STEM careers sprout; Area leads in high-tech education

If today's schoolchildren need to prepare for a global innovation economy based on high-level science, technology, engineering and math skills, then Corridor 9-area towns are poised to be the economic engine. These disciplines, referred to collectively as STEM,

are deemed critical to success in the information age.

The region offers a unique combination of research support, high-tech corporate involvement, and cutting-edge public school practices that leads the state in preparing children for college and STEM careers.

The area is no stranger to STEM professions.

"When you have a Nobel prize winner as a neighbor, that's very impressive," said Sandra H. Mayrand, director of the Regional Science Resource Center in Shrewsbury about 2006 Nobel Prize in Medicine winner, and fellow Shrewsbury resident, Dr. Craig C. Mello.

Ms. Mayrand, a cellular and molecular biologist, has been running the Regional Science Resource Center since the early 1990s. The Resource Center provides science materials and STEM professional development and support to classrooms in kindergarten through Grade 12 throughout the region. Originally part of the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research, it is now part of the University of Massachusetts Medical School's community outreach.

The Regional Science Resource Center grew out of a need for Shrewsbury High School to offer more science experiences for students - and for Ms. Mayrand's son, then a Shrewsbury student, to receive some extra credit from his science teacher by bringing in materials.

"He knew we had dry ice at the Worcester Foundation," Ms. Mayrand said in a recent interview, "and dry ice would be a highly prized commodity."

Scientists also were interested in going into schools to raise awareness about the field. Ms. Mayrand didn't want to just have them go out and talk to students. So her colleagues brought experiments over to the high school to work with students after school.

"Scientists would bring a whole lab so people would see it as a team effort, not one geeky guy," she said.

Since then, the Regional Science Resource Center was established in the Worcester Foundation - merging in 1997 with UMass Medical School - and with some grant money purchased math and science materials to loan to schools. These packages of instructional materials are part of an ongoing program at the center called "Science to Go."

Local scientists volunteer as mentors in the schools, serving as role models for students and as coaches for teachers. The center now serves 80 cities and towns from Leominster to North Attleboro.

In 2003 the Massachusetts Legislature established seven regional prekindergarten-through-college STEM Pipeline Networks as part of the economic stimulus package. These networks aimed to attract more students to STEM subjects and careers, improve STEM course offerings in public schools and increase the number of qualified STEM teachers. The Regional Science Resource Center became the hub of the Central Massachusetts STEM Pipeline Network.

"We've grown a lot from that little foray into the lab at night," Ms. Mayrand said. "Now schools have mostly their own equipment, but they still borrow some." Ms. Mayrand sees the increase in participation in science fairs

from Shrewsbury High School to its middle school as a direct result of involvement with the center.

The first Pipeline grant allowed the center to offer intensive professional development and support for middle school teachers on data analysis and inquiry-based projects. Inquiry-based projects involve the real-world, hands-on, problem-solving approach that is considered the gold standard of STEM education.

The state Legislature recently announced that another $4 million would be available for STEM Pipeline grants this year. Schools' interest in STEM professional development has heightened recently since science was added to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System high-stakes tests required for graduation beginning with the class of 2010.

"K-12 science education is key to economic development," Ms. Mayrand said. "There are not many years before eighth-graders are knocking at your door looking for a job."

"There are a lot of jobs that weren't there 15 years ago," she added. "Different skill sets are needed. It's very high-tech, even in manufacturing. You have to know what you're doing."

The Regional Science Resource Center is a local model of school outreach called for by policymakers and educators at the third University of Massachusetts STEM summit held Oct. 25 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel. The summit brought together 600 educators and industry representatives to share ideas on how Massachusetts can improve its students' success in pursuing STEM careers.

Motivation still hinders some students, and Massachusetts compares unfavorably in post-secondary STEM pursuits with

its high-tech peer states. Only 23 percent of Massachusetts students entering college express an interest in STEM careers, for example, compared with

33 percent of North Carolina's students.

Speaking at the summit, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll stated, "We have to find ways to get kids engaged in what STEM careers are all about. We have to get kids to stop looking at engineers as nerds. After all, engineers invented iPods."

