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learners demonstrate STEM literacy outcomes that prepare them for the next level of learning and work.
learners demonstrate STEM literacy outcomes that prepare them for the next level of learning and work.
STEM PROGRAM OUTCOMES, CURRICULUM & SKILLS ASSESSMENT, PROGRAM EVALUATION
Cahaba Elementary School learners demonstrate STEM literacy outcomes that prepare them for the next level of learning and work because we have a defined STEM program with measurable outcomes. We evaluate our attainment of these outcomes based on student performance on multi-leveled assessments of standards-based curriculums. Finally, we use our analysis of student assessment results and our evaluation of our STEM program outcomes to drive our instruction and make improvements to our program so that we are constantly moving towards our STEM vision.
STEM PROGRAM OUTCOMES
STEM PROGRAM OUTCOMES
STEM PROGRAM VISION, MISSION, GOALS, AND OUTCOMES
To ensure our students are able to demonstrate STEM literacy outcomes that prepare them for the next level of learning and work, we established a STEM program with our ultimate vision for the program, defined the mission that will allow us to achieve our vision, identified the goals that will allow us to accomplish the mission, and determined the learning outcomes that show we have met the goals. The program learning outcomes are measured as students progress through a variety of STEM curriculums with learning outcomes measured by multi-leveled assessments that are aligned with national and state STEM standards.
STEM PROGRAM VISION
The first step in the process was to determine our vision for the program. We wanted our STEM program vision to be our legacy for STEM education at Cahaba. When our school system determined that we needed to evolve the way we taught STEM from a disciplinary to an interdisciplinary approach, each school had to evaluate what that meant and how it should look. At Cahaba, we started with one question, “What was the ultimate goal?” Our STEM team contemplated this question. After much collaboration and research, we determined that the goal of an interdisciplinary STEM program was STEM literacy.
STEM literacy is not simply mastering STEM discipline content and skills. It is understanding the role that STEM plays in everyday life and work, appreciating the importance of STEM jobs in maintaining and improving our world, mastering cross-cutting concepts and competencies that are needed to perform STEM jobs, and having the ability to apply STEM knowledge and skills with other knowledge and skillsets to solve real-world problems. So, at Cahaba, we define STEM literacy as the ability to apply the interdisciplinary STEM knowledge, skills, processes, and practices required to perform civic responsibilities, contribute to economic productivity, evaluate environmental topics and issues, analyze infrastructure systems, engage in society, solve problems, and engineer innovations. With STEM literacy as the ultimate goal, we declared our vision for STEM education at Cahaba.
With an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and grit that won’t quit, Cahaba Elementary Students will be motivated, unique, strategic and helpful problem solvers that engineer the future of innovation."
STEM PROGRAM MISSION
Our STEM Mission is our strategy for implementing STEM Education at Cahaba. After, determining the vision for our STEM education program, we contemplated, “How do we achieve our vision?” The first step was defining STEM education. STEM education is an environment and curriculum that provides learning experiences in which students learn the content, skills, processes, and practices involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; analyze the connections between the four disciplines; evaluate the importance of STEM professions in our world; and develop STEM literacy.
Defining STEM education, helped us to realize that achieving the vision involved a collaborative group of stakeholders who worked together to create a STEM learning environment and STEM learning experiences that promoted STEM literacy. With this understanding we established our mission for accomplishing our vision.
The Cahaba Elementary School STEM Coalition, including administration, faculty, staff, students, parents, and the community will work together to provide an equitable and safe learning environment where students are free to take academic risks and gain exposure to opportunities in STEM careers and create authentic, real-world learning experiences and opportunities where students develop the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in future STEM endeavors and careers.
STEM EDUCATION OUTCOMES
Finally, we had to ask ourselves, “How will we attain the STEM mission goals which prove we are accomplishing our STEM mission and moving towards our STEM vision?" We concluded that we needed to define each goal and outline learning outcomes to meet the goal, determine the people involved in each learning outcome and define their roles, and identify how we would measure and evaluate attainment of outcomes, and how we would use evaluation results to improve our STEM program.
For each of our STEM program goals, we defined the goal, outlined our STEM learning outcomes or how we would attain the goal, and how we would measure attainment of the outcome.
CURRICULUM & SKILLS ASSESSMENT
CURRICULUM & SKILLS ASSESSMENT
ASSESSING STEM DISCIPLINED CURRICULUM, CROSS-CUTTING CONCEPTS & SKILLS, AND STEM WORKFORCE COMPETENCIES
Our program learning outcomes are measured as students progress through a variety of STEM curriculums with learning outcomes measured by multi-leveled, standards-based assessments. We not only assess student mastery of STEM-disciplined learning outcomes, but STEM cross-cutting concepts and competencies as well.
