Those following student performance and success here in Oregon will see from the State Assessment in Math that students are struggling at all levels. This is particularly apparent and problematic in 8th-grade math. Being behind by the end of 8th grade is a strong indicator of whether a student will graduate with full options (a diploma, trade bound, college bound, or work bound). It is important to move forward while addressing concerns and uncertainty. After spending some time considering the issues at hand, the two largest school districts in Oregon with Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP), are taking action. PMSP and its partner school districts are not just sitting by and accepting this outcome for their students and communities.
This past school year, Portland Public Schools (PPS) and The Beaverton School District (BSD), focused on the issues facing middle school and are providing new opportunities for their middle school students. Portland Public Schools is offering a new “Project Based Math” course for middle school students to support them in staying on track for math in 8th grade. The Beaverton School District is offering a new “WIN” time, which stands for “What I Need,” for all middle school students; this time provides targeted support for students' learning needs across all content areas that may not be fully addressed within core classes. Recognizing this opportunity as a potential to collaborate across districts, Portland Metro STEM Partnership at PSU brought administrative innovators, math leaders, STEAM leaders and instructional coaches from both districts together to develop Middle School Instructional units that focused on priority math standards, while integrating other grade level content (science, social studies, ELA, etc.). The goal was simple: give students an opportunity to have fun with math through grade-level applications that incorporate career awareness, science, and real-world contexts. This approach aims to boost student success in math and other curricular areas, and is currently known as Middle School Project Based Learning with Career Connections.
The lead writer of many of these units, Brule Speck, an Academic Coach at Stoller Middle School in Beaverton shared the following, “One of the most exciting things I've experienced with this work is seeing the joy and excitement from teachers of all subjects after working through the projects. It's clear that this concept of deep and rich projects within interesting contexts is something that is lacking in many of our schools. Teachers want these opportunities, and students will benefit from that excitement in their teachers.”
In the Portland Metro STEM region, these units are being piloted at 15 schools with a total of 57 Middle School educators who have participated in a Project Based Workshop or Professional Learning Community (PLC) to support them in teaching these units to their students. More than 2,000 students have participated in this pilot effort. Some units are already available in Spanish; Portland Metro STEM is working to assure all units are available in Spanish in the near future. These units are a work in progress as they are being iterated to best fit students and teachers.
This project has been made possible by a unique collaboration and cooperation between visionary educators; Thu-Tam Doan (Middle Grades Math and Science Administrator, Portland Public Schools), Veronica Galvan (Curriculum and Instruction Administrator for WIN, STEAM, and Science, Beaverton School District), Kristen Harrison (Executive Director, Portland Metro STEM Partnership), Tiffany Windle Hanson (Core STEM and CCL Director, Portland Metro STEM Partnership), Brule Speck (Academic Coach, Beaverton School District), Joe Sneed (HS Math teacher, Portland Public Schools), Chuck Slusher (HS Math teacher, Portland Public Schools), Jenn Koebel (Academic Coach, Portland Public Schools) and all piloting teachers.
The next phase of this project involves gathering teacher feedback on unit implementation, collecting student perspectives (through teacher reports and direct student input), and developing plans for future data collection to compare outcomes across pilot groups. Partner districts are exploring adding more applied STE(A)M courses to expand these learning opportunities. Portland Metro STEM leadership is pursuing funding through the 2025’-2027 ODE STEM Innovation Grant process, which is designed for Oregon STEM Hubs to advance this type of work. Additionally, PMSP will formalize the materials and make these units available to any interested teachers or schools.
Educators building cardboard animals
Animals created from cardboard