Massachusetts Board of Higher Education Chancellor Patricia F. Plummer laid out the message clearly: "STEM education is ultimately a work-force development issue."

Hudson high-tech giant Intel sees the importance of a STEM-savvy work force. Its employees are actively involved as volunteers in schools in Marlboro, Hudson, Shrewsbury and Assabet Valley, among others.

Intel's Massachusetts/East Coast Education Manager Robert W. Richardson spoke on a STEM summit panel, along with Ms. Mayrand, about the importance of industry-school partnerships.

Mr. Richardson told the story of Hudson's John F. Kennedy Middle School's engineering expo at which Intel volunteers served as judges. He asked the audience to remember the words "comb gel."

"A kid had developed a comb that was able to offer the gel into the hair. He was very proud of it. It was well documented and he was very excited to show it to us," said Mr. Richardson.

The Intel volunteers were surprised when the Hudson middle school teacher told them that the student hadn't spoken for the first 10 weeks of school, had been failing all his classes and was in special education.

Mr. Richardson said, "He really opened up because of the project. It shows the power of inquiry-based education."

Mr. Richardson cited a Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education survey of 23 companies regarding high school graduates coming to them for jobs. Four areas were identified as critical to these employers, and most students fell short. Job seekers were rated as deficient in work ethic and professionalism, oral and written communication, and critical thinking. They were rated as adequate in teamwork.

"Critical thinking, public speaking, and teamwork - these are all part of inquiry-based learning needed to succeed in employment," Mr. Richardson said. He called on educators to integrate what they're doing in school with the community and businesses so students can build their critical thinking skills.

Hudson High School has been recognized as a Vanguard school by Mass Insight Education, a nonprofit organization focused on improving student achievement through best practices in standards-based education reform. Superintendent Sheldon H. Berman and a team of educators and students spoke on a Vanguard-school panel at the STEM summit about how the school integrates technology in education through online Virtual High School courses.

Hudson Public Schools and the Concord Consortium, a nonprofit educational research and development firm, founded Virtual High School 10 years ago. Mr. Berman said that its intent was to deepen student understanding through the integration of technology into all areas of the curriculum and to create virtual learning environments that significantly enhance face-to-face instruction.

Virtual High School

offers more than 200 credit-bearing courses, including advanced placement courses, which may allow students to receive college credit. The wide range of offerings, from screenwriting to advanced placement physics, has been a boon for small districts that may not be able to offer all subjects in the classroom.

Schools that participate in Virtual High School are required to teach one online course, to designate a site coordinator and to provide Internet access to students.

Mr. Berman said that Virtual High School has allowed Hudson to increase course offerings, provide high quality courses in a wide area of interests, give students an in-depth experience with technology, teach students independence and responsibility for managing their learning, and enable students to learn about and from students across the country and the world.

"Technology is not what they're learning. They're using technology to learn," Mr. Berman said.

Mr. Berman cited a family that moved their child from a surrounding district into Hudson High School because of the online program.

"Parents love it," Mr. Berman said. "This has drawn students to us through school choice, as well as skaters (who train at New England Sports Center) and those with health concerns." He continued, "Parents really see this as a significant advantage to getting into college."

Hudson High School seniors Courtney L. Atkins and Emily A. Lyons participated on the panel, sharing their experiences with several Virtual High School classes. While they praised the variety of interesting courses offered and the chance to prepare for college by studying more independently, their comments about the social life of a Virtual High School student were illuminating.

"I try to interact with people I don't know, since I already have friends at Hudson High," Ms. Lyons said. She added, "You have a lot of confidence when you're typing something."

Ms. Atkins, who is taking a poetry class online, said she enjoyed reading other students' work and getting to interact with students in a different way from traditional classrooms.

"I'm shy in the classroom," she confessed.

Mr. Berman said that the core of Hudson's educational program has been translating research into practice.

With curriculum support from UMass Medical School and its Regional Science Resource Center, and industry support from firms such as Intel, the region serves as a model incubator for the future of STEM education.