State not teaching what it practices in technology, math

Minnesota, home of medical breakthroughs and groundbreaking feats of technology and engineering, is apparently not doing enough with technology in the schools.

A study by the respected Education Week magazine found that the state ranks below the national average in an overall grade, based on several criteria used to measure not only the use of technology in the schools, but access to technology and the ability to use technology.

The study, released today, tagged the state with a grade of C, compared with the national average grade of C-plus.

The Education Week report also dealt with efforts by schools to ramp up the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects.

Though Minnesota was ranked high in terms of actual student achievement in math and science, it ranked average or worse nationally in achievement gains in those subjects over several years and in closing the academic achievement gap between poor and more well-to-do students.

Also, the report faulted Minnesota for not making proficiency in technology a part of teacher and school administrator licensing requirements.

Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said the Education Week survey makes the state look worse in than it really is.

Still, some say the state needs to improve if it's to be a leader in technology.

"I do know that, overall, the state has not focused on technology in a real concentrated way," said Todd Pierson, instructional technology specialist with Minneapolis schools.

As far as STEM courses are concerned, the state has budgeted $3 million to help train teachers in STEM subjects. Such subjects have been at the core of a national debate on how to make U.S. students more competitive with students from other countries who, national educators say, are bombarded with STEM courses in schools, and become engineers and scientists to a greater degree than American students.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Seagren and others have stressed the need for more STEM teaching and resources in Minnesota schools. Legislation has been passed mandating more math and science requirements for high school students, and creating STEM training programs for teachers and funding grants for schools that want to specialize in STEM subjects. Students in many Twin Cities metro districts can often attend STEM magnet schools.

One such school is Blaine High School, which was designated as a "Center for Engineering Mathematics and Science" this school year. At Blaine, 107 students are enrolled in the program, which involves heavy doses of physics, math, engineering and computer studies.

Sixteen-year-old Stephen Williams, a sophomore from Brooklyn Park, crossed school district lines to attend the Blaine program because "I really like science." Also, his mother felt a big helping of Blaine High's STEM offerings would help him once he started applying for college.

On Tuesday, Stephen was using a computer to design a train in his introduction to engineering design class. His other assignment was to take apart a mechanical pencil, measure its parts, throw the magnified design up on a computer grid, then reassemble it.

One student nearby was using his computer to design an armored car. Another was taking apart an electric candle. Several students in the class are on the school robotics team, and designed a robot they have entered in a regional competition at the University of Minnesota later this week.

"It's because I love technology, and I want to put something together and be able to say it's my work," said 14-year-old freshman Paul Asaad, who was disassembling a ballpoint pen for his assignment, and wants to eventually design airplanes. There's another potential advantage to soaking up all that technology.

"Colleges will accept you in a heartbeat," Paul said.