentors to the students, and recruit girls to engineering before they enter high school. Hilliard Davidson High School has realized significant improvement in a short period.

  One year after beginning the WiE course sections, their female enrollment increased from eight percent to twenty-six percent. In the first year, all female engineering students passed the rigorous End of Course Assessment, and they outperformed the boys! Hilliard Davidson High School’s Women in Engineering program has also led to increased female retention in engineering courses as the girls progress through high school. Not only did more girls register for the freshman year course, all but two continued on to Principles of Engineering the following year—with the boys. Forty percent of Hilliard Davidson High School’s freshman year engineering students are now females. During my visit to Hilliard Davidson, it was clear that the girls had developed confidence and were inspired to pursue STEM careers. Programs such as this build a pipeline of talented female engineering students for colleges, universities, and employers. The strategies used at Toppenish and Hilliard provide just two examples of how schools are addressing these issues.

  Our work is urgent. That is why we are committed to making PLTW accessible to every student in the United States—in traditional and non-traditional school settings. We must recruit, encourage, and inspire more students through these studies, targeting all students in general and underrepresented minorities and girls specifically. Then we must work tirelessly to help prepare our students to compete in our evolving, complex global economy. PLTW does this through our three pillars, designed to change the student experience, teacher pedagogy, and the way schools and communities interact.

  World-Class Curriculum

  Project Lead The Way’s® approach, using activity-, project-, and problem-based (APPB) learning, focuses on hands-on, real-world projects that help students understand how the information and skills they are learning in the classroom can be applied in everyday life. PLTW’s programs are comprehensive and aligned to Common Core State Standards for Math and English, Next Generation Science Standards, and other national and state standards. Yet, the programs are flexible and customizable so that schools can meet their curricular and community needs.

  PLTW’s team of professional curriculum writers along with industry experts, college professors, current teachers, and educational leaders develop each program. Programs are then regularly evaluated and improved to align with academic standards, student needs, and market changes.

  PLTW Launch is an engaging, module-based program for students in kindergarten through grade five. Since students often determine whether they are good at math and science at an early age, Launch is designed to demystify these subjects and to encourage a love of STEM. Students use the design process and learn to problem solve, think critically, and work collaboratively. They learn that discoveries come from taking risks, and trial and error. Throughout the program, teachers and students learn and discover together, creating a highly engaging learning environment.

  The PLTW Gateway program features a project-based curriculum designed to challenge and engage the natural curiosity and imagination of middle school students. Students acquire knowledge and skills in problem solving, teamwork and innovation as well as explore STEM careers in nine-week units taught in conjunction with a rigorous academic curriculum. Students envision, design and test their ideas using industry-standard modeling software. They study mechanical and computer control systems with robotics and automation. Students also explore the importance of energy, including innovative ways to reduce, conserve and produce it using a variety of sources. The knowledge that students gain and the skills they build in Gateway create a strong foundation for further STEM learning in PLTW’s high school programs.

  PLTW Engineering is a high school program of study that complements traditional mathematics and science courses. Students learn and apply the design process, acquire a strong proficiency in teamwork and communication, and develop organizational, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills. Students learn and apply the design process, acquire a strong proficiency in teamwork and communication, and develop organizational, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills. Students use the same industry-leading 3-D design software from Autodesk used by companies like Lockheed Martin and Intel. They explore aerodynamics, astronautics, and space life sciences. Students apply biological and engineering concepts related to biomechanics. They build and program robots from Vex Robotics. They discover how things are made. They design, test, and construct circuits and devices such as smart phones and tablets and work collaboratively on a culminating capstone project.

  PLTW Biomedical Sciences is a high school program of study in which students explore the concepts of human medicine and are introduced to topics such as physiology, genetics, microbiology and public health. Through engaging activities, students examine the processes, structures and interactions of the human body—often playing the role of biomedical professionals. Students also use case studies to explore the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, working collaboratively to investigate and design innovative solutions to modern health challenges such as fighting cancer.

  Former United States President Bill Clinton called PLTW’s newest high school program, Computer Science, a “game changer.” Computer Science will be a high school program of study focused on areas such as computational thinking, coding, data mining, and cyber security.

  High-Quality Teacher Training

  The exponential growth in our programs nationwide derives from the development of engaging and immersive curriculum that impacts the lives of students. PLTW provides the curriculum, but relies on the expertise of individual teachers to make the coursework interactive, engaging, innovative, and challenging. Thousands of teachers have trained in PLTW’s three-phase teacher training program.

