• STEM

STEM Integration and Sustainability

  • Implementation of the TIF 4 STEM Grant in the Houston Independent School District, a five-year federal grant, has now concluded. As a result of the grant work, several resources were created to provide guidance and support to teachers and school leaders interested in STEM education. Therefore, HISD will continue to make these resources available below for the foreseeable future.  

District-wide STEM Tools

  • District-wide STEM Sustainability Plan: Through a variety of STEM programming options, HISD is preparing students for the most in-demand careers of the 21st century. In addition to broad exposure to science, technology, engineering, and math at ALL school levels, HISD offers STEM/STEAM programs options at some of its magnet schools,  public charters, and its pathway schools.
     
     
    HISD-created STEM Standards: STEM standards are available to help guide school STEM programs. The standards document is composed of 5 sections and connects the work of STEM schools to university, industry, and community-based partners.  2017-2018 HISD STEM Standards  
     


    STEM Walkthrough Documents:     Based on the standards, the following campus walkthrough documents help school leaders to assess the current status of their STEM program and to decide on future areas of growth.

    STEM Campus Walkthrough- for campus leaders and site visitors
    STEM Classroom Walkthrough- for teacher planning and observations
     

    STEM Design Challenges [Grades K-8 only]:  Houston ISD teachers have project-based learning STEM lessons, referred to as design challenges, accessibel to them for classroom use. The challenges serve to supplement quality teaching with fun projects. The tasks align to high-impact math and science TEKS as well as Career and College Readiness Standards (CCRS), and English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). The challenges are presented in an engineering design context and also include differentiation and extension strategies to suit classroom needs.
     
    Teachers can find the design challenges for the current grading cycle located in the math and science "Resource" folders on the HUB (For more information, please contact HISD's Curriculum department.). Each of the design challenges contain at least 7 formative assessments to be completed at the end of each stage of the engineering design cycle. These fomative assessments, along with the grading rubrics mentioned below, provide teachers with a variety of assessment options to evaluate students' STEM work.  
     
     
    Project Grading Rubrics: The following grading rubrics are provided to help teachers assess their students' 21st Century Skills use throughout the design challenge process, and provide teachers with a summative, numerical grade for projects. Use of the resource also compliments the district's Global Graduate Profile. 
     

    STEM Career Program Offering: Be sure to check out the Career Ready Wagon, a traveling career exploration show available to HISD schools. This program, sponsored by HISD's Career Readiness department, is an entertaining, interactive, and informative career experience available to students in pre-kindergarten through grade 6. Click here for more information on the program or to schedule a visit.  



    Coding and Robotics    :     Professional development in coding enables teachers to immerse students in computer scripting and programming languages as a means to develop their logic and computational thinking skills. Through its partnership with Code.org, Houston ISD continues to grow and expand computer science offerings, including those that integrate robotics, throughout the district .

Contact Us

  • Rene Flores
    Curriculum Manager STEM K-12
    Academic Instructional Technology
    Phone: 713-556-6865
     
    Brittany Welborn
    STEM Instructional Technologist
    Academic Instructional Technology
    Phone: 713-556-6200
     
    Ronald Ben
    STEM Instructional Technologist
    Academic Instructional Technology
    Phone: 713-556-8282

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