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Next Generation Leadership Academy
IV.
FAYETTE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
STEAM ACADEMY: A DYNAMIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY OF
KENTUCKY AND FAYETTE COUNTY SCHOOLS. The STEAM Academy is a partnership
between the Fayette County Public School District (FCPS) and the University of Kentucky that
is focused on creating a 21st-century high school that is flexible and adaptable, technology
rich, responsive to student and teacher needs, and recognizes and extends learning
beyond the traditional school day and classroom. The acronym STEAM stands for science,
technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics and the overarching goal of the school is to
ensure that students graduate college and career ready and experienced. Because students
are selected based on a system that ensures a heterogeneously diverse student population
reflecting the overall demographics of the school district, the STEAM Academy is uniquely
positioned to inform the district on effective practices which lead to closing achievement gaps
among low income and other traditionally underserved students.
UK is helping the FCPS faculty and staff to create STEAM’s innovative infrastructure and
instructional model. In addition, teachers work with the Next Generation Leadership Academy
faculty members and other UK faculty who provide training across a range of instructional
innovations. The STEAM Academy will serve as an incubator -- where pre-service and master
teachers gain experience in a mastery-based, blended learning environment -- and a research
and development (R&D) lab – where UK faculty can research and pilot new innovations.
This collaborative partnership provides broad benefits to the UK College of Education not
only in furthering the work of the P20 Innovation Lab and the Next Generation Leadership
Academy, but also positioning the College for a redesign of teacher and principal preparation
programs using an embedded clinical model. The relationship also benefits the University
more broadly in several ways including the potential to recruit diverse, well-prepared students
to UK that will potentially pursue STEAM related degrees with higher success rates and
shorter time to degree.
RECORD OF SUCCESS:
•
FCPS-UK is awarded a Next Generation Learning Challenge grant in the amount of
$450,000 for the planning and implementation of the STEAM Academy.
•
STEAM opens its doors to 150 freshmen in the fall of 2013 and adds another class of
freshmen in the fall of 2014.
•
STEAM has implemented a ubiquitous device environment with full learning