The PAST Innovation Lab’s Professional Development and Knowledge Capture teams worked with the faculty and administration at Clean Technologies Early College High School (Clean Tech) to help design and document the launch of the 9th grade cohort (2014-15) and initiate preliminary planning for the rising 10th grade cohort (2015-16) enrolled in the P-Tech program.

Rural education conjures images of small agrarian communities spread across large geographic expanses with limited funding and few professional opportunities. All too often rural America brings to mind the perception of inferior education driven by a lack of opportunity, resources, and highly qualified teachers.

The Knowledge Capture (KC) Program has engaged with the first quarter of implementation for the Math Matters Program in five of the nine school districts. Formative evaluation activities conducted through October 17th are presented in this report. The Knowledge Capture Formative Evaluation Plan is presented in the Knowledge Capture Appendix and is based on the current projected schedule provided by the MIND Research Institute team for implementation through December 2014.

The Knowledge Capture (KC) Program has engaged with the first quarter of implementation for the Growing SOIL Project in completing the following work. Formative evaluation activities conducted through October 17th are presented in this report. The first section of the evaluation will provide an overview of work conducted to support evaluation of the Growing SOIL Cohort 1 (9 School Districts) and the second section will address work completed for Cohort 2 (6 Districts). Additionally, a Knowledge Capture Formative Evaluation Plan is presented in the Knowledge Capture Appendix based on the current schedule for implementation through June 30, 2015.

The Knowledge Capture (KC) Program has engaged with the first quarter of implementation for the FAST Forward Project in completing the following work. Formative evaluation activities conducted through October 17th are presented in this report. A Knowledge Capture Formative Evaluation Plan is presented in the Appendix based on the current schedule for implementation through June 30, 2015. A table of KC fieldwork chronology for all work conducted is also presented in the Knowledge Capture Appendix.

Improving the quality of preK-12 educational systems presents complex challenges that go far beyond simply raising student scores on standardized tests. Today, educational leaders are exploring ways to enhance the substance of education, advancing an approach to student learning through curriculum integration utilizing the content vehicles of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the context of transdisciplinary problem based learning (TPBL). Inherent in this approach is fundamental change, infusing new roles and relations within the schoolhouse and in each classroom, effectively opening up new leadership roles among principals, teachers and students.

The projected 9th grade enrollment is 60 students, and extends access to more than 20 school districts in the region, building total Clean Tech ECHS student enrollment to approximately 170 freshmen, juniors and seniors. This marks the fourth year of the program’s continued growth, advancing planned future expansion to enroll 250 students in grades 9-12. The program was developed in partnership with the Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and is located at the HVCC TEC- SMART campus.

During the spring quarter of 2014, the PAST Foundation provided support for the Clean Technologies Early College High School (Clean Tech) preparation for the first cohort enrollment of ninth-grade students entering high school in fall 2014. The first report issued in June 2014 tracked the early stages of planning, including outreach and recruitment strategies for opening enrollment to eighth-grade students from across the region seeking STEM education as a component of their high school course work. The report, “Program Design for Ninth-Grade Enrollment, Fall 2014,” outlined regional recruitment efforts conducted by Clean Tech in collaboration with middle schools, and identified key issues and challenges for increasing enrollment of under-represented students, including females as well as at-risk and disadvantaged youth.

This report on the Clean Energy Sustainable Industries Early College High School (ECHS) Program presents a summary of the second program year (2012-13). The pilot year evaluation of the program (2011-12) produced a multi-faceted set of issues identified by both faculty and students. Those
issues were presented in the PAST Foundation report, Ethnographic Study of the Ballston Spa Clean Technologies and Sustainable Industries Early College High School Program, 2012). Year two (Y2) of the program plan incorporated many of the recommended actions as part of the overall planned program expansion adding the senior level coursework to the junior level program established in year one (Y1). This report provides a preliminary view of Y2 program changes as well as new elements developed by program staff to meet Y2 goals to facilitate a more robust transition for junior and senior students entering the intensive pace of the ECHS program.

This report reflects the work of the PAST Foundation with Columbus City Schools (CCS) STEM Transformation Project for the academic year 2012-2013. A significant portion of the material in this report was first compiled in June 2013 as part of our Ohio Race To The Top (RTTT) Year 2 final report deliverable as a service partner with the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN), which is supported and managed by Battelle Memorial Institute. PAST began working with CCS on its STEM Transformation Project in 2009. Since that time, this project’s goals, intended outcomes, scope and scale has changed dramatically.

This report provides ethnographic analysis of a one-day workshop entitled “Ramping Up: Action Lab 1,” conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) on October 11, 2011.