Schedule

School boards striving to support student learning have an opportunity to invest in the continuous, high-quality professional development of their educator and practitioner workforce and create an organizational culture in their school districts that promotes professional learning. Acknowledging the critical role and asset that educators and practitioners play, this session will highlight promising practices that have taken place to augment the professional development that educators and practitioners receive to increase student’s opportunities in STEM from elementary school all the way through college and career preparation in high school.

In preparing students for a world that is increasingly driven by technology, computing and generative artificial intelligence (AI), governing boards and educational leaders across the country have an opportunity to expand the traditional STEM model in their school districts by including computer science offerings. This session will share leadership and administrative perspectives on how to integrate math and engineering subject matter by offering computer science courses in school districts. Experts will focus on funding such programs so that there is more access to these courses, as well as best practices in the recruitment and support of educators and practitioners who are leading these efforts.

Understanding why some students do well in school, more specifically in math and science, while other students struggle is important for school board members to study and address. This session will highlight promising case studies for how school districts can support students who may be disengaged and struggling academically and offer possible solutions and strategies to encourage Latino students to pursue STEM majors and careers.

Building a future diverse STEM workforce will require states, regions, and communities to form collaborative partnerships and efforts that will involve not only government agencies, but non-profit organizations, the business community, and institutions of higher education. It is through these efforts that the nation will work towards building a sustainable pipeline of STEM employees. This session will review top industry highlights and will provide an overview of best practices for how to integrate STEM education with workforce development opportunities where students are able to meaningfully engage with employers and community partners to build the confidence, skills and knowledge needed to prepare them for the workforce.

Participants will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and foster connections with other education policymakers in attendance to create a shared sense of purpose during the Policy Institute.

School boards and education policymakers play a critical role in the evaluation, selection and purchase, and adoption process of high-quality instructional materials which affect the learning opportunities of the students they represent. Experts leading this governance session will highlight some of the best practices school boards can carry out to develop an implementation plan to adopt high-quality instructional materials for their school districts.

Participants will participate in small round-table discussions where they will have an opportunity to reflect on the Institute program and identify concrete next steps they would like to carry out once they return to their communities.