All teachers at Career Academy are part of a collaborative team. At the high school we have a CTE team and an Early College in addition to our 9/10 and 11/12 teams. The principal and the curriculum director meet with each of these teams on a weekly basis for an hour. This team time includes professional development along with time to discuss how all programs are progressing. This time spent is where any information needed on our STEM programs and participation is gathered. This information is then used to drive any additional professional development or program changes. All team members are part of the process in determining professional development and program changes.All suggestions are brought to the STEM team for determining if more information is needed and/or final approval of changes.

Due to COVID, all of our classes at Career Academy are equipped to teach students in whatever manner necessary (in-person, remote, and hybrid). STEM teachers form their lessons around real world problems and allow students to express their thoughts and demonstrate their learning in the classroom and online through our LMS- Canvas. Students are able to work with their classmates on projects and problems though groups in the classroom and through breakout rooms on Zoom when meeting virtually. Learning is assessed in a variety of ways such as projects, exams, presentations, etc. both in-person and online through Canvas.

Collaboration time is built into the daily schedule for all staff members. Staff members are assigned to a grade level team and content specific team. This time is used to analyze student data, plan cross curricular units, and receive training on STEM instruction.

Our five-year sustainability plan for technology revolves around a three year rotation for replacement of our 1-to-1 student and staff devices. STEM curriculum training for new staff is conducted within subject specific teams by the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. The funding for these programs comes from Title II, Title IV, the Perkins Act, and the school’s general curriculum budget.

Surveys have been used by Career Academy to help gauge student interest in additional STEM pathways. These include Agricultural, Hospitality Management, and Culinary Arts. The results of surveys like this have caused us to already create a new agricultural pathway and we are currently attempting to get Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts added in the very near future.

Parent and student feedback has been a cornerstone of programming development at CASB for years. In the past, feedback has always included having more pathway and science course options available. This year, because of that feedback, we have added a physics course, a psychology course, and decided to explore additional pathway options that meet student interest. While there are still continued requests for more, that is a perennial item at most schools as the interests of students are as diverse as their backgrounds, but we are approaching and exploring items as sustainably as possible.

Career Academy Middle School is a charter school that focuses on academic performance, career based skills, or college ready skills. We have developed a professional development plan that focuses on collaboration, strengthening instructional practices, and using data to drive instruction. Improving teacher performance and classroom instruction requires administrators to be instructional leaders and for the school to have an evaluation system that aligns instructional feedback with academic priorities, classroom observations, the evaluation instrument, resources, and professional development.

Teacher’s effectiveness is rated by observation and artifacts such as lesson plans, and using the following domains:

• Purposeful Planning

• Facilitate Learning

• Project or Problems based learning

• Progress Monitoring

• Intervention

• Classroom Environment

• Leadership

• Professionalism

Achievement data sources are identified for each-class, and provide more than one input to objectively measure students achievement for our teachers. The class specific achievement data has been aligned to support achievement requirements outlined in our charter document and our School Improvement Plan for the building.

An important purpose of the teacher evaluation is its use as a source of self-initiated learning and development of teachers, which follows the school-wide PBL model.

Midyear and year end evaluations will take place in January and May respectively. All certified and non-certified staff are evaluated by administrators. Teachers will have at least two observations each semester. All staff will have a summative evaluation at the end of the school year.

Each of our teachers are a part of department meetings held at least bi-weekly. At these meetings, research based instructional and learning techniques are discussed with each team made up of teachers, the principal, and the director of curriculum and instruction, as well as any corresponding interventionalists, instructional coaches, and co-teachers. We have an instructional coach that observes and provides feedback for each of our math teachers to reflect upon. These teachers meet with the instructional coach a minimum of once a week and in some cases daily. A teacher mentor is provided for all first- and second-year teachers and others who choose to participate in our mentoring program. Additionally, peer observations and instructional modeling from our instructional coach and/or administrators are available for teachers who request it.

Career Academy uses their website, parent newsletters, school board meetings, and social media to communicate with parents and community members about the STEM program. The principal sends out a weekly newsletter, which includes any upcoming events or projects for high school classes. Our Marketing Director updates our website monthly with course curriculums, upcoming events, and videos and pictures of projects taking place in classrooms. The Marketing Department updates our social media pages weekly with pictures and comments from parents about what is happening in our school and classrooms.

Career Academy has STEM enrollment that mirrors our overall school demographics fairly closely. Subcategories based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status are all within ten percentage points of each other for enrollment in our dual credit courses. The other STEM courses (Biology 1, Chemistry 1, CTE, etc.) are required for all students, so those demographics correspond directly.