STEM DISCIPLINED CURRICULUM
Each grade level engages in STEM-disciplined curriculums developed by teachers and our district with multi-leveled assessments that demonstrate mastery of STEM disciplined content and skills. All science curriculums are developed with learning objectives that are aligned to Alabama State Science Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Though both state and national standards focus on science outcomes, they engage cross-cutting concepts involved in all four STEM disciplines. Kindergarten and first grade teachers develop science curriculum and assessments using the Mystery Science curriculum as a foundation. Second grade teachers use the Mystery Science and STEMScopes Alabama Science curriculums to build their units and assessments. Third through fifth grade teachers use both the STEMScopes Science and Generation Genius curriculums to develop interdisciplinary STEM units with standards-based learning objectives and assessments.
The following are example of roadmaps that show interdisciplinary planned units over the course of a year.
Kindergarten Curriculum Roadmap
All math curriculums are developed with learning objectives that are aligned to Alabama State Math and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards. All grade levels use our district math curriculum that was developed using ideas from Eureka Math, John SanGiovanni's Professional Development and Mathematics, and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. They supplement the district curriculum using the STEMScopes Alabama Math curriculum.
The following is an example of a math unit within a curriculum. It shows alignment with state standards. Beneath, you will see a formative assessment and a unit assessment. The formative assessment is used to make sure students are mastering the target. If they aren't mastering the target, teachers meet with them during centers for intervention. The unit assessment measures students understanding of all the learning targets in the unit. Teachers use unit assessments to determine mastery of the unit. If students do not master the unit, teachers do go on because it is a summative assessment; however, teachers do assign intervention for the student using SuccessMaker and meet with the student for intervention time.
5th grade Math Unit Formative Assessment
5th Grade Math Unit Summative Assessment
As discussed in Standard 9, we use multi-leveled assessments to measure student progress and mastery in math and science. Each curriculum involves students in formative assessments to determine mastery of learning targets, benchmark assessments to monitor progress towards curriculum mastery, and summative assessments that assess whether students mastered the content.
The engineering and technology curriculums are developed by the STEM lab teacher using the Alabama Digital Learning and Computer Science standards and the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association's Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy. Where Science and Math standards are taught in the general classroom and reinforced by specialists, the technology and engineering curriculums are taught in STEM lab and reinforced in the general classroom. The following is a checklist used in the STEM Lab.
CROSS-CUTTING CONCEPTS & SKILLS
Mastering STEM curriculum is only one aspect of STEM literacy. Understanding how STEM disciplines interact in the real world and having the ability to apply STEM discipline concepts, processes, and practices to solve a problem is another aspect. We strongly believe this and so cross-cutting concepts and skills are addressed in our STEM Program outcomes. By using ITEEA's Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy and Next Generation Science Standards, to develop curriculum and assessments, we are able to use formative assessments and skills checks to determine whether students are progressing in their understanding of interdisciplinary STEM in the real world and their ability to apply cross-cutting concepts and skills to solve problems.
We define STEM processes and practices as the reasoning processes or activities that STEM professionals use to understand the natural world and solve problems. Students demonstrate the ability to apply STEM processes and practices in each discipline and across STEM disciplines by engaging in activities and performance assessments. We adapted the model for teaching and assessing interdisciplinary STEM practices from Vasquez, Sneider, and Comer’s STEM Lesson Essentials. The following table shows the STEM practices in which students will demonstrate mastery and the interdisciplinary connections between those practices that students will come to understand by the end of 5th grade.
STEM Processes and Practice Checks
We define cross-cutting concepts as a transdisciplinary STEM notions or ideas that are utilized across all STEM disciplines. Students will participate in a learning progression from Kindergarten to 5th grade by responding to cross-cutting learning prompts and doing activities that increase in complexity each grade level. Currently these are assessed through observation during interdisciplinary STEM units, but we hope to have a formal assessment for cross-cutting concepts in the near future. These cross-cutting concepts will include:
Patterns
Summary and Explanations
Cause and Effect
Compare and Contrast
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Systems and Their Interactions
Energy, Matter, and Materials
Structure and Function
Change and Stability
STEM WORKFORCE COMPETENCIES
A third component of STEM literacy is the ability to utilize STEM competencies in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary STEM experiences. This is an important component in STEM literacy. If students master all STEM -discipline content and skills and can utilize cross-cutting concepts and skills to solve problems, they can still be unsuccessful unless they have the STEM competencies that support STEM knowledge ad skills. STEM competencies are 21st century-workforce readiness skills. We specifically define STEM competencies as literacies and skills needed to be successful in today’s working world. Students participate in ongoing activities from Kindergarten to 5th Grade in all classes for which they learn STEM competencies and are given opportunities to practice and apply them. Currently, we assess these skills through observation. Our counselor's PACE program focuses on a different skill each month. Teachers select students at the end of the month whom they felt best exhibited the trait or skill. These students are given a certificate and honored at our PACE setter parties.
PACE Setter Traits of the Month
Our special education teacher also works with our special needs students to teach them workforce readiness skills. For example, she implemented a program called Cahaba Java. In this program, special needs students learn to take coffee orders using a Google Form. They prepare the coffee to order. Then they deliver the coffee to teachers. Teachers donate money to the program giving the students the opportunity to practice money skills.
