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2012 Pre-STEM and STEM Summit
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A Short Video to Start the Day
• For the third year in a row EEC has contracted with the
Aspire Institute at Wheelock College for the Pre-STEM.
• 46 CFCE and EPS grantees and partnership members from
across the MA
• Agenda for the Day:
• Neil Gordon, CEO, Discovery Museums
• STE draft standards presentation and discussion, Wheelock
College
• Hands-on STEM integrated activities for infants through
school age, Science Club for Girls, Boston Children’s Museum,
EDC
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Pre-STEM Workshop at
Early Education Strand at 2012
STEM Summit
• Over 100 participants
• Commissioner Killins provided overview
• STE draft standards presentation and discussion
• Afternoon Session
• Review of the morning presentation
• Hands-on activities from MA College of Liberal Arts.
• MCLA created 6 STEM Modules in 2011 in part with EPS grant
funds
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• Morning Session
Goal for the Day: STEM Goals
• Develop ECE specifics for the STEM Plan 2.0 at individual,
program, and state level.
• Provide feedback on draft STE standards
Quantitative Goals
1. Increase student interest in
STEM
2. Increase STEM achievement
among Prek-12
3. Increase students who are
college STEM ready
4. Increase STEM degree
attainment
5. Increase STEM classes led by
effective educators
6. Align STEM education
programs with the workforce
needs
Qualitative Goals
1. Community Engagement
2. Academic Coherence
3. Educator Development
4. STEM Employers and
STEM Professionals
What do “we” want
children to know?
What do “we” want
educators to know?
How do we build/encourage
curiosity in children of all
ages and stages of
development?
What curriculum changes can
occur? What resources are
needed? What resources exist?
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Over-arching Questions
to Think About
The Development of Pre-K Science,
Technology, and Engineering Standards
Karen Worth
Wheelock College kworth@wheelock.edu
Building on What We Know and Have
Frameworks
• The Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and
Literacy (March 2011): Standards for Pre-Kindergarten
and Kindergarten
• The Curriculum Framework for Mathematics (March
2011): Standards for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
• Head Start Child Development and Early Learning
Framework
Building on What We Know and Have
Guidelines
• The Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers
(November 2010)
• The Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences (April
2003) in all domains except English Language Arts and
Mathematics
• The Kindergarten Learning Experiences (April 2008) in all
domains except English Language Arts and Mathematics
Formative Assessment Tools
• Work Sampling System, High Scope Child Observation Record and
Teaching Strategies Gold: Assessment System
Pre-K STE Standards
• Work in Progress/Process
• Based in framework from A Framework for K-12 Science
Education, NAP, 2011) and the on-going work of revision
of the MA Frameworks for Science, Technology and
Engineering
• Three domains
• Practices of science and technology
• Cross-cutting concepts
• Disciplinary core ideas
The structure of a STE standard
What the structure will do:
• Identify STE learning outcomes
• Highlight content in the context of practices and cross-cutting
ideas - not information
• Identify connections math and ELA frameworks
What the structure will not do:
• Define curriculum
• Define pedagogy
• Explicitly connect to other development goals (e.g. physical,
socio-emotional, etc.)
Dimension 1: Practices
The following diagram, taken from A Framework for K-12 Science Education
suggests the way in which the practices interact and describe the scientific and
engineering process.
Theories and
Models
The Real World
Ask Questions
Observe
Experiment
Measure
Argue
Critique
Analyze
Collect Data
Test Solutions
Investigating
Evaluating
Imagine
Reason
Calculate
Predict
Formulate
Hypotheses
Propose
Solutions
Developing
Explanations and
Solutions
Dimension 2: Cross-Cutting Concepts
• Patterns
• Recognize, classify, and record patterns
• Cause and Effect
• Mechanism and Explanation
• Look for and analyze patterns and relationships and what causes
the patterns; design tests to confirm or deny
• Scale, Proportion and Quantity
• Work with objects and space and explicit models
Dimension 2: Cross-Cutting Concepts
• Systems and System Models
• Describe things in terms of parts, roles of parts, and relationship
among parts
• Structure and Function
• Investigate accessible and visible systems in nature and humanbuilt world
• Stability and Change
• Explore building, climbing, growth
Dimension 3: Disciplinary Core Ideas
Influences on the selection of content
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•
•
•
•
Research
Appropriate challenge
Children’s interest, curiosity, and their environment
Articulation with K-12 (progressions of learning)
STE key ideas
Sample Standard
Physical Science: Motion
Children who demonstrate understanding can:
• Describe changes in movement (slowing down, speeding up)
and use physical evidence to explain reasons for the change.
• Make predictions about and demonstrate how objects will
move (speed and direction) when pushed or pulled in different
ways.
Math Connection
 Identify relative position of objects in space, and use appropriate
language (e.g., beside, inside, next to, close to, above, below, apart.
Sample Standard
Life Science: How organisms meet their basic
needs in their environment
Children who demonstrate understanding can:
• Explain how some plants and animals in their local might meet
their basic needs.
• Make reasoned predictions about how changes in the
environment might effect the living things that depend on it.
Books
 Gilbertson, B. Z. Cactus Hotel. Henry Holt
 Mazer, Anne. Salamander Room. Dragonfly Books
 Gibbons, Gail. From Seed to Plant. Holiday House
Sample Standard
Earth Sciences: Elements of daily weather
Children who demonstrate understanding can:
• Collect and record data on daily weather and use data to
determine simple patterns.
Math Connection
Listen to and say the names of numbers in meaningful
contexts.
 Use comparative language such as more/less than, equal
to, to compare and describe collections of objects.
(Technology and Engineering)- Ideas and skills of Engineering and
Technology will be integrated with the science standards
Timeline
1. Draft of the standards (December 31st, 2012)
2. Public review (January-March, 2013)
3. Final version ( June 30, 2013