Using the T-STEM Blueprint to Design
Rigorous Alignment with Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment to Promote
Student Achievement
Jerry Adams, Ed.D.
Principal
STEM Director
New Deal High School
Kyle Conatser
Math & Science Teacher
STEM Coordinator
New Deal High School
STEM Cluster Meeting
UT – Dallas
October 11, 2011
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
THSP Video
• THSP visited our campus in May, 2011.
• Student STEM Ambassadors conducted tours
of our campus.
• Students and teachers were interviewed
about their STEM experiences at New Deal.
• Project-based learning lessons were
showcased and discussed throughout the
process.
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
Guiding Question
How can you use the Blueprint
Benchmark # 5 – Curriculum,
Instruction, and Alignment – to align
your school with the STEM Academy
culture and design?
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
New Deal High School – STEM Academy
• Our Mission …
– Provide every student a quality education at the
highest level of academic skill by meeting
individual needs, building positive character,
challenging all minds, and promoting lifelong
learning in a safe environment
• Our Vision ...
– Prepare students to be college ready, career
ready, and life ready
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
Demographics
• Student Enrollment – 198
• Faculty & Staff – 24
– High School Only – 15
– Shared between Middle & Elementary – 9
• Ethnicity
– White – 45%
– Hispanic – 50%
– Black – 5%
• Economically Disadvantaged – 53%
• At-Risk – 59%
• Student Participation in Extracurricular Activities – 95%
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
Accountability Ratings
Year
Rating
2006
Acceptable
2007*
Acceptable
2008
Recognized
2009
Exemplary
2010
Recognized
Gold Performance
Acknowledgements
•Named a national Higher Performing by National Center for Education Achievement
and ACT, Inc
•Named one of the Best High Schools in Texas by Texas Monthly
•Named one of the Best High Schools in America by US News and World Report
•Best Practices Clearinghouse for Data-Driven Decision Making
•Recognition from TEA Commissioner Robert Scott for Outstanding Use of High School
Allotment
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
Data
• Distinguished Achievement Plan
–
–
–
–
–
2011 – 13
2010 – 14
2009 – 13
2008 – 2
2007 – 2
• College Enrollment Rate
– 2011 – 82%
– 2010 – 78%
– 2009 – 48%
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
STEM Timeline
•Planning & Implementation Year
•Small Learning Community
Model – approximately 20
students per grade
•Math, Science, and Technology
Teachers
•Spring STEM Leadership
Conference
•Classroom Set of Laptops
•48% of Graduates Plan to Attend
College
2006
2007
•Teachers Continue to
Develop Projects and STEM
Curriculum
•Smartboard Technology
Installed in Classrooms
•48% of Graduates Plan to
Attend College
2008
•Expanded Pre-AP and AP Course
Offerings in Math & Science Courses
•STEM Teachers Attend
Best Practices Conference
•STEM Teachers Attend Site Visit at
Denver School of Technology
•Smartboard Technology Installed
in Classrooms
•Classroom Set of Laptops
•78% of Graduates Plan to Attend College
2009
•Project Lead the Way Engineering Program, Year 1
•CSCOPE Implementation
•NASA Zero Gravity Flight Summer Training
•Hosted Learning Tours of Campus
•Sophomore Teacher PBL Summer Training –
Entertainment Industry
•Senior Project Class
•Focus on Commended Performance during Content
Area Meetings
•Presented at Best Practices STEM Conference
•Flex Schedule and Advisory Period
•Increased UIL Academic Participation
•Dual Credit Course Expansion (9 hours to 33 hours)
•Implemented Two Additional Graduate Recognitions
College Achievement Plan & STEM Project
Teachers Attended STEM PBL Workshops
•82% of Graduates Plan to Attend College
2010
•Transition to School-wide STEM Program
All Classrooms Equipped with Smartboard
Technology
•All teachers trained in PBL
•Freshmen Teacher PBL
Summer Training – Cotton Industry
•Teachers Attending STEM PBL
Workshops
•Teachers Present at Best Practices
Conference
•78% of Graduates Plan to Attend College
2011
2012
•Project Lead the Way Engineering
Program, Year 2 [45 students enrolled]
•Classroom Set of Laptops
•Expand Flex Schedule and Advisory
Period Schedule & Partnerships
•Additional Dual Credit Internet Course
Resulting in 36 hours
•Junior Teacher PBL Summer Training –
Wind Energy Industry
CSCOPE, Year 2
College Hours
• South Plains College Dual Credit
– 36 hours
• Tech Prep Courses through CTE Program
– 12 hours (make at least a B in the high school course
and must take corresponding course at South Plains
College upon enrollment at SPC)
• Project Lead the Way (PLTW)
– 12 hours (upon completion of school certification)
• TOTAL = 60 college hours
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
Blueprint
•
•
•
•
•
Explains “how to do it” … excellent guide
Serves as a comprehensive needs assessment
Sets and reframes goals
Growth model
Must know who you are and what you do
well
• Make the blueprint work for you … you don’t
work for the blueprint
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready
New Deal High School STEM Academy –
Preparing Student to be College Ready,
Career Ready, and Life Ready
Alignment
• Summer PBL Planning
– Freshmen (agriculture) – 2009
– Sophomores (entertainment) – 2010
– Juniors (wind energy/renewable energy) – 2011
• Content Area Meetings
– PBL Projects/Student Work
– Data
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
The Instructional Core
• The instructional core anchors any school- or
district-level instructional improvement
process.
• The instructional core is composed of the
teacher and the student in the presence of
content.
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
The Instructional Core
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
The Instructional Core
 It is the relationship between the teacher, the
student, and the content – not the qualities of
any one of them by themselves – that
determines the nature of instructional practice,
and each corner of the instructional core has its
own particular role and resources to bring to
the instructional process.
 The instructional task is located at the center of
the instructional core. Simply stated, this is the
actual work that students are asked to do in the
process of instructions.
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
The Instructional Core
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
Principles of the Instructional Core
1. Increases in student learning occur only as a
consequence of improvements in the level
of content, teachers’ knowledge and skill,
and student engagement.
2. If you change any element of the
instructional core, you have to change the
other two.
3. If you can’t see it in the core, it’s not there.
4. The real accountability system is in the tasks
that students are asked to do.
5. We learn to do the work by doing the work.
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
The Instructional Core
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
STAAR Readiness Survey
• Protocol
– Complete the STAAR Readiness Survey (used by
permission, Collier Consulting Group)
– Compare results
– Identify suggestions for improvement or “next
steps” as a campus
– Compile campus data
College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready!
Thank You
Questions?
Dr. Jerry Adams
Principal
STEM Director
jerrya@ndisd.net
Mr. Kyle Conatser
Math & Science Teacher
STEM Coordinator
kyle@ndisd.net
New Deal High School
PO Box 250
New Deal, Texas 79350
New Deal High School STEM Academy – Preparing Student to be College Ready, Career Ready, and Life Ready