WELCOME

1. WELCOME

2. LASARA ISD T-STEM ACADEMY Demographics and History THEME: Lasara ISD…. Transforming Through Rigor, Relevance and Relationships! 2

3. TRANSFORMING……CHANGING RIGOR- “LEVEL OF ACADEMIC DIFFICULTY” RELEVANCE- “MEANINGFUL” RELATIONSHIPS- “CONNECTIONS”

4. T-STEM ACTIVITIES BIG BEND SMOKEY MOUNTAINS UTB/STEMS FUN RUN UTB/STEMS BEACH CLEAN UP RANCHO DEL CIELO GRAND CANYON 5TH T-STEM CENTER @ REGION ONE 5TH UTPA ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT PARKS & WILDLIFE EXPO AT AUSTIN PROFESSIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT LAPTOPS 9TH – 11TH

5. AVID: ADVANCEMENT VIA INDIVIDUAL DETERMINATION COLLABORATIVE TUTORIAL SOCRATIC METHOD COSTA’S LEVELS OF QUESTIONING PLANNERS/TIME MANAGEMENT BINDERS/ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS AVID CURRICULUM LIBRARY CORNELL NOTE TAKING STUDENT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (RGV VIPERS/AVID)

6. New Lasara ISD T-STEM Academy Initiative Vision 2020-Online Learning Grant The purpose of the Vision 2020 Grant is to provide high-need schools with resources to provide supplementary online learning opportunities for students and teachers. Goals of the grant focus on improving academic achievement and technology literacy of students (grades 6-12) attending participating schools and building capacity to support the utilization of the Internet to deliver specialized, aligned, and rigorous core content courses to students. TXVSN Online HS Courses-Spanish, Health, Government, W. Geography # of Lasara HS Student enrolled in Online Courses-15 # of Lasara Teachers Teaching Online Courses-3

7. PBL PROJECT BASED LEARNING Out Of The Box Teaching Student Centered Collaboratively Authentic Learning Answer A Question Solve A Problem Real World Experience 21st Century Skills Inquiry Based

8. New Lasara ISD T-STEM Academy Initiative M-STAR-Middle-school Students in Texas: Algebra Ready • The purpose of the Middle-school Students in Texas: Algebra Ready (MSTAR) Pilot grant program is to implement strategies designed to increase the preparedness of middle school students to meet standards and pass assessments in Algebra I. • Provides Professional Development for Administration and Middle School Math Teachers • Provide Technical Assistance (Math Coach) to assist MS Math Teachers with instructional strategies • Partner: Texas Instruments

9. T-STEM ACADEMY-UTPA GEAR-UP Lasara High School

10. GEAR UP Transition to 11th Grade GEAR UP is a cohort model that follows the same students from 7th- 12th grade. Currently, we have approximately 9,000 GEAR UP Students in 22 high schools that are in 2008. 20 GEAR-Up Students at Lasara High School.

11. UTPA T-STEM Partnership UTPA GEAR UP and the STEM Center of South Texas have formed a partnership to provide GEAR UP Teachers the high quality professional development paired with the most current technology to support student learning.

12. Texas Instruments Texas Instruments has created an innovative tool, the TI Navigator System, which has shown to increase student achievement and provide students with the support needed to excel in mathematics.

13. SureScore ACT program utilizes a coach-team model. Teachers receive a 12-hour training for PSAT/ SAT/ACT College entrance Exam preparation. Teachers then prepare students for these tests using 50+ hours of curriculum. SureScore also offers THEA preparation. Teachers receive stipend for attending summer training from UTPA GEAR UP office. Teachers will receive extra duty pay for conducting THEA, PSAT/SAT/ACT camps from Campus GEAR UP Office. *Stipend will vary contingent on district policy. College Test Preparation

14. College Test Preparation Continuation PSAT/SAT Boot Camp Intensive weekend academy at UTPA TAKS SUPER SATURDAY ACADEMIES Small Teacher to Student Ratio Extended week tutorials utilizing differentiated instruction. Exciting incentives

15. Parent Service Initiatives Workshops Counseling/Advising Family Involvement Activities Literacy Gear Up Awareness Academic Awareness College Visit

16. Monthly meetings (On campus & Gear Up Office) Parents who do not attend receive a letter and handouts of the items that were discussed. Monthly calendar of services providing dates of different activities. Parents help spread the word by phone calls due to small community (platicadoras). District –Wide Parent Conference Parental Involvement

17. College Readiness Lasara HS strives to teach the knowledge and skills students need to succeed in entry-level college course work.

18. Critical Thinking: • Lasara HS offers Pre-AP and AP Course work in all content areas • All HS teachers have been trained through the College Board AP workshops • Teachers at Lasara teach through implementation of PBL which is based on inquiry and collaboration which nurtures problem solving and reasoning • Teachers at Lasara teach using AVID strategies, such as Socratic seminars and philosophical chairs which encourages analysis and interpretation of content

19. Contextual Skills = College Knowledge • Learning about college life and communicating with • Professors: • All our 10th and 11th graders attend TSTC for electives; students are bused to Harlingen everyday and must be able to communicate with professors about grades, assignments, and progress • Our Distance Learning students have all also attended classes at UTPA through the summer housing program with UTPA Concurrent Enrollment.

20. College Coursework Fall 2009 TSTC/UTPA Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Enrollment) College Readiness: In striving to teach our high school students the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in entry-level college course work, LISD has also provided our students with opportunities to attend TSTC in Harlingen to gain dual credit for academic and/or elective courses. In addition, we have students who have transitioned from TSTC to UTPA, and those students, who are now 11th graders, have earned 24 college credit hours.

21. College Coursework Fall 2009 TSTC/UTPA Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Enrollment) 19 courses total 35 courses total 8 courses total

22. LASARA ISD TSTEM ACADEMY QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Rolando Pena - rpena@lasaraisd.net