All Texas students will graduate high school ready fo

1
Texas High School Project and the Texas Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math (T-STEM)
Initiative

• Texas Regional Collaboration
• March 6, 2007

2
What Is the THSP

• The Texas High School Project is a public-private
  partnership dedicated to improving graduation and
  college-readiness rates.
• Texas Education Agency
• Governors Office and the Texas Legislature
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
• Communities Foundation of Texas

3
Vision and Guiding Principles

• Vision
• All Texas students will graduate high school
  ready for college and career success and prepared
  to be contributing members of the community.
• Guiding Principles
• To challenge students with rigorous coursework
• To make coursework relevant to their lives
• To ensure students are taught by committed
  educators who develop relationships with them

4
Our Focus

• Urban areas and Texas-Mexico border
• First-generation college students
• Hispanic and African-American students
• Economically disadvantaged students

5
Texas Science Technology Engineering and Math
(T-STEM) Initiative

• 71M in public/private funding initiative to
  pilot innovative ways to improve student
  achievement in math and science and increase the
  number of students who enter STEM career fields

6
Why T-STEM Was Created School Performance

• Two of the most common reasons campuses were
  Academically Unacceptable under the state
  accountability system were failure to meet the
  TAKS math standards and failure to meet the TAKS
  science standards.
• Math performance was one of the top reasons that
  campuses failed to meet federal AYP standards.

7
Why T-STEM Was Created College Readiness

• Texas has lower percentages of students taking
  Advanced Placement exams in Calculus, Biology,
  Chemistry, and Physics than the nation and lower
  percentages of students scoring a 3 or higher.
• The number of Hispanic and African American
  students in Texas who score a 3 or higher on the
  Chemistry and Physics AP exams is fewer than 500.

8
Why T-STEM Was Created Economic Development
and Competitiveness

• Of the 20 fastest-growing occupations projected
  through 2010, 15 of them require substantial
  mathematics or science preparation.
• On the TIMSS, U.S. 8th graders were out performed
  by 7 of the 13 other countries in mathematics and
  5 of the 13 other countries in science.

9
Why T-STEM Was Created Social Equity

• Students with higher level mathematics skills
  earn up to double the amount earned by others
• Students of all income levels who take rigorous
  mathematics and science courses in high school
  are more likely to go to college.

10
T-STEM Goals

• Create 35 T-STEM Academies
• Establish 6-9 T-STEM Centers throughout Texas
• Develop statewide best practices Network
• Increase pool of highly qualified STEM teachers
  and school leaders

11
STEM Education

• Teaching and learning strategies that challenge
  students to innovate and invent
• Model real world contexts for learning and work
• Integration of math, science, and technology with
  other subject areas
• The design process driving student engagement

How do we help children make sense of the world
and solve new and novel problems?
12
T-STEM Academies Design

• Mix of charter schools, traditional public
  schools, and schools created in partnership with
  an institute of higher education (IHE).
• Stand alone campuses or school-within-a-school
• Approximately 100 students per grade
• Grades 6 12 (or 9 12 and actively work with
  feeder middle schools)
• Serve a population with a majority representation
  of high-need students
• Open enrollment, non-selective, admission by
  lottery

13
T-STEM Center Goals

• Support schools and districts in the improvement
  of student performance in math and science
• Disseminate promising practices and
  research-based strategies in STEM education

14
T-STEM Center Design

• Create regional partnerships between IHEs, ESCs,
  high need LEAs, nonprofits, and businesses to
  improve STEM education
• Identify and develop innovative instructional
  materials that integrate math and science
  concepts with the practical, problem-solving
  elements
• Deliver professional development to teachers in
  STEM fields based on national best practices
• Train administrators and principals in effective
  leadership strategies for supporting innovative
  math and science instruction
• Provide technical assistance, training, and
  coaching to the T-STEM Academies and other schools

15
T-STEM Network Goals

• Serve as a conduit for sharing best practices and
  lessons learned from the Texas Science,
  Technology, Engineering, and Math Academies and
  Centers with all Texas middle and high schools.
• Provide access to relevant professional
  development, rigorous math and science
  curriculum, lessons plans infused with real-world
  activities in math and science, and expert and
  peer advice.
• Move as many schools and districts as possible
  toward the implementation of practices that have
  been proven to better serve students in science
  and math

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T-STEM Key Priorities 2007

• Support development and implementation of quality
  programs in Academy and Center grantees
• Announce up to 2 new Centers and 60 Network
  Acceleration grantees
• Launch T-STEM Network Digital Portal (spring
  2007)
• Identify up to 10 new Academy grantees, TEA RFA
  to be posted in March
• Launch THSP Exemplar program (spring 2007)