STEM Workforce Ready 2030

Developing CS Integration Teacher Leaders to bring CS to all Maine elementary students.

“Maine has recently seen an influx of high-paying, STEM career opportunities in our state. What we are NOT seeing, however, is a workforce prepared for these jobs. A critical component in building the capacity to meet these STEM workforce needs is creating networks of capable, confident, and inspired PreK-12 teachers and teacher leaders. The future of CS education is not some distant thought – it is now.” ~Ruth Kermish-Allen, executive director of MMSA.

Description:

The “STEM Workforce Ready 2030” (WFR) Project will create a network of teacher leaders across Maine who are committed to integrating computer science learning in rural PreK-8 classrooms. This 3-year grant will allow MMSA to partner with rural educators in creating engaging and effective lessons to inspire Maine’s STEM workforce of 2030: today’s rural elementary and middle school students.

Building on the findings of the integrate – 2 – innovate project (i2i), WFR will reestablish and grow a research-to-practice partnership focused on increasing equitable access to computer science education for all Maine’s students. At the culmination of three years, WFR participants will have:

co-developed and shared sustainable systems for integrating computer science practices and concepts into PreK 8 curriculum
co-designed a library of curriculum development tools and materials to support CS integration across content areas.
co-created a community of regional CS Teacher Leaders who support dozens of rural classroom teachers each year as they implement CT/CS integrated activities.

With additional funding from Google, we are able to expand our initial goals of the WFR project and include a sub-working group of Middle-Level Special Education Teacher Leaders, Paraprofessionals, and Math Instructional Coaches from each district. This sub-group will investigate computational thinking as a mechanism to further increase neurodiverse math learners’ engagement and result in the following deliverables at the end of year one:

the creation of sample CT integrated math lessons, and
the identification of professional learning supports necessary for rural districts to utilize in the integration of computational thinking in the special education curriculum.

“We at the Harold Alfond Foundation recognize the importance of cultivating all students’ interest in the fundamentals of STEM as early as possible. Through this grant, we hope to set in motion a virtuous cycle of teachers training teachers how to make computer science and STEM exciting and accessible for students throughout Maine.”