The Challenge
One year at Science Olympiad, a national science competition for students, Dr. Cindy Moss coached a group of high-schoolers in an event called "Sounds of Music." The students were required to build a musical instrument, explain the scientific principles behind the operation, and finally perform a musical selection on their creation. Dr. Moss, director of science and math at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in Charlotte, North Carolina, finds competitions like these are an important step for students in understanding the practical applications of science. "These kinds of competitions are great for kids," she said. "It's really being able to use science the way somebody does in the real world."

In 2006, CMS unveiled Project 2010, a four-year strategic plan to provide students in the district with a world-class education. One particular goal of CMS's initiative is to produce students who are globally minded and well educated in science and math, encouraging students to enter into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. The district was fueled by the growing number of high-technology businesses and increasing demand for globally competitive professionals with solid backgrounds in those fields. One technique CMS uses to engage students in science and math is participation in competitions like Science Olympiad.

Dr. Moss and district administrators are examining the way science and math are taught throughout the district and implementing new programs that incorporate real-life experience, hands-on interaction, and knowledge-sharing. Teachers participate in special professional development programs to increase their science and math knowledge. Additionally, Dr. Moss is reaching out to the surrounding community for support.

About the District
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is the twenty-third largest school district in the United States, educating 135,000 students in 161 schools in pre-K–12. Forty-nine of the district's schools are magnet schools, each with specifically focused themes including math, science, and environmental studies; communication art; leadership and global economics; and foreign languages. The student population has grown rapidly over the past decade, increasing by approximately 5,000 students yearly without any signs of slowing. Students hail from more than one hundred different countries, and roughly 50 percent receive free or reduced lunch.

About Cindy Moss
With twenty-four years of education experience, Dr. Moss has worked as the K–12 science curriculum specialist at CMS, taught biology and chemistry in New York and North Carolina, and worked with various organizations to further STEM education. In 2006, she was appointed to the National Science Board's Twenty-first Century STEM Education Commission, a federal commission appointed to identify ways to prepare students for STEM careers. She is also a recipient of the Milken National Educator Award, an honor that recognizes educators who advance excellence in education.

Step One: Challenge Students to Succeed
Setting the bar high is one way Dr. Moss believes students can achieve in math and science. She recalls how, as a Ph.D. student, she recognized the different levels of expectation found in education systems in various countries. "Most students in Europe and in Australia complete calculus and physics, even if they graduate from secondary school at fourteen to work as bricklayers or electricians. And yet, in the United States less than 10 percent of the kids who graduate from high school take physics, and less than 15 percent of U.S. graduates complete calculus. We have to change our idea of calculus and physics, and we have to change the way we're teaching so all kids have the opportunity to compete in the increasingly technologically complex world where those skills are required."

At CMS, the goal is to focus on science early, and use it as a catalyst to spur excitement in other areas of learning. "We're focusing a lot on K–5," said Dr. Moss. "I know from my work with the National Science Foundation, if a child is below grade level in reading or math at fourth grade, they only have a 12 percent chance of graduating from high school and a 5 percent chance of going to college. So we're trying to use science as the tool, the vehicle, to get kids motivated to want to read and do math." Algebra skills are also a central focus for grades K–10. In addition, the district has significantly increased the number of instructional hours students in those grades spend learning science. Beginning in January of 2007, science lessons for grades K–5 are required three times a week for forty-five minutes—up from the previous requirement of thirty minutes once every two weeks.

Additionally, students are encouraged to really get involved in their learning. "In K–8 a big focus is on inquiry learning," said Dr. Moss. "They're doing hands-on science, not just reading about it, but asking their own questions, getting their hands dirty, using the equipment. It's the kind of thing where if they break it, they break it."

At the high school level, CMS encourages students to challenge themselves by offering more demanding classes. "What we're trying to do is increase the number of higher-level courses in science and math that the students take," Dr. Moss explained. "To begin with the end in mind, we want them to be able to take AP and IB classes and be competitive, not only with kids from other schools in our district, but with kids in other countries." In addition, the school district requires every student in grades 9–11 to take the PSAT every fall—and picks up the tab to ensure students' financial situations are not an issue. "Even though we're a large urban district, we've always encouraged kids to achieve at the maximum," said Dr. Moss. "We don't want socioeconomic status to have a negative impact, so we also pay for students' SAT, IB, and AP tests."

Step Two: Offer Students Real-world Experiences
This school year, CMS launched a travel-study program for high school students to inspire hands-on, real-world science and math exploration. The program provides students who have taken four years of classes in science and math, and at least one AP or IB class in those subjects, an opportunity to go to the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, or United States national parks. "We're hoping the senior trip will become a carrot," said Dr. Moss, "motivating students to take four years of math and science because they want to participate in the program when they graduate from high school."

