State not teaching what it practices in technology, math

03/26/2008

A report from Education Week says Minnesota isn't doing well when it comes to offering students more classes in science, technology, engineering and math. Some say that's starting to change.


By NORMAN DRAPER,
Star Tribune
March 26, 2008

Minnesota, home of medical breakthroughs and groundbreaking feats of technology and engineering, is apparently not doing enough to educate its children in those areas.

A study by the respected Education Week magazine found that the state ranks below the national average in the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects. The study, released today, tagged the state with a grade of C-, compared with the national average grade of C.

Though Minnesota was ranked high in terms of actual student achievement in math and science, it ranked average or worse nationally in achievement gains in those subjects over several years and in closing the academic achievement gap between poor and more well-to-do students.

Also, the report faulted Minnesota for not making proficiency in technology a part of teacher and school administrator licensing requirements.

Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said the Education Week survey makes the state look worse in STEM terms than it really is.

"I think we're moving ahead," Seagren said. "I think we know what we want to do. We might not be doing exactly what Education Week wants, but we're attacking it in different ways." For instance, Seagren said, Education Week places a lot of emphasis on having training policies for STEM teachers in place. But while Minnesota might not spell it out in a policy, the state has budgeted $3 million to help train teachers in STEM subjects. "They [Education Week] just have one way of looking at it," she said. "They want standards, and what we are doing is actually training them."

Still, some say the state needs to improve if it's to be a leader in the STEM fields.

"I do know that, overall, the state has not focused on technology in a real concentrated way," said Todd Pierson, instructional technology specialist with Minneapolis schools.

The findings come against a background of a national debate on how to make U.S. students more competitive with students from other countries who, national educators say, are bombarded with STEM courses in schools, and become engineers and scientists to a greater degree than American students.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Seagren and others have stressed the need for more STEM teaching and resources in Minnesota schools. Legislation has been passed mandating more math and science requirements for high school students, and creating STEM training programs for teachers and funding grants for schools that want to specialize in STEM subjects. Students in many Twin Cities metro districts can often attend STEM magnet schools.

One such school is Blaine High School, which was designated as a "Center for Engineering Mathematics and Science" this school year. At Blaine, 107 students are enrolled in the program, which involves heavy doses of physics, math, engineering and computer studies.

Regardless of where Minnesota stands in the Education Week STEM rankings, Blaine principal Norman Hande sees plenty of interest in the school's engineering, math and science program. He said the program quota of 133 students for next year has been filled. Plus, he said, interest in such courses as Advanced Placement calculus and statistics has soared. Engineers and college professors are also lining up to be on the school's advisory board, he said.

Sixteen-year-old Stephen Williams, a sophomore from Brooklyn Park, crossed school district lines to attend the Blaine program because "I really like science." Also, his mother felt a big helping of Blaine High's STEM offerings would help him once he started applying for college.

On Tuesday, Stephen was using a computer to design a train in his introduction to engineering design class. His other assignment was to take apart a mechanical pencil, measure its parts, throw the magnified design up on a computer grid, then reassemble it.

One student nearby was using his computer to design an armored car. Another was taking apart an electric candle. Several students in the class are on the school robotics team, and designed a robot they have entered in a regional competition at the University of Minnesota later this week.

"It's because I love technology, and I want to put something together and be able to say it's my work," said 14-year-old freshman Paul Asaad, who was disassembling a ballpoint pen for his assignment, and wants to eventually design airplanes. There's another potential advantage to soaking up all that technology.

"Colleges will accept you in a heartbeat," Paul said.