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LASARA ISD T-STEM ACADEMY

Lasara ISD….Lasara ISD….Transforming Through Rigor, Transforming Through Rigor, Relevance and Relationships!Relevance and Relationships!

THEME:

Demographics and History

TRANSFORMING……CHANGING

RIGOR- “LEVEL OF ACADEMIC DIFFICULTY”

RELEVANCE- “MEANINGFUL”

RELATIONSHIPS- “CONNECTIONS”

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

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)

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 provide high-need schools with resources to provide supplementary online learning opportunities for students and resources to provide supplementary online learning opportunities for students and teachers. Goals of the grant focus on improving academic achievement and teachers. Goals of the grant focus on improving academic achievement and technology literacy of students (grades 6-12) attending participating schools and technology literacy of students (grades 6-12) attending participating schools and building capacity to support the utilization of the Internet to deliver specialized, building capacity to support the utilization of the Internet to deliver specialized, aligned, and rigorous core content courses to students.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

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

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 

T-STEM ACADEMY-UTPA GEAR-UP

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Parent Service Initiatives

Workshops Counseling/Advising Family Involvement Activities Literacy Gear Up Awareness Academic Awareness College Visit

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

College Readiness

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

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

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.

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.

College Coursework Fall 2009TSTC/UTPA Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Enrollment)

College Coursework Fall 2009TSTC/UTPA Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Enrollment)

Academic Courses-TSTC Fall 2009 # of LHS students enrolled

History 1301/1302 4

Art Appreciation 5

English 1301/1302 1

Anatomy and Physiology Lecture 2301/2302 3

Anatomy and Physiology Lab 2101/2102 3

Speech 1318/1311/1315 3

College Algebra 1

Technical Courses-TSTC Fall 2009 # of LHS students enrolled

Drafting 1309 10

Biomedical Technology 1201 12

Auto Body Refinishing 1331 9

Automotive Repair-Brakes 1410 2

Digital Imaging 1302 2

Academic Courses-UTPA Fall 2009 # of LHS students enrolled (Via Distance Learning)

Political Science 2301 4

Music Appreciation 4

19 courses total

8 courses total

35 courses total

LASARA ISD TSTEM ACADEMY

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Rolando Pena - rpena@lasaraisd.net