At Washington High School teachers are able to meet weekly in their Washington Learning Communities (WLC’s) through common planning to collaborate and plan instructionally as well  identify ways to integrate STEM learning experiences. These collaborative opportunities are either led by their department chair or their WLC lead. In these sessions teachers alongside instructional support (coaches, STEM specialist, Master Teacher Leaders, etc.) look at assessment data, analyze work samples, and dissect standards in order to dig deeper and develop effective formative and summative assessment for learning. This Implementation of this structure ensures equitable opportunities for students to engage in meaningful learning. Having scheduled school wide interdisciplinary monthly also allows teachers across various grade bands to collaborate and share ways to integrate cross cutting skills and concepts. Having educators engage in the process improves their instructional toolkit but also helps students engage on another level by aiding them in developing knowledge, insights, problem solving skills, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and a passion for learning. Interdisciplinary collaboration is not a new concept at Washington High school. Through the STEM cohort model teachers also met weekly to discuss interdisciplinary learning and create unique projects for students to engage in inquiry learning the engineering process.

 

A strength of Washington High Schools instructional framework is the structure of having weekly professional learning sessions dedicated solely to improve instruction for learning. Several staff members have had the opportunity to attend and present at several renowned professional conferences such as Staff Development for Educators (SDE), Georgia Science Teachers Association, National Science Teachers Foundation, Georgia Tech STEAM Leadership Conference, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (formerly the National Title I Association), STEM Innovation Academy Remix, and more. Teachers who have had the opportunity to attend and present at such conferences facilitate via the train the trainer model in which they receive extensive training in a specific instructional strategy. This teacher/teachers would, in turn, train their colleagues. The Train the Trainer model is similar to peer-to-peer instruction, which is also widely recognized as an effective strategy for all learners in all subject areas. Selecting teachers to act as trainers for other teachers has many advantages including reducing costs, increasing communication, and improving school culture. This allows our educators an opportunity for distributed leadership. Some professional learning topics have ranged from project based learning, engineering design, technology tools integration, high level questioning, claim, evidence, reasoning,  literacy integration, student engagement, and more.

 

Opportunities for Improvement

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Washington High School has several partnership opportunities that could be better leveraged to ensure business, industry, and post-secondary professionals have the opportunity to work alongside teachers to improve instruction. We also would like to ensure all teachers are continuous learners by providing additional opportunities for teachers to have internships, PSC approved endorsements with a STEM emphasis.

Students of color are widely underrepresented in STEM fields, and we are intentional in including our subgroups within our student population in our STEM program by allowing all to participate in the vetting process and allowing all interested students to participate in our partnership field trips, workshops, and internships . We also looked for opportunities for students who may not have initially been interested in the STEM program to be added to the cohort each semester.

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Programs such as the Georgia Chief Science Officers, The HYPE program, local STEM ambassadors, 100 Black Men & Women Coalition, Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), Project ENGAGES (Engaging New Generations at Georgia Tech through Engineering & Science),Get Hype, and open-enrollment enrichment programs enable us to cater to our entire student population without excluding any group.

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We saw so much success and gains in our STEM cohort model that in 2019 we decided to move from a cohort model to a whole school implementation with vertical alignment amongst our cluster (elementary and middle schools) with an urban agricultural theme. School wide implementation to ensure students continued to benefit from equitable exposure to STEM instruction. All students also engage in STEM instruction through school wide implementation of Project Based Learning (PBL). Students have the opportunity explore STEM implications of various themes to address their community needs through interdisciplinary learning. innovative PBL’s are implemented in the core (English, Math, Science, Social Studies), CTAE, and even fine arts, foreign language, and JROTC when applicable. Such PBL themes have included Environmental Justice, Environmental Impact of Pesticides & Fertilizers, Urban Sustainable Agriculture, Atlanta Food Deserts, Holistic Medicine, and Proctor Creeks Aging Infrastructure just to name a few.

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Our program now has a focus on agriculture which supports the legacy and namesake of Booker T. Washington High School. All incoming students have the opportunity at Booker T. Washington High School to earn a Career Technical, Agricultural Education: Agriculture Pathway credential in the concentrated area of Aquaculture.  Students will also be given the opportunity to earn a dual pathway credential in Agribusiness if they desire to as well as the other previously mentioned pathways offered in the school.    

  

Opportunities for Improvement

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As our program shifts to have an urban Agriculture focus there are opportunities to engage students who may not want to go to college directly after high school or even our special education population of students in their technical career options and more. Contrary to belief you don't have to come from a farm to pursue a position in agriculture. In fact, one out of every six jobs in the United States is related to agriculture. With over 250 career areas available in the field of agriculture we want our students to know that the possibilities are endless. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than 57,000 jobs open each year in agriculture. Approximately 22 million people now work in agriculture and ag-related fields all related to STEM in some capacity. The rest work in agribusiness, communications, science, government, education, processing and distribution, and marketing and sales, as well as dozens of other occupations which serve the farmer or the total agricultural industry. As new technologies emerge in agriculture, so will new job opportunities and the need for well-trained and educated people. Today's agriculture offers more than 250 rewarding and STEM challenging careers.