  Readiness Training is delivered online and represents the first phase of the PLTW professional development program. It is focused on ensuring that participants have basic technical and content knowledge prior to participating in pedagogy, skill, and knowledge enhancement training experiences.

  Core Training is the second phase of the PLTW professional development program. It is an intensive and immersive in-person training experience hosted by PLTW’s Affiliate Universities. In 2014, over 6,000 teachers trained with more than 400 PLTW Master Teachers and Affiliate Professors—a cadre of America’s best and brightest STEM educators. During Core Training, teachers are immersed in course-specific curriculum; assume the role of the student to directly inform their expertise in content instruction; complete hands-on activities, projects, and problems with a strong focus on pedagogy; and become active members within a professional learning community.

  Ongoing Training is the third phase of the PLTW professional development program and is largely administered virtually through PLTW’s Learning Management System. It is designed to provide PLTW teachers with opportunities for continuous professional development to further their understanding of course tools, content, and concepts after they have successfully completed Core Training.

  PLTW teac
her training is highly effective. It is exactly the kind of professional learning that teacher and professional peer engagement surveys show teachers want and are most successful with in transforming their practice and the student experience. And it is the type of experience that helps recruit the best teachers and keep them teaching.

  Engaged Partners Network

  In addition to world-class curriculum and high-quality teacher training, partnerships are critical to PLTW’s success. No one person, school, district, state, or organization can do this work alone. With a focus on building the STEM pipeline, our partners provide advocacy, resources and equipment for schools, mentors and role models for students, and local relevance and guidance for teachers.

  Central to PLTW’s extensive network are Affiliate institutions. This impressive group includes more than forty institutions ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the nation’s leading engineering and biomedical science schools such as the University of Illinois, Duke University, Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Affiliate institutions provide outreach to K-12 schools, host PLTW’s teacher training program, and conduct professional development conferences for school administrators and counselors.

  For example, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) has helped implement hundreds of PLTW programs throughout their state, provided substantial support and expertise to schools, and they actively recruited PLTW students to their university. At the 2013 PLTW Missouri State Conference—attended by 800 teachers, counselors, administrators, and community leaders—Chancellor Cheryl Schrader spoke about her university’s commitment to PLTW and STEM Education, and Governor JayNixon commended Missouri S&T and committed his support to making PLTW available to all Missouri students. This is the type of engagement necessary to improve education in communities, regions, and states.

  Because PLTW students are prepared for post-secondary education with essential problem-solving, critical-thinking, and collaboration skills, hundreds of colleges and universities recruit and provide additional recognition opportunities for PLTW students with preferential admission, scholarships, and college credit. For instance, the University of South Carolina reported that sixty percent of its 2013-14 freshman engineering students are PLTW alumni, and the University of Minnesota and Milwaukee School of Engineering both reported nearly forty percent.

  PLTW has also developed partnerships with organizations focused on enhancing the student experience, such as the College Board, NAF, NACME, Technology Student Association (TSA), Health Occupations Student Association (HOSA), International Baccalaureate (IB), New Tech Network, Automation Federation, and Skills USA. PLTW is able to provide the most cutting-edge, comprehensive STEM education programs and cultivate a larger STEM community by creating a collaborative network. By communicating and sharing our creativity, ideas, and knowledge, we create a stronger organization and a more meaningful experience for students, parents, educators, and all those who play a part in making PLTW successful.

  Taking a page from the academic work of Professor Michael Porter, of the Harvard Business School, and his concept of “shared value,”—the concept that policies and practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company will simultaneously advance the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates—Project Lead The Way’s mission is advanced by outstanding partnerships with America’s leading companies who share concerns about education and developing a highly-skilled and well-educated workforce.135 Companies such as Chevron, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Autodesk, Amgen, Toyota, Dow Chemical, Bemis, Pentair, Cummins, John Deere, 3M, Cargill, SunPower, Dart, Cerner, Rockwell Collins, Rockwell Automation, Intel, SAIC, Rolls Royce, and many others are engaged in this work. Foundations such as the Kern Family Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and many others provide substantial support to schools. For example, the KC STEM Alliance has created a model regional collaboration to support PLTW programs in most Kansas City metro-area schools.

