Counselor Conferences on Tap this Fall

A number of University Affiliates are hosting Counselor Conferences this fall.

A PLTW Counselor Conference is a professional development opportunity designed to inform school counselors, post-secondary advisors, principals, teachers and school administrators about PLTW's STEM Education program and provide information to help encourage students to enroll in PLTW courses.

Schools that have implemented a PLTW program are required to send at least one advisor/counselor to a Counselor Conference every year. We highly recommend that schools send all of their advisors/counselors to at least one conference.

Visit the Counselor Conference page for dates and locations. Registration is handled by the host institution.

Additional dates and locations will be added as they become available. For more information, contact the host institution or Laura Greenaway.

Rostering Students in PLTW Assessment System

Information for entering students into the PLTW online Assessment System will be sent today in a separate email to all teachers. Teachers will not be required to manually enter student demographic information this year. Instead, school districts will be able to submit a single file with all PLTW student information through a secured file transfer protocol.  

Teachers will still have the option to enter the information manually, if desired.

Depending on when students are scheduled to take their online assessments, deadlines will be in place for districts to submit these files.

If you have any questions about the Assessment System, contact the Assessment Team.

Update on Global Challenges Course 

At PLTW, we strive to ignite the spark of ingenuity, creativity and imagination within all students. One year ago, we began development of a new course called Global Challenges. The idea for this course evolved from an interest in providing students with an opportunity to explore real-world global problems, while utilizing their creative problem-solving skills.

As with any course development, we have followed a model of ongoing reflection where we ask ourselves, is this course the best way to accomplish PLTW's mission and meet the needs of our network? After extensive internal review and feedback from our network partners, we have decided not to release the Global Challenges course for pilot.

To the schools that offered to pilot Global Challenges' units this year, we thank them for their willingness to help us reach our goals and improve our STEM curriculum that we offer students.

Our Curriculum and Instruction Team continues to explore ways to improve our current curriculum, including the integration of emerging ideas and the exciting Global Challenges content that was created for this pilot. Please do not hesitate to offer your feedback and ideas you have regarding our curriculum and how we can work together to improve our offerings and implement new initiatives.

If you have any questions, please contact Sam Cox or Anne Jones.

New School, Program Registration is Open

New school and program registration for the 2012-13 school year opened on Thursday, September 8.

District Delegates

• District Delegates now may login to the Delegate Console of the PLTW Extranet to add new schools or new curricular programs (Pathway To Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, or Gateway To Technology) to their districts.
• The deadline for adding new schools and programs from within the PLTW Extranet is June 30, 2012.
• However, it is recommended that new schools and programs are added by March 15, 2012 when Core Training registration opens so that teachers may reserve seats at the training sessions of their choice.

Schools

• If you do not know your District Delegate, use the PLTW School Locator to obtain your delegate's contact information.
• If you know of districts or schools that wish to implement a PLTW program for the 2012-13 school year:
• Refer them to the online registration process for new school districts and the Getting Started page for resources and information.
• Provide the contact information for their Regional Director who can answer questions and coordinate support through the State Leadership Team.

A New School Press Release Template is available for schools implementing a new PLTW program. By completing this template with school information, schools have a ready-made tool to promote their programs to local media outlets.

PLTW Engagement Team Announcement

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Thor Misko to Vice President of University and Organizational Engagement. Thor has been with PLTW in a variety of roles since joining the organization in 2008. Previous roles and responsibilities included a focus on professional development, post-secondary relationships, as well as Innovation and Collaborative Portal development.

In his new capacity, he will build on these areas to focus on new and expanded types of partnerships between PLTW and post-secondary institutions while continuing to work with University Affiliates. Additionally, Thor will work across all aspects of engagement from philanthropic to governmental and from corporate to individual.

We are also excited to announce that Cathy Lund has agreed to join our team as Senior Director of Engagement. For the last 14 years, Cathy has worked for the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) in a national role with direct impact on K-12 policy and reform. She has worked across all three of WFF's education reform initiatives: Shape Public Policy, Build Quality Schools and Improve Existing Schools. Most recently, Cathy served as senior program officer, working with governors, legislators and other policy makers across the country.

Cathy brings to PLTW her network of national contacts and experience working with multiple foundations, businesses and other key constituencies. She will be a valuable asset in continuing to raise our national profile and support for our organization. Cathy is a talented and experienced leader in education policy and reform. She is passionate about STEM education and excited about working with us to strengthen and expand PLTW's work with students across our country.

Reminders: Extranet Updates and Software Orders 

PLTW Extranet Updates
Your assistance in maintaining accurate school and district information in the PLTW Extranet is important and greatly appreciated.

Delegates

• Check your district's and schools' information in the PLTW Extranet.
• Make any necessary school deactivation requests, teacher removal requests and contact information updates for the district and all registered schools.

Teachers

• Update your email address and phone number (if necessary).
• Indicate the courses you will be instructing during the 2011-12 academic year.

If you have any questions or need assistance, contact the School Support Team.

Software Orders

• Schools offering Pathway To Engineering courses should contact their Authorized Autodesk Reseller to order the required Autodesk software for the 2011-12 school year. More information on the required software for the courses you're offering is available in the Additional Resources section of the PLTW Purchasing Manual page. 
• Schools offering POE, CIM, AE and/or the AR unit of GTT with the VEX Robotics platform should place their order for the ROBOTC software licenses as soon as possible by using the form on the ROBOTC tab of either the ENGR Vendor Workbook or GTT Vendor Workbook on the PLTW Purchasing Manual Web page. ROBOTC orders should not be placed on any purchase orders. Download and installation instructions will be emailed to the designated contact(s). Please allow three weeks to complete this process.