strategic alliance

456 Pages·2006·7.07 MB·English

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
to
Advance Technological Education
through
Enhanced Mathematics, Science,
Technology, and English Education
at the
Secondary Level
PRINCIPALINVESTIGATOR
JULE DEE SCARBOROUGH
EDITORS
JANE HAMBLIN, American Association for Higher Education
GAIL JACKY, Northern Illinois University
WILLIAM ZEISEL, QED Associates
WEB WIZARD
ERIC HOFFMAN
This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0053276
and also supported by the Illinois State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education under
Grant Numbers 02-3660-16-19-5430-51-03, 01-3660-01-16-19-5430-51, 01-3660-03-16-19-5430-51, 00-
3660-02-16-19-5430-51, 00-3660-01-16-19-5430-51, 99-3660-01-16-19-5430-51, 99-3660-02-16-19-
5430-51, 98-3660-01-16-19-5430-51, and 97-3660-01-16-19-5430-51. Any opinions, findings and
conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois
Board of Higher Education, and the American Association for Higher Education.

AAHE is an independent, membership-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to building
human capital for higher education. AAHE is the source of choice for information about higher
education on issues that matter in a democratic multi-cultural society. AAHE promotes and
disseminates examples of effective educational practice to address those issues. AAHE members
are a national talent pool willing and ready to share their expertise with colleagues in higher
education, policymakers, media professionals, and the public at large.

American Association for Higher Education
One Dupont Circle, Suite 360
Washington, DC 20036-1143
[phone]
www.aahe.org

Recommended bibliographic listing
Scarborough, J. D. (2004). Strategic alliance to advance technological education through
enhanced mathematics, science, technology, and English education at the secondary level.
Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

Strategic Alliance to Advance Technological Education through Enhanced Mathematics,
Science, Technology, and English Education at the Secondary Level
J. A. Hamblin, Director of Member and Association Services
Copyright © 2004 American Association for Higher Education.
All rights reserved. Produced in the United States of America.

To order this document on compact disk, call the American Association for Higher Education’s
fulfillment office at (800) 504-AAHE or visit www.aahe.org/pubs. AAHE members receive
special pricing.
ISBN 1-56377-070-9
Acknowledgments

The work herein succeeded because of the commitment, and encouragement of so many people.
Janet Jones, co-director and district director of curriculum and instruction of the Rockford
Public Schools gave her intellect, heart, soul, and body to “make it happen” for teachers. Conard
White, a Core Team member, research associate, and professor emeritus at Northern Illinois
University, has been a partner in design and execution of all research, collection, and analysis of
data, as well as the interpretation of the results. Joseph Kolar, external evaluator, and formerly an
administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, has been a partner on all the initiatives in the design
and execution of all evaluation activities. Jerry Allen, a technology education teacher, Grayslake
High School, Illinois, began as a teacher participant in the PHYS-MA-TECH initiative, 1989-
1992. As a Core Team member, he is recognized as a master teacher and peer leader and has
added a leadership dimension to the initiatives rarely found in other national initiatives.
Several administrators, Diane Kuehl of Rock Valley College, codirector of the project and
acting dean of academics, along with the following Northern Illinois University administrators,
strongly backed the project: Promod Vohra and Ramuldas Kasuba, deans of the College of
Engineering and Engineering Technology and professors of technology and mechanical
engineering, respectively; Frederick Kitterle, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
and professor of psychology; Cliff Mirman and Dennis Stoia, professors of technology, who
chaired the Department of Technology. When funding ran out, the Provost’s Office of Northern
Illinois University carried us through and enabled us to meet our requirements.
The faculty associates and program leaders were Lori Alfe, Will Ashford, Gary Baker, Marie
Baker, Radha Balamuralikrishna, Chuck Billman, Richard Blecksmith, Susan Callahan, Ann
Carter, Michael Day, Patrick Ervin, Joe Etminan, Phil Eubanks, Janet Giesen, Richard Greene,
Tom Guensburg, Lazslo Hanzely, Bernard Harris, Eric Hoffman, Mike Kelly, Dennis Kevill,
Gail Jacky, Jim Lockard, Paul McCombs, Karen Messley, Carole Minor, Cliff Mirman, Jenny
Parker, Brad Peters, Kurt Rosentrator, David Rusin, Bill Scarpaci, Kerri Shaw, Brian Shelton,
Gordy Skattum, Steve Squier, Paul Stoddard, Toni Tollerud, Rachel Turner, Mike Webb, Mike
Welden, and Augden Windelborn.
Gail Jacky, the primary editor, Eric Hoffman, the publication consultant and Web wizard,
Ryan Dally graphics designer, and William Zeisel, working with the American Association for
Higher Education, were all essential to the creation of this document.
The commitment and funding by the National Science Foundation, the Illinois State Board of
Education, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Rockford Public Schools, Rock Valley
College, Northern Illinois University, and business, industry and community partners made this
initiative possible. The American Association for Higher Education helped us to achieve the goal
of sharing these results.
Most of all, we owe thanks to our families, who hardly saw us for so many nights, weekends,
and holidays. To them, we say thank you for supporting us in serving the region’s schools and
living our passion to “make a difference.”
Contributors

