CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO continued
LANDING A STATE APPROPRIATION
The decision was made to house the center at the university with sister spaces strategically located in school districts so that local capacity would be built, and teachers would have a place to explore and learn with their students. Numerous partners came to help imagine what the space should look like and how it should function, including teachers from surrounding school districts, university faculty members, members of the business community, statewide education officials, IKEA, Google, LEGO Education, the MIT Media Lab and others. Flexible furniture, robots, 3D printers and more started to fill the lab. Schofield explained how the center is mirroring the cross-sector focus of the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice, “We work deliberately across our region and across the sectors with program design so that there are deliberate connections between the school day and the afterschool and out-of-school experiences that our students receive.” For instance, with the robotics program, teachers who coached a robotics team often had stronger professional learning experiences than after-school program staff members serving as robotics coaches because they have been receiving regular training in robotics directly from LEGO Education. In order to address the competitive advantage that the school teams would have, in 2019, STEM2 Hub changed that model and provided training to non-teacher coaches from the afterschool programs in a setting that is side- by-side to the teachers. “As a result of this, new partnerships between formal and informal educators were formed, and the afterschool providers’ skill sets were sharpened. This had a tremendous impact on student performance,” Schofield explained, noting that many afterschool teams, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs and Communities in Schools were not only winning bids to regional and state competitions, but winning awards as well. Schofield said this change has triggered other benefits for the robotics competitions. “The change in the diversity at our regional competition is remarkable, with a record-breaking presence of students from rural, underrepresented minorities, and girls participating at all levels. All of this has happened because of the empowerment of afterschool providers by giving them the needed skills for their success as coaches and mentors,” she said.
While plans for the space and its design continued, Chartrand knew that acquiring state funding would accelerate the work at a tremendous pace. Chartrand set the foundation and made the connections for the STEM2 Hub to work through the legislative process to request a local appropriation. With significant guidance and support from Chartrand, Schofield worked with him to develop an appropriation for workforce development to expand equitable access to robotics, computer science, high quality mathematics instruction and to expand after-school programs that prepare students to be critical and flexible thinkers. In spring 2018, Schofield received word that the STEM2 Hub’s first appropriation was approved and $975,000 was earmarked for expanding access to robotics, computer science and coding, building deep fundamental math skills for teachers, increasing access to robotics in the school day, and exploring new and emerging technologies, such as drones and augmented/virtual reality in the schools. After a successful implementation year, the STEM2 Hub has once again been approved for a second appropriation that will continue and expand the work. As with many of the initiatives of STEM2 Hub, Schofield credits Chartrand with providing the leadership, know- how and introductions that enabled the success. “I didn’t know any of these people in the beginning, or how to do this. And the first time Gary told me to get in front of a state legislative committee, I was like a deer in the headlights,” she said. “I didn’t even know where to start! And I have made mistakes, but Gary always guides me and helps me learn. Thanks to his leadership, so many students are having experiences that just would never have been possible.” When news arrived that funds would be available to work with school districts, Schofield began to focus on the details of building an implementation plan. She started developing and implementing an outreach plan, meeting with district superintendents and curriculum leaders, pitching the idea of starting to expand access to robots, coding, 3D printing and makerspaces to their media centers, starting in the elementary schools.
“THE CHANGE IN THE DIVERSITY AT OUR REGIONAL COMPETITION IS REMARKABLE, WITH A RECORD- BREAKING PRESENCE OF STUDENTS FROM RURAL, UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES, AND GIRLS PARTICIPATING AT ALL LEVELS.
CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO
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