STEM Council
Working Groups

Below are descriptions of the six Working Groups of the Alabama STEM Council and their respective members.

Building STEM Ecosystems

Members

Barbara Cooper
Elisabeth Davis
Tammy Dunn
Vicki Karolewics
Paul Morin
Adrienne Starks
Charisse Stokes
Tina Watts

The Building STEM Ecosystems Working Group will work to develop the infrastructure and guidelines to develop the State of Alabama’s first regional STEM Ecosystems. These STEM Ecosystems will become collaborative communities of practice for regional partnerships between K-12 schools, higher education institutions, industry leaders, workforce leaders, legislators, non-profit organizations, and local stakeholders with an interest in improving STEM learning. This working group intends to develop the mechanism for statewide STEM Ecosystems that will cultivate and support STEM learning and foster STEM communities of practice that will impact students’ interest in STEM-related careers and strengthen the STEM workforce in Alabama.

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Communications

Members

Terry Burkle
Jill Corbin
Andre Harrison
Christy Swaid
Amy Templeton

The Communications Working Group is tasked primarily with finding ways to increase STEM awareness by illustrating the importance of STEM skills and Alabama-specific STEM careers and pathways.  The target audiences are students, parents, and school, district and community leaders – especially those from underrepresented populations. The Communications Working Group is unique in that it is also a hub for communicating the efforts of other working groups as well as being a resource for them.  Identifying unique messages to the different target groups is a top priority of the communications group.  

Although top of mind awareness of STEM initiatives are important, the larger goal is for the communications to result in action that ultimately leads to a greater STEM-ready workforce. 

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Evaluation

Through a partnership with WestEd/STEMworks, this working group will identify high-quality criteria and develop a rubric to evaluate STEM-based education programs in Alabama. The rubric will be applied to the evaluation of at most 25 STEM programs, including AMSTI, ASIM, and other ETF-funded STEM initiatives through a pilot program.  Additionally, STEMworks will train 12 evaluators in Alabama as state-based reviewers using the STEMworks process for program evaluation.  These in-state reviewers will be called upon in future years to evaluate STEM programs in Alabama and provide suggestions for their improvement.

Members

Mary Lou Ewald 
Jeff Gray 
Andre Green 
Joni Lakin
Kathryn Lanier
Tina Miller-Way   
Charles Nash 
Jim Purcell   
Brenda Terry

Landscape Analysis &
Scale Up

This working group is tasked with mapping informal STEM learning opportunities throughout the state, such as out-of-school activities, competitions, summer programs, and hands-on events. The group aims to make this program information publicly available and easily searchable so that more students and families can participate. In addition, the group is tasked with establishing a process for scaling up high-quality existing STEM activities to serve more students, with particular emphasis on reaching communities that are underserved by existing programs. The working group will produce an implementation plan, methods to assess the impact of the program, and an estimated budget for implementation. 

Members

Virginia Davis
Sandy Ledwell
Robin McGill
Dawn Morrison
Sean Stevens
Daryl Taylor
Kay Taylor

Documents

Math Education

This working group will identify evidence-based interventions to strengthen mathematics leadership at K-12 schools.  This work includes recommending a range of leadership approaches and training to support mathematics achievement, teacher recruitment, and student mathematics engagement and support.  The recommendations will include processes for assessment measures and key funding considerations.

Members

Calvin Briggs
Sheila Holt
Cynthia McCarty
Vicky Ohlson
Tim Wick

Documents

STEM Career Exploration and Workforce Development

This working group is tasked with promoting and encouraging STEM Career Exploration and Workforce Development. STEM Career Exploration efforts will include the development of education and awareness presentation materials focused on STEM and STEM Careers. Target audiences will be key leadership within the K12 systems across the state, to include superintendents and principals. The working group will also continue its focus on workforce development by means of improving and sustaining the STEM Teacher Externships.

The working group will also collaborate and produce a repository of STEM data and presentations, modifiable to various audiences, that can serve multifunctional purposes. In addition, the working group will work to improve and sustain the STEM Teacher Externship initiative.

Members

Ronald Davis
Jimmy Hull
Elizabeth Huntley
Josh Laney
Tim McCartney
Kevin McGaw
Keith Phillips
K-Rob Thomas
Ken Tucker