Allen, Jerry: Peer Teacher Leader and Program Leader
Technology education teacher at Grayslake High School, Grayslake, Illinois, since 1993.
He was the Peer Teacher Leader and Program Leader, beginning as a teacher participant in the
PHYS-MA-TECH initiative, 1989-1992. His leadership and knowledge of mathematics,
sciences, and technology, and proficiency in English and communications made him invaluable.

Balamuralikrishna, Radha: Faculty Program Leader
Associate professor in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at
Northern Illinois University. His teaching and research interests involve engineering graphic
design, CAD and downstream applications, and engineering technology and industrial
technology education. He is also an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer and an SME Certified
Manufacturing Technologist.

Baker, Gary M.: Faculty Program Leader
Associate professor in the Biochemistry Division of the Chemistry and Biochemistry
Department at Northern Illinois University. His research interests involve the development of
new technology applications in education, including collaboration technologies in curricula at
both the high school and undergraduate levels, and ligand binding to chytochrome c oxidases.

Blecksmith, Richard: Faculty Program Leader
Professor in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Northern Illinois University. His
research interests involve computational number theory using computers to investigate combined
and numerical theoretical problems. He is also interested in infinite product identities,
particularly Jacobi triple product functions.

Bueschel, Ellen V.: RPS Administrator
Interim superintendent of the Rockford School District while on leave as associate
professor of educational leadership at Miami University. She is completing her 30th year as a
school administrator, including 24 years as a superintendent or assistant superintendent.

Day, Michael: Faculty Program Leader
Associate professor of English at Northern Illinois University, where he directs the first-
year composition program and teaches composition pedagogy, technical writing, and writing for
electronic media. Day is a chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication
Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication and former chair of the National
Council of Teachers of English Assembly on Computers in English. He has presented and
published widely on topics ranging from intercultural rhetoric to Internet communication and
teaching.

460
Ervin, C. Patrick: Faculty Program Leader
Professor emeritus with the Geology Department at Northern Illinois University. His
research interests include geophysics and the development of earth science and geology as the
core of teacher certification programs for middle and secondary schools.

Greene, Richard P.: Faculty Program Leader
Associate professor in the Geography Department at Northern Illinois University. His
research interest includes the investigation of metropolitan regions with respect to land-use
change, comparative economic advantage, population growth, and income distribution.

Hanzely, Laszlo: Faculty Program Leader
Distinguished Teaching Professor and professor emeritus in the Biological Sciences
Department of Northern Illinois University. His research is centered on the role of the
cytoskeleton (microfilaments and microtubules) in determining cell shape in a variety of animal
and plant cells. Research has also included ultrastructural studies on the development of
microbodies and protein bodies in plant cells.

Kevill, Dennis N.: Faculty Program Leader
Distinguished Research Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department of
Northern Illinois University. Areas of research interest include organic reaction mechanism,
stereochemistry, electrophilic assistance to nucleophilic substitution reactions, and solvent
nucleophilicity.

Kolar, Joseph: External Evaluator
Retired secondary career education teacher and administrator in the Chicago Public
Schools. He had led program and grant evaluations statewide.

Lockard, James: Faculty Program Leader
Distinguished Teaching Professor and technology coordinator in the College of
Education at Northern Illinois University. His research interests include the use of technology in
educational settings.

McCombs, Paul: Faculty Program Leader
Faculty member at Rock Valley College. He has been teaching mathematics at the
community college level for seven years.

