AdvancED® STEM Certification

1.11 STEM Indicators Narrative

Banneker High School 3DE students have extended day and other formal opportunities to
engage in adult/world connections to link their STEM learning in the classroom to the work of
STEM practitioners. Experiential learning is key to the 3DE model of transformative education.
Providing our students with high quality STEM learning activities in relevant situations beyond
the walls of the classroom is vital to creating students’ persistence in STEM education and
careers. These learning experiences outside the classroom provide students with opportunities to
practice skills of inquiry and problem-solving in everyday situations. Because we know students
need opportunities to make connections between the content they are learning and the world
around them we begin this exposure in 9th grade through case challenges and company site
visits. Company site visits allow students to actively engage in real-world learning through
experiential activities such as project and community-based learning. Unfortunately, many of our
students have never been exposed to professional work environments. We have found that
immersing students in these experiences empowers them with agency and motivates them to
think differently - to think more creative, innovative and with a problem-solving mind set.
Our students also have formal opportunities to engage in adult/world connections through
internships and consultancy projects through work-based learning. Senior 3DE students work as
interns or consultants with our partnership companies and receive real-world experience related
to the career fields. Many of our students also participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular
programs that engage them in adult/world connections that link their STEM learning in
classrooms to the work of STEM practitioners.
Strengths of this indicator are evidenced by artifacts showing our partner list, 3DE senior
consultancy students meeting with business clients, senior students’ internship assignments, job
site visits, career tech student organization participation and participation in external summer
programs. There are also four student statements included as artifacts that speak to the impact
our program has on students over a 4-year period. We will continue to look for partnerships that
afford students opportunities to make adult/world STEM connections outside of the classroom
and off school campus that cause students to persist in STEM their careers and post-secondary
education.