What's Wrong With This Picture???

U.S. policymakers backing STEM education
District destroys successful Paterson academy program

Education Week (1/31, Jacobson) reported, "Ohio is among a number of states where policymakers...have latched onto STEM initiatives as a key to boosting U.S. competitiveness" and "providing corporations with" highly skilled employees. For example, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) "is proposing this year to spend $1 million on scholarships to train teachers in math, science, and technology," and in Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver (D) is calling for a new $5 million STEM center "at the University of Northern Iowa." In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) "wants to increase the number of charter schools with an engineering theme as part of his plan to expand of the supply of engineers educated in the state."

Education Week noted, "A document released by the" National Governors Association in 2007 "likely served as the inspiration for many governors' proposals this year." However, "[l]awmakers...are more concerned with the 'nuts and bolts of it all,'" said Julie Bell, the education program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. They are concerned "whether there are enough teachers for such programs, and whether students are staying in those fields," she added.

JFK STEM floundering under district rule

STEM is (was) an Honors Academy that is part of John F. Kennedy High School. It was started in 1995 in order to stop the movement of academically talented students out of the District. It was the first small learning academy in Paterson. It has been successful in its original goal, in that there are almost 300 honors students enrolled. Our test scores are good, over 90% of them pass HSPA, all parts which helps JFK attain good AYP. In fact, all of the other local Academies have been put under EHS, to help its scores improve. STEM's academic standards are very challenging so that our students will be ready to meet the challenges of college. More of our students get over 1000 on Language + Math SAT (not including writing) than the rest of the District combined.

STEM is targeted for academically oriented, college prep students. One goal is to prepare students to succeed as college majors in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There are no gimmicks - the staff and students understand that success depends upon students having a broad base of real knowledge and a variety of skills. Typically the students do 1-2 hours of homework each night and there are assignments and projects that must be done over longer periods of time.

Separate laboratory classes are offered in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics providing students with an intensive laboratory experience. Students can take Advanced Biology, AP Chem. II, Analytical Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP History, and AP English. A STEM student can take up to 10 Honors Science Courses and 5 Honors Math courses for a total of up to 90 credits.

The present administration has instituted a computer based program called Project Lead the Way (PLTW). It is designed to prepare students for careers in engineering. This program has been placed as part of the Building Trades Academy. Our principal said that he expects STEM students who are interested in engineering to become members of the Building Trades Academy in order to participate in Project Lead the Way. It is astonishing that we are not being encouraged to continue in what has been an extremely successful direction. (I also wonder if the parents who we worked so hard to convince that JFK is an appropriate place for their children will be willing to send them to a Trade Academy. We might lose them again. After all, if you are going to a trade school, your might as well go to Passaic County Technical Institute, which has great security and better safety for the students.)

The District Administration still maintains that STEM students have to drop out of STEM and into Building Trades in order to take PLTW, even though the students in Building Trades are not expected to be able to complete this course. In order for STEM students to benefit from the course they will have to be placed into the course surreptitiously, an absurd situation.

Normally STEM would have 60-80 ninth graders. This year there are 42, and that's after a whole lot of work. Tech has increased its enrollment and has taken a huge number of the students that STEM would normally have. It didn't help that a building administrator told her department that STEM was being broken up, which is not true, and they told their students.

The present administration has prohibited STEM from offering honors or AP classes as part of the Academy. These classes will be offered outside of any academy (thereby creating another honors academy that is not STEM). This might not create an issue except for the fact that it is impossible to do interdisciplinary projects and skills this way (for example, having the English Teacher teach technical writing skills).

Somehow, there is an idea that there are lots of students who would be in Honors classes, but have somehow been prevented by having honors classes exclusively for STEM; that no student who is not is STEM can be in Honors classes. That is simply not true. Students who are not in STEM are welcome in Honors, and there are several. Usually, if a student is recommended for Honors, they come into the academy. Students often volunteer themselves. Students who want to try to take an honors class are never turned away. Students often leave because they find the time needed for this level of work interferes with sports or social activities. Many stay, struggle, and learn skills that enable them to make it through college.

The school scheduler was asked whether STEM is being deliberately destroyed or whether this is all inadvertent. While he responded that it is not deliberate, it is evident that the administration has made a decision to destroy this most successful academy for reasons that are unknown to the staff members who are part of STEM, and, for that matter, the rest of the school. It will take approximately 150 changes to rectify all of these issues, and everyone is waiting to see what happens.

Because of this new policy, there are approximately one fifth the number of students in 9th grade honors, and the other classes are also reduced. Lots of students have opted to be in regular classes, as long as it meant that they could still remain in STEM. The whole schedule was such a mess, that there was not the flexibility in the available classes to allow for help for these students.

However, until recently freshmen were not in designated STEM Classes. STEM students of all grade levels were dispersed throughout many classes, mixed with other academy or non academy classes. The schedule, which purported to obey the mandate to establish and support small learning communities, has been designed around room assignments, not curriculum matters. The Academy finally prevailed on the scheduling office to move them. It's incomplete, but moving in the right direction.

The STEM classes, not any longer Honors, are being taught by a hodgepodge of teachers, without any connection to each other, to the Department Chairperson, or to the curriculum.

Next September, all HS students are supposed to be assigned to Small Learning Communities or Academies. This year would have been a perfect time to start this process, but the block scheduling mess at the school has resulted in lost ground. STEM, probably the most successful academy in the district, has been seriously (not fatally) wounded, and the other JFK Academies are also negatively impacted.

This administration's slogan is "Children First". STEM was following that slogan to the maximum level, providing students with a rigorous challenge while successfully preparing them for college. The slogan has been turned into an empty promise.

Of STEM graduates, five are in medical school, 12 are engineers. This year Rutgers accepted over 30 of our seniors, as did Montclair State University, at on site, early acceptance interviews. NJIT sends recruiters to speak with STEM seniors.