Messley, Karen: Faculty Program Leader
Director of Sciences and Chair of Life Science at Rock Valley College. She is completing
a doctorate in adult education at Northern Illinois University. She is the author of Microbiology
Laboratory Manual: Principles and Applications, published by Prentice Hall, and a reviewer and
contributor to many general biology and microbiology texts.
461
Parker, Jenny: Faculty Program Leader
Recipient of NIU Undergraduate Teaching Award. Associate professor in the College of
Education at Northern Illinois University. Her research interests include teaching and learning
pedagogy.

Peters, Bradley: Faculty Program Leader
Associate professor and coordinator of writing across the curriculum at Northern Illinois
University. He designed the facility for the NIU Writing Center. He has published on writing
program administration, writing pedagogy, and medieval rhetoric.

Rosentrater, Kurt: Faculty Program Leader
Assistant professor of engineering technology at Northern Illinois University. He teaches
in the areas of research methods and data analysis, manufacturing, engineering mechanics,
engineering design, and technology’s relationship to society. He is a former process
development engineer in the food and grain industry, and is active in several professional
societies, including ASAE, ASEE, and ASQ.

Rusin, David: Faculty Program Leader
Associate professor in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Northern Illinois
University. He is a finite group theorist by training but considered a topologist on the basis of his
work. His research interests lie in the cohomology of groups, a process of calculating rings and
other algebraic invariants associated with groups.

Scarborough, Jule Dee: Principal Investigator and Director
Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor in the Department of Technology,
College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Northern Illinois University, and W. K.
Kellogg Leadership Fellow. Her teaching areas include leadership, strategic management,
international business, project management, automated manufacturing, and senior design
capstone. She leads graduate certificate programs in strategic and project management. Her
research focuses on industrial leadership and the teaching and learning of MSTE at the secondary
level.

Shaw, Kerri: Faculty Program Leader
Faculty member at Rock Valley College. She is completing a doctorate from the
University of Tulsa and teaches English composition. She helped organize literary conferences
and has been an expert reader for the journal Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature.

Stoddard, Paul R.: Faculty Program Leader
Chair of the General Education Committee (GEC) at Northern Illinois University and
associate professor of Geology. He has taught space and planetary science and geology.
Research interests include planetary geology and geodynamics. He is developing an interactive
website about solar orbital relationships.

462
Tollerud, Toni R.: Faculty Program Leader
Professor in the Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education at Northern
Illinois University. She has coordinated the program and served as director of the Internship and
School Counseling Program. Since 1999, she has directed the Illinois School Counselors’
Academy, which promotes a systematic, professional development model for school counselors
across the state.

White, Conard: Research Associate
Professor emeritus from Northern Illinois University. He was the project research
associate in each initiative and a partner in the design and execution of all research, collection
and analysis of all data, and interpretation of results.

Windelborn, Augden: Faculty Program Leader
Assistant professor in physics at Northern Illinois University. He has conducted
numerous workshops and courses related to the improvement of instruction. Windelborn has
been a consultant to a number of regional offices of education and school districts as well as to
informal science centers in northern Illinois. As the person responsible for the teacher
certification program, his activities fall into three main areas: designing more effective strategies
for training science teachers, developing technology and tools for use in science teaching and
research, and addressing the needs of all those learning science, K-16.

463
Executive Summary

The information presented here makes accessible to a broader readership the philosophy,
strategies, models, processes, program content, tools, research, and evaluation outcomes of
“Strategic Alliance to Advance Technological Education through Enhanced Mathematics,
Science, Technology, and English Education at the Secondary Level,” a major project funded by
the National Science Foundation. The report’s direct, yet reflective, approach provides evidence
and analysis about a formal learning community and its effect on the teaching and learning of
mathematics, science, technology, and English at the secondary level. The information spirals in
depth, beginning with a general introduction, moving to a presentation of definitions,
philosophies and models, then concluding with broad program content. Most of the program
leaders present chapters in their individual voices with references and appendixes, making it
possible for those interested in the intellectual merit or replication to clearly understand what
concepts and principles were presented, what processes were used, and what tools were
developed, as well as to build upon our work and reduce the learning curve or eliminate
problems and issues that might occur. The processes and tools evolved over time, through
several initiatives and by working with a variety of partners, including those mentioned herein;
thus many have contributed to what is reported and found here. Access to all results, outcomes,
and products is possible through a website, www.strategicalliance.niu.edu, which presents
complete research data and information about related projects. The project contributes to the
bodies of knowledge on building learning communities, staff development, teaching and
learning, partnership building, evaluation, and research with the primary purpose of improving
mathematics and science education at the secondary level to prepare students for higher
education and technical careers.
“Strategic Alliance to Advance Technological Education through Enhanced
Mathematics, Science, Technology, and English Education at the Secondary Level” was a
collaborative partnership involving the Rockford Public Schools (RPS), Rock Valley College
(RVC), and Northern Illinois University (NIU), in Illinois, that sought to motivate and prepare
high school students for technical careers requiring a solid foundation in mathematics, science,
technology, and English (MSTE). The primary goal was to improve secondary MSTE,
ultimately student achievement, especially for nonmajority students and young women. The
project began as an alliance between the Rockford Public School District, NIU, and 300 local
business, industry, and community organizations.
The following objectives provided the operational framework for accomplishing the
goals.