  Chevron is an excellent example of a company that is creating shared value by leading the way in changing America’s STEM education and professional development landscape. As one of the company’s key strategies, Chevron partners with PLTW, NextEd (formerly LEED) and PLTW Affiliates San Diego State University, Cal Poly Pomona, California State University East Bay, and the largest supplier of engineers to Silicon Valley, San Jose State University, to increase the number of STEM professionals throughout California. Chevron encourages students’ interest in STEM disciplines by increasing student access to PLTW programs. They have also created extracurricular opportunities including the Chevron Engineering Design Challenge—a competition for student teams centered on a design problem. This partnership also facilitates the sharing of successful practices and informs policymakers on ways to improve STEM education.

  Chevron recently announced a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment to implement PLTW programs nationwide. This type of collaborative effort has incredible potential for scalable impact.

  Another example of a PLTW partnership that has significant shared value is with Toyota, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, the University of Kentucky (PLTW Affiliate), and the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers. This model is a scalable solution addressing the STEM education and workforce needs of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky trains teachers and helps support more than 100 PLTW schools in the Commonwealth. Toyota actively recruits from these schools so it can access the workforce it needs. As Toyota’s Dennis Parker put it: “PLTW did not find us, we found them! PLTW is the premier STEM program in the U.S. and the world to Toyota officials for two main reasons. Students are engaged every day in problem solving activities and work every day in teams! We also know that PLTW maintains its up-to-date curriculum, provides a unique and rigorous teacher professional development model, and their schools are certified for quality.” PLTW students who are recruited to Toyota enter the Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) program and start working toward a two-year degree with the Bluegrass Community and Technical College offered on Toyota’s campus, specially designed for more effective technical education. Toyota and the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers have outlined a model that not only works for Kentucky but is being expanded to other states with Toyota operations. These industry and educational leaders are working together to meet local and regional education and economic development needs. Toyota is now implementing the AMT program at all their U.S. manufacturing facilities.

  By collaborating with K-12 schools, colleges, universities, foundations, community organizations, and businesses, we can signal to students the importance of STEM education. We can engage students in rigorous studies, create excitement about STEM careers, and make learning relevant by presenting real-world problems and utilizing the same industry-standard technology used by STEM professionals—sparking curiosity, creating a laboratory for innovation and discovery, and inspiring an entrepreneurial mindset.

  However, PLTW is most effective where there are strong community champions. Through local partnership teams, schools work intimately with their local STEM community to (1) select PLTW courses that align with the local or regional economy, (2) provide relevant field trips and speakers for PLTW courses, (3) create workplace experiences for students with industry partners, and (4) serve as mentors for students–especially on projects where the local community has specific subject matter expertise. PLTW has found that most businesses and STEM professionals take great pride in their local communities and relate well to the concept of creating home-grown talent.

  The point is, the people working with our schools and students are creating shared value. They care about their companies and their jobs, yes; but they also care about building a stronger workforce. Like most Americans, they care about their communities and they care about their coun
try. But, they are not standing idle. They are leveraging their resources to help solve America’s STEM crisis.

  Results

  PLTW measures student knowledge, skills, and habits of mind through nationally administered End of Course Assessments and project-based assessments. Data are collected and analyzed to evaluate program effectiveness and to provide direction to PLTW on how to improve or modify the curriculum or provide additional teacher training. PLTW, in partnership with PLTW State Leaders—those in leadership positions who actively promote PLTW in their respective states—and PLTW University Affiliates, also has a national school certification process and training for counselors and administrators designed to ensure program fidelity and quality.

  While formal course assessments can go a long way in evaluating student performance and aptitude, we must also evaluate collaboration and leadership skills, creativity, and workplace experiences beyond the classroom. The Innovation Portal makes it possible. Developed by PLTW, that Innovation Portal is an open access, 24/7 dynamic online tool that enables students to create, maintain, and share digital portfolios that can be used for classes, college admissions, and job applications. Students can invite guests to the portal for collaboration and evaluation purposes.

  Nevertheless, the salient and fair question is: “does it all work?” Several independent research studies reveal that PLTW students out-perform their peers in school, and are more focused on attending college than non-PLTW students. In college, PLTW students persist and perform at higher levels than their non-PLTW peers. In general, research studies indicate that PLTW students are more likely to consider careers as scientists, technology experts, engineers, mathematicians, healthcare providers, and researchers compared to their non-PLTW peers. The studies are unique in design. Some studies are regionally or locally focused within school districts, others examine and track PLTW alumni and their performance in college.