District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Review Panel

Summary of the Panel Review and Selection Process

In March 2009, the Department announced the opportunity for educators and community members to apply to serve on the Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) Curriculum Framework Review Panel. Application information was posted on the Department's website and disseminated broadly via the Board's Technology/Engineering and Mathematics and Science Advisory Councils; numerous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professional organizations; the STE MCAS Assessment Development Committees (ADCs); school and district contacts; higher education faculty; the STEM Summit list serve; and the urban science liaison group.

By the due date of March 27, 2009, the Department received almost 150 applications. The applications were reviewed and rated by nine readers including staff from the Department's Offices of Mathematics, Science & Technology/Engineering, Student Assessment, and School Improvement Grant Programs.

Applicants were rated on a number of criteria including: background (degrees) and experience in science and technology/engineering related disciplines; years of teaching and grades taught; areas of certification; and participation on Department Advisory Councils, ADCS, and MTEL committees. Other considerations included: position (e.g., teacher, administrator); specific expertise in teaching students with disabilities and English Language Learners; and organizational affiliation. The applicants' geographic locations and types of districts represented (urban, suburban, rural) were also taken into account.

Forty-two panel members have been selected to serve on the Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Review Panel. (A list of the panelists selected with a brief summary of each member's background, education, degrees, experience, and specialized expertise is attached   .) The panelists have been notified of their selection.

We plan to work with the panel as a whole, as well as divide the panel into working sub-committees by strand (discipline) and grade span. The composition of each sub-committee will generally have one scientist or engineer, multiple STE educators, and a combination of STE district coordinators and parent/community representatives.

In order to provide the panel with feedback from the field, an online survey was posted to encourage educators and community members from across the state to comment on the current STE framework. The due date to submit a survey response was April 17, 2009. We received over 450 responses to the survey.

Next Steps

The Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework Review Panel's first meeting was held on May 6, 2009. We anticipate that the panel will meet 5 days through the late fall of 2009. The first phase of the panel's work will be the development and presentation of a summary of proposed recommendations for revising the framework to the Commissioner for transmittal to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education by winter 2009-2010. The second phase will focus on the rewriting of the learning standards based on the recommendations approved by the Board.