1. Provide in-service education, training, and technical assistance to secondary teachers.
2. Provide in-service education to district school administrators and counselors on
change, reform leadership, and strategic planning, as well as exposure to the teacher-
development program.
3. Partner with local business, industry, and community organizations to provide
teachers (and ultimately students) with exposure to the real world of MSTE problems
10
and applications, authentic contexts, careers requiring MSTE foundations, and
information about the higher-education pathways and MSTE requirements to realize
access to career clusters.
4. Evaluate all project activities, monitor progress, and determine the merit and broader
impact of the initiative.
5. Produce a systemic reform model for improving MSTE education at the secondary
level through business, industry, educational, and community partnerships.
6. Develop teacher knowledge and skills in the use of computer technology for teaching
and learning.
7. Develop teacher and counselor knowledge and skills in strategies to assist students to
develop postsecondary educational and career plans.
8. Develop a plan for long-term sustainability and continuous improvement.

The project achieved most of its goals. Rockford’s approximately 32,000 K-12 public
school students are representative of the national profile, consisting of inner-city, urban,
suburban, and rural students with approximately 42% nonmajority (approximately 29% African
American, 10% Hispanic, and 3% Asian).
This report has three main sections that present the project’s basic principles and aims, its
methods for addressing the aims, and reflections on research methods and evaluation.
Part I. Overview. After an introductory chapter that describes the nature and aims of the
project and provides background and context, Chapter 2, Learning – What Does It Mean?,
defines our goals and strategies. Chapter 3, Partners in Change, establishes the leadership
foundation for our work with the schools; the next chapter, Organizational Learnings, offers
reflections from the perspective of leadership strategies, techniques, processes, and outcomes.
Chapter 5, Operating Philosophy and Project Strategies, along with the succeeding chapters,
Operational Models and Program Scope, Content, and Sequence, completes the foundational
discussion and establishes the framework and belief system for the project. Finally, Chapter 8,
Challenges and Lessons Learned, describes the major difficulties and offers lessons learned for
the benefit of those who may want to replicate all or part of what was accomplished
Part II. Program. The first six chapters describe core elements of the program, such as
articulation (Chapter 9), interdisciplinary teaming (Chapter 10), interdisciplinary curriculum
(Chapter 11), and student performance assessment (Chapter 12), teaching models (Chapter 13),
and instructional technology (Chapter 14). Chapters 15-30, written mainly by program leaders,
focus on discipline-specific program elements, covering content, strategies, outcomes, opinions
about experiences, and in some cases recommendations for replication. Several chapters focus on
elements of the program that were multi- and interdisciplinary in nature and represent a fusion of
content and delivery. Chapter 31 discusses the role and importance of school counselors.
Part III. Research Data and Evaluation. These chapters review the basis for the
classroom pilots, present the methodology, and discuss the research limitations.
The full report, including research data and evaluations, is accessible at
http://www.strategicalliance.niu.edu.
11
. Overview
PART I
Introduction, Jule Dee Scarborough
Learning – What Does It Mean?, Jule Dee Scarborough
Partners in Change, Jule Dee Scarborough
Organizational Learnings, Ellen V. Bueschel
Operating Philosophy and Project Strategies, Jule Dee Scarborough
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE Operational Models, Jule Dee Scarborough
TO
Advance Technological Education
Program Scope, Content, and Sequence, Jule Dee Scarborough
THROUGH
Enhanced Mathematics,
Science,Technology, and
Challenges and Lessons Learned, Jule Dee Scarborough
English Education
ATTHE
Secondary Level