1. Looking at the collective feedback provided by teachers and administrators between 2016-2018, three of our administrators put together a plan for focusing on the 4C’s—collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity. During the 2019-2020 opening day in-services, principals shared information with staff about the plan to collect evidence of teaching and learning involving the 4C’s, along with a focus timeline:  
   1. Creativity Focus: September Faculty Meeting to November 15
   2. Collaboration Focus: November Faculty Meeting to January 24
   3. Communication Focus: January Faculty Meeting to March 19
   4. Critical Thinking Focus: March Faculty Meeting to May 21

Tech Integrators will help principals in promoting the monthly focus and will assist teachers in understanding its connection to their work. The Tech Integrators will also capture classroom examples through pictures or videos, and will provide brief blurbs about classroom activities to be shared with the Board and community.

No immediate district costs. The purchase of resources or professional development to support the integration of the 4C’s could be potential costs.

2. The district is completing its first year of having a cohort enrolled in the Wilkes Program. The 17 teachers who enrolled in this program finished course work, including “hands-on” work they applied to their classrooms. Once endorsed, they will support our district in several ways:
   1. Direct resources for other teachers
   2. Contributors to ideas for expanding STEM learning in the district
   3. Providing professional development, including at in-services and for MIAC opportunities
   4. Possibly serving as informal mentors for teachers in an upcoming cohort (We will collect feedback from the first cohort before moving forward with a second cohort.)

District costs are those related to tuition reimbursement. Negotiations with Wilkes resulted in a $400 per credit cost.

NOTE: The district also has teachers certified as Google Educators, who also act as resources & provide professional learning opportunities for our teachers

3. Teacher in the Workplace Opportunities
4. Each level has a focus on specific STEM-related courses & programming:
   1. Grades K-6
   2. Grades 5-8
   3. Grades 9-12— STEM-based electives

During the Fall of 2019, the MCIU once again offered Teacher in the Workplace opportunities, and Methacton has seven educators who have signed on for the experiences. The experiences provide an intensive five-day learning opportunity for up to 100 Montgomery County educators, including teachers, counselors, and administrators from K-12 and Career and Technical Centers. The offerings cover experiences in construction, manufacturing, hospitality and tourism, and healthcare. Methacton participants are noted below. They all completed one of their five experiences in the fall, and will contact another company on their own before February, when they have their second day in the workplace.

Construction

Roxane Henning

Manufacturing

Nikki Brislin

Liza Kiernan

Hospitality & Tourism

Jen Johnson

Jill Nickerson

Mike Gallagher

Healthcare

Karen Reed-Maher

1. Science Techbook from Discovery Ed helps not only with science concepts, but also will help to address other important areas of STEM, such as coordination with other subject areas (math, reading, writing, social studies.
   1. Grade 5 & 6 began using the resource within the past two years.
   2. Representatives from grades K-4 tested the Techbook during the 2018-2019 school year. This year, all teachers received training during opening in-service days, and will have additional professional development opportunities throughout the year.
   3. Costs- $54 per license for students in grades 3-6= $36,990; professional training costs= $6,000
2. Libraries updates
   1. Library facilities have been updated with STEM-related resources and materials
   2. Curriculum writing has begun in order to effectively incorporate STEM-based lessons into the library programs
      1. Grade 3—planning work with Ozobots for the 2019-2020 school year
      2. Grades 5 & 6—work to be done in connection with the newly-developed Tech Ed course

Costs - Methacton Education Foundation provided funding for the resources & materials. The district funds supplemental contracts for curriculum writing.

All students will have classes in Tech Ed.

1. A new course was written for grades 5 and 6, bringing this special to grade 5 for the first time, and providing new opportunities for students in grade 6. The teacher is part of the Wilkes program cohort, and he has designed the course and curriculum in collaboration with the computer literacy teacher (also in the Wilkes course) and the librarian. This course is designed to introduce students to all four aspects of STEM.
2. Students in grades 7 and 8 rotate through the Tech Ed courses at both grade levels. These courses were rewritten over the past few years to be more geared toward concepts around engineering.

[Those with an asterisk (*) are currently offered]

1. Intro to Engineering*
2. Materials Engineering & Fabrication*
3. Advanced Materials Engineering
4. Principles of Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)*
5. Architectural Engineering & Drafting
6. Mechanical Engineering & Drafting
7. Robotics*
8. Intro to Computer Science*
9. AP Computer Science*
10. AP Computer Principles*
11. Courses in Broadcasting*

Grades 9-12—Additional STEM programming

We are currently investigating the possibility of adding STEM-based labs to required science classes, expanding STEM offerings, and making them more accessible to students in all science courses. The high school is also looking toward the development of a personal finance course as a requirement.