An eye to the future
Businesses develop tomorrow’s technology leaders through K–12 programs
by Andrew Tellijohn
AUSTIN, MINNESOTA, IS SYNONYMOUS with Hormel Foods and the iconic Spam. The 116-year-old company’s headquarters, flagship manufacturing plant, research and development facility, and the Spam Museum all are located within the southern Minnesota town’s borders. With about six percent of the town’s workforce in its employ, Hormel clearly has a stake in the educational future of Austin’s youth.
Over the summer Austin teachers brushed up on science skills with
help from University faculty.
One year ago the Hormel Foundation announced an unprecedented grant for Austin Public Schools—$2.8 million to advance science and math proficiency. Of that, $1.3 million is dedicated to professional development for teachers, which has been designed and coordinated by the College of Education and Human Development.
The foundation earmarked the money for teacher development and specified that the University of Minnesota lead the program, but it didn’t dictate the structure, explained Dick Nunneley, coordinator of graduate studies in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration, adding, “We didn’t have a blueprint.”
In the end, he and a team from the University, in collaboration with Austin educators, developed a tri-fold approach focusing on content, pedagogy, and systems change via teacher collaboration. The multifaceted effort, coordinated by Julie Kalnin (educational policy and administration), joins experts from the Departments of Educational Policy and Administration and Curriculum and Instruction with faculty from the College of Biological Sciences, the Institute of Technology, and others.
“One of the best ways to increase achievement among our students is to develop teachers in both content knowledge and pedagogy,” explains John Alberts (M.Ed. ’99), director of educational services for Austin schools, who prepared for his principal licensure at CEHD.
Nearly one-third of Austin Public School teachers—94 in all—representing preK through secondary levels is enrolled in the program. The secondary teachers will pursue certificates or masters of education in science or math. PreK and elementary educators are pursuing interdisciplinary masters degrees in education that include a literacy strand integrated with a math or a science strand. Their tuition and fees are covered entirely by the Hormel Foundation grant, and classes are held in Austin. The foundation also funded improvements to Austin high school science labs with a $1.5 million grant.
Hormel is one of a number of leading Minnesota companies that are partnering with educators to emphasize the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Innovative leaders such as 3M and Best Buy have committed both financial and human resources to the effort. They, and other companies like them, know that the success of their business rides on educating future employees with strong STEM backgrounds and that strong schools attract top employees.
3M is supporting the college’s efforts to develop leading K–12 STEM educators by funding two CEHD graduate fellows who will help bring best practices for integrating STEM into selected North St. Paul-area middle schools. The 3M Foundation also subsidizes larger efforts to incorporate STEM into the curricula in these districts and supports the Engineering Leadership Program at Mahtomedi Public Schools, where CEHD professors Tamara Moore and Gillian Roehrig are helping the district develop a framework for such STEM integration (see “The Science of Shakespeare”).
3M employees also volunteer as tutors in St. Paul High Schools, helping raise participating students’ test scores significantly. In another program, eligible students from the district can take classes at the company’s Maplewood laboratories, where they work a full-time summer job as well.
Such hands-on experiences help students understand how science relates to their interests and their lives, as alumnus Steve Brehmer (M.Ed. ’96), who teaches A.P. physics at Rochester Mayo High School, has discovered. “They know science has a place in life,” Brehmer says. “Until you make it real in some way it’s hard to see where that’s going to be.”
The greater good
There’s a civic element to these business commitments as well. The future of individual students and of society as a whole may just ride on technological and engineering innovations. Take for example the challenge of climate change, which requires an understanding of basic science and of the principles of engineering and technology that may help address the challenge. Through the college’s GoNorth! Program, sponsored by Best Buy, K–12 students from Texas to Australia collaborate on solutions to climate change, led by Aaron Doering, Bonnie Westby-Huebner Endowed Chair of Education and Technology and an assistant professor of learning technologies. Doering and others teach from their base camp on annual Arctic expeditions, using a curriculum tied to authentic adventures and an online learning environment.
“We’re truly letting students have the discourse about the issues that are at hand and letting them come up with solutions and possibilities to the situations that we raise,” he says.
GoNorth! wouldn’t be as valuable without the strong support of Richfield-based Best Buy, says Doering. When businesses step to the plate they help not only with funds, but also in creating the vision and providing the expertise necessary for putting together such projects.
“We need to constantly build the relationships that have begun and hopefully will continue so that you have academics and businesses working together on a common good,” Doering says. “That common good is the future of our children. We can do that successfully if we work together.”
The real payoff
Though Austin teachers just started taking classes with the college in January, their students are already reaping the benefits. This fall a yearlong class that blends physics with engineering concepts in industrial technology will be offered for the first time. Though the class is an elective that must be taken on top of a required life science class, 60 seventh-grade students are enrolled.
The new class is team taught by the industrial arts teacher and a middle-school science teacher who is taking part in the Hormel-funded classes. It’s the type of collaboration that the University partnership fosters, explains Alberts, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in educational policy and administration at the college. During the school year, Kalnin teaches classes to support such collaboration, as well as teacher leadership and school change.
“STEM by its very nature, if done well, should be a collaborative effort,” says Alberts, adding that by creating the systems and structures that support cooperation, he also hopes to effect school and systems improvement.
This summer, the Austin teachers focused on specific content areas, including elementary level literacy for English language learners, taught by curriculum and instruction assistant professor Lori Helman, and science courses led by faculty from the College of Biological Sciences.
The teachers’ improved knowledge and pedagogy will be reflected in a new pre-Advanced Placement biology course for tenth graders at Austin High School. A chemistry elective will be offered at the eighth-grade level in 2009 to help build excitement early for the high school advanced science classes, says Alberts.
With nearly all of the Austin public middle school and high school math and science teachers involved in teacher development, he says, “rigor and knowledge across the board increase.” A handful of private school teachers are also participating.
The next generation
Other companies and organizations are supporting STEM with an eye to the next generation. Among a number of related initiatives, the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) is collaborating with college faculty members on cross-functional courses for the Mahtomedi program. Mark Klein, chair of MHTA’s K-12 Committee and vice president of consulting for Accelare Inc., says if the program proves successful, the organization will consider expanding such programs into other schools.
“Businesses need to be more proactive in engaging with educators to envision the future,” says Klein.
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PHOTOS: Courtesy of Austin Public Schools