Page 122 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

APPENDIX B 107

There have also been local successes in the recruitment of career changers to the teaching force.
Districts are reporting success in hiring former engineers who have chosen to become teachers
and engage in the development and teaching of technology/engineering programs. These teachers
bring real-world experience to their instruction and a perspective that values the integration of
traditional science topics and technology/engineering topics.

There have also been changes at the organizational level. A number of high schools have merged
their science departments and technology education departments to create science and
technology/engineering departments. The state’s technology education professional
organizations now explicitly include engineering in their mission statements and titles. The
state’s science fair organization also changed its name in 2006 to the Massachusetts State
Science and Engineering Fair and increased the types of projects that can be submitted and
judged.

Implementation Challenges
Schools and districts now can justify implementing technology/engineering programs through
state policies. However, a number of implementation challenges must still be navigated.
Distinguishing between technical and academic offerings is one challenge; local history and
experience sometimes make transitioning technical programs to an academic focus difficult. As
schools look around the state for examples and models, they are confronted by a wide range of
programs and courses that vary in quality. They may also vary widely in design, because many
of them were initially created by individuals. Until the science and technology education staff
and organizations begin to collaborate in more specific ways, it is not clear whom teachers and
schools should approach for support when they want to develop a program.

Once a program is established, another implementation issue confronting schools is the limited
supply of certified teachers and the limited number of teacher preparation programs. Currently,
there is only one teacher preparation program in the state, which graduates, on average, less than
five new technology/engineering teachers per year. The Department is actively working to
increase the number of preparation programs and offering support for initial
technology/engineering licenses, but change like this will take time. Teacher preparation
programs are hesitant to invest in program development until there is a demand for more
teachers, but the demand has not been created, in part, because of the limited number of teachers
available to design and implement K–12 programs.

Lessons Learned
The development of technology/engineering programs in Massachusetts provides a number of
insights for others who may want to engage in similar efforts. The five lessons outlined below
reflect the perspective of the author and are based on the particular circumstances in
Massachusetts:

• Determine how the subject will be classified early on, because all policy decisions are
based on that initial determination. For example, will engineering concepts be
incorporated into a core academic subject, such as science, treated as an elective, or

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