As part of the experience, students meet with college professors, collect data, and write a report. They even receive college credit. "When I looked around at the private schools in the area," said Dr. Moss, "I found the only thing they offer that we don't offer is a capstone experience, so now we're offering that too."

In addition, CMS students from all grades attend national and international science competitions. "We try to use these experiences to help kids see that there's use for the stuff they're doing," explained Dr. Moss. "It's not just about passing a test." Students attend yearly events such as Odyssey of the Mind, Science Olympiad, and a NASA-SEMA robotics competition. CMS also hold their own science fairs, which Dr. Moss reports are popular and well attended.

Step Three: Provide Teachers with Knowledge and Tools
CMS provides a variety of professional enrichment programs for its teachers. Dr. Moss places an emphasis on special professional development programs for science and math, particularly because she has found that many elementary teachers enter education to teach reading. Her aim is to spark teachers' interest in those subjects, and present them with fun, educational, and engaging professional development. "We're trying to provide teachers science in a way that makes sense, that is relevant, so, hopefully, they will provide relevant science to their students," she said.

One new program, Science and Math Family Saturdays, brings science and math teachers, and their families, to local museums, state parks, and other activities related to the subject they teach. Recently, CMS educators visited the Body Worlds exhibit at Discovery Place, a local science museum, and hiked at Crowders Mountain, a local state park. Looking ahead, Dr. Moss is coordinating a robotics day at a local university, as well as a day at the National Whitewater Park.

In addition, the district has implemented a new support system for science teachers. CMS created six learning communities this year, with a science leadership core. As part of the science leadership core, twenty-five teachers from each school level (K–5, 6–8, and 9–12) receive intensive training in science education, including the standard course of study, best practices, and brain research on learning. "They'll become the experts in their learning community," explained Dr. Moss. "When a particular learning community needs help with a topic—for example, on velocity and physics—they'll have people close by that they can call."

This summer, a team of CMS teachers and community leaders attended the Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program to further the district's commitment to STEM education. The program helps school districts implement research-based science instructional materials. "It's a whole infrastructure to help school districts figure out how to change," explained Dr. Moss. "It's a way to get from just reading about science to having students really do science. In LASER, you bring people from your school system and the community, and you work on what you would like your science teaching and learning to look like in five years. You develop your vision, think about your partners, and how you're going to move forward." CMS's participation in LASER is underwritten by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a private foundation that supports the medical sciences.

Step Four: Engage the Community
Dr. Moss has also taken steps to enlist members of the community in her goal to build a strong STEM foundation for CMS students. In August, she began a monthly science breakfast to devise ways to advance STEM education. "I've invited people I know from local universities, engineers, and CEOs who I know care about STEM education," said Dr. Moss. "At these breakfasts we get together to keep our vision going and to brainstorm about what we'd like to see happen." Since the breakfasts began, an anonymous donor contributed five million dollars to Discovery Place, Charlotte's science museum, to establish a dedicated space for teacher education.

In addition, Dr. Moss speaks with local businesses and organizations to align common goals. NASCAR has a substantial presence in Charlotte, and is currently discussing the possibility of creating a NASCAR high school that CMS students could attend. "Students would have to get to a certain amount of math and science their freshman and sophomore years," explained Dr. Moss, "and then they'd qualify to go to this NASCAR high school where they would learn things specifically as they relate to NASCAR."

In addition, Dr. Moss has spoken with local parks and recreation associations, and has even met with officials from the Girl Scouts to discuss how to maximize resources and spread STEM education. "I see the community as supportive and ready to help," said Dr. Moss. "They've just been waiting for us to have a plan, to show how it will all work."

Conclusion
CMS is doing well in terms of academic achievement. In fact, in Newsweek's 2007 list "America's Best High Schools," thirteen CMS high schools placed in the top nine hundred schools, and two placed in the top one hundred, a feat not unknown to the district. "We have twenty-seven high schools and every year with the Newsweek survey, we end up with four or five as the top one hundred high schools in the country," said Dr. Moss. "We really believe in challenging kids to the highest level, with a large percentage of kids taking AP and IB exams and classes."

In addition, CMS students place high on both state and national assessment tests. "In terms of overall achievement, we tend to be slightly above the state in K–8 end-of-grade high stakes tests in reading and math," Dr. Moss explained. She also reported that the district's fourth and eighth-graders placed second out of twelve large school districts on last year's National Assessment of Educational Progress in science.

To encourage students to enter STEM careers and attain the goal of producing graduates that are globally competitive, CMS will continue to promote high-level learning in science and math and support teachers with relevant professional development. "I know from looking at the federal commission's statistics over the last couple of years that if a kid is not in the right math in sixth grade, then they already don't have a chance to be an engineer, nurse, or doctor—most of the STEM careers. We have to do whatever we can to increase the number of kids who have the chance to go into the STEM pipeline as a nation if we're going to survive," Dr. Moss explained. "Our ultimate goal is to produce kids who are global citizens, and can go out and get a job."