PACE Setter Recognitions Pictures
Cahaba Java
PROGRAM EVALUATION
PROGRAM EVALUATION
At Cahaba Elementary, we analyze students' assessment results on formative, benchmark, and summative assessments to determine whether students are mastering concepts, skills, and competencies. Our evaluation allows us to determine whether or not we are attaining our STEM program goals. Student assessment and program evaluations help us to improve STEM education because they drive our instruction and determine changes to our STEM program.
ASSESSING STUDENT MASTERY
Grade level teachers meet once a week to analyze student assessment results. First, they analyze formative assessments results to determine whether students as a grade level are mastering targets. If a grade level is struggling with a target, they adopt another strategy to reteach the material using a different instructional strategy. If only a few students are struggling, they design intervention and enrichment activities. Teachers meet with struggling students for intervention while students who mastered the target participate in an enrichment activity or STEM centers.
Teachers also analyze the results of benchmark assessments during planning time. Teachers analyze the results of benchmark assessments to measure students' growth. Measuring growth allows us to get an accurate picture of where students are in their journey to mastering grade level curriculum and skills. Like formative assessment, benchmark assessments drive teachers' instructional approaches. With this is mind, benchmark assessments provide teachers with data to assess their own instructional practices as well. If students as a whole are not progressing, the teacher changes her instructional strategy to reteach the material or integrates the material into a new interdisciplinary unit to reteach it. Analysis of benchmark assessments also helps us to determine if greater intervention is needed. Students identified as needing extra intervention are referred to our problem solving team. This team dives deep into the root of the issue by looking for patterns and trends in a student's work and assessment results. Then, they design an intervention strategy for the student. The teacher implements the strategy and the student is reassessed at the next benchmark assessment.
Our summative assessments measure whether or not students mastered all the standards taught at the end of a unit or at the end of the year. We use general grade level mastery to evaluate our instructional practices by identifying patterns in scores. When a grade level's scores are high, we know the instructional practices we are using are working. When a grade level's scores are low, we evaluate the instructional strategies used to teach the material and make changes in those practices for the next year.
We also use summative assessment results in vertical planning sessions to make changes and improve our curriculum. General grade level mastery is used to determine the entry point of curriculum for the next grade level teachers. Then, teachers vertically align concepts that build in complexity each grade level. For example, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade evaluate their different grade levels, Living Things units. They continue to cover the objectives in each grade level but reinforce processes and practices.
Grade Level Planning
Vertical Planning
As students progress through the STEM disciplined standards and master crosscutting concepts and competencies discussed above, they are participating in multi-leveled assessments to measure their progress towards mastery and our program's progress towards our STEM mission and vision. We use assessment results to evaluate the effectiveness of our STEM program. This begins with evaluating curriculum. We develop and revise curriculum based on summative assessment diagnostics so that students are meeting benchmarks and standards that prepare them for the next level of learning. For example, our 2020 -2021 ACAP scores showed a drop in our 4th grade science scores.
2020 - 2021 ACAP Science Scores
We had been using the Mystery Science Curriculum for Kindergarten through 2nd grade and STEMScopes for 3rd - 5th grades. After looking at the Alabama State Science standards in the STEMScopes curriculum, we felt that we needed to supplement and expand upon lessons and units because the curriculum didn't adequately cover all the standards. We ordered Generation Genius for 3rd and 4th grades to meet the gaps in the curriculum in order to meet all the standards. Our 4th grade ACAP scores went back up for the 2021-2022 year.
2021 - 2022 ACAP Science Scores
Our STEM committee also evaluates program effectiveness. Teachers took a survey to indicate professional development they needed to properly implement our STEM program at Cahaba. The majority wanted to learn more about how to teach transdisciplinary STEM while still meeting standards. Based on the survey, we will be implementing a series of professional development on this subject. The PD series will begin with a refresher in our STEM program vision, mission, goals, and outcomes so that teachers understand how the curriculums, programs, and strategies we use all come together.
Professional Development Survey
STUDENT SELF ASSESSMENT & REFLECTION
Our students also use formative, benchmark, and summative assessment results to assess their own progress through the curriculum and mastery of standards. All students at Cahaba have a data binder. Students collect assessment results in their data binders. At student - teacher collaboration meetings, students use the assessments collected in their data binders to identify their own strengths and weaknesses based on their assessment results. Then students set their own goals to improve upon the weaknesses they identified in their evaluation of their performance. After recording their goals in their data binders, students write a plan to attain their goals and monitor their progress with formative and benchmark assessments. At the next student - teacher collaboration, students determine whether they have met their goals. If so, they identify new weaknesses, set new, goals, write new plans, and monitor those plans until the next student - teacher collaboration. If they did not meet their goals, with the help of the teacher, they identify the obstacles that kept them from meeting their goals. Students, then revise their plans and monitor their progress with assessments until the next student - teacher collaboration.
Three times a year, students participate in student-led conference nights in which parents come to the school and students walk parents through their learning journey using their data binders. They show parents their assessment results, describe how they identified their weaknesses, explain why they set the goals they did, walk parents through their plan to meet goals, and discuss how they use assessments to monitor their progress. Students also show parents their displayed work and projects and describe what they learned by completing the project.
Sample Pages from a Student Data Binder
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Sample Pages from a Student Data Binder
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