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Last summer, about 100 public school teachers of all grade levels were scattered throughout the city of Clarksville, Tenn.鈥攁t the fire department, the mayor鈥檚 office, an architecture firm, a metal-processing plant鈥攕hadowing business and government employees for a week at a time. The teachers spent their days learning practical, real-world skills, like how to fortify a cement structure or detect moisture in a high-vaulted ceiling, and brainstorming ways to incorporate what they were learning into their next year鈥檚 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics lessons.
The externship program is the brainchild of B.J. Worthington, a 28-year veteran in the 31,000-student Clarksville-Montgomery County school system. Two years ago, by a unanimous school board vote and what some have described as popular demand from the community, Mr. Worthington, 53, became the director of schools (the district鈥檚 title for superintendent) for the district, located about 50 miles northwest of Nashville. A former high school science teacher and principal, Mr. Worthington bolstered the district鈥檚 STEM focus, spurred by a federal Race to the Top grant that he had helped win, and piloted the externship program with a small cohort of high school teachers that same summer.

Since he took over the district, it has received an additional $10 million in competitive grants from groups including the , which oversees the education of the children of members of the military. (About a quarter of the district鈥檚 students have parents working at Fort Campbell, across the border in Kentucky.)

Jon Clark, a local architect, hosted several rounds of externs last summer. 鈥淲e take them out to construction sites, show them how things are being put together, talk about what we do as architects,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here were a lot of those moments where we鈥檙e there sitting around the conference room, and you鈥檇 see the lightbulb go [on] and [a teacher] would say, 鈥榃ow, I鈥檓 going to talk to my class about that.鈥� 鈥�

Periodically, Mr. Clark said, Mr. Worthington would appear on site to visit with both the teachers and their new mentors. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a very hands-on superintendent of schools. He shows up, he鈥檚 interested, he鈥檚 game on, he鈥檚 wanting to further his own education.鈥�

The externships are part of a larger math-science-integration initiative that began four years ago, when the district won $5 million in money for STEM innovation. Mr. Worthington, the chief academic officer at the time, led that initiative and devised a plan that, as he explains it, 鈥渨ould sustain us after the Race to the Top money was gone.鈥� The district piloted combination science and math classes at some grade levels, with an emphasis on , or learning 鈥渃hallenges,鈥� in which students learn the science and math standards by identifying and resolving real-world problems that require the use of those skills. For instance, elementary students might have to build a flotation device to get a gingerbread man across water safely, or middle school students must find a way to remix concrete to make a weak beam stronger.

Now, the majority of teachers integrate their math and science lessons using such challenges, said Dale Rudolph, the district鈥檚 STEM coordinator.

Solving Real Problems

For example, last summer, Donna Cooper, a 5th grade teacher at Sango Elementary School, externed with a project manager for the city of Clarksville. Since then, she鈥檚 had her students work on finding creative ways to address bank erosion at a local marina鈥攚hich she learned about through her job shadowing鈥攗sing 鈥渢he concepts of gravity, friction, mass, and potential and kinetic energy,鈥� she wrote in an email.

Lori Smith, the vice president of the Clarksville-Montgomery PTO and the mother of a 2nd and a 4th grader, said she鈥檚 鈥渁 huge fan鈥� of the integration initiative.

鈥淲hat I see in the kids is it changes the way they think,鈥� she added. For example, she said, about a year ago, her son asked her what causes earthquakes. 鈥淚 told him that the plates shift, and it causes the ground to move. And he said, 鈥榃ell, Mom, I don鈥檛 understand that because the Earth is always moving because it鈥檚 spinning and moving around the sun. So how is it that that movement is different than the plates in the Earth?鈥欌�� she recalled. 鈥淗e was 7.鈥�

According to Becky Jackman, the president of the , 鈥淓verybody knows STEM is [Mr. Worthington鈥檚] passion.鈥� In devising the subject-integration initiative, she said, he and other district leaders 鈥渓ooked at several other models, but they didn鈥檛 just do anybody else鈥檚 model, they tried to do what was best for our students and teachers.鈥�

With the Race to the Top grant, the district also began a high school STEM Academy鈥攁 school-within-a-school that has one teacher in each core subject and an engineer on staff. Students in the district who demonstrate aptitude in math and science can apply to attend the prestigious program.

The teachers there frame lessons around an essential question or theme. One year, students studied how food goes from 鈥渃onception to consumption.鈥� They dissected a cow uterus, discussed cloning and artificial insemination, and read Temple Grandin鈥檚 work on designs for handling livestock.

According to the district鈥檚 accountability and assessment supervisor, Kimi Sucharski, Mr. Worthington鈥檚 efforts have led to 鈥済reater than expected academic growth鈥� in math and science for the district. From 2011-12 to 2012-13, the percentage of 8th grade students achieving grade-level mastery in science moved from 68 percent to 75 percent, and in math, it moved from 42 percent to 52 percent. Value-added scores, which measure growth in student achievement over the previous year, showed better than anticipated gains for grades 3 through 8 in both subjects.

To meet another one of Mr. Worthington鈥檚 goals, of 鈥�100 percent graduation,鈥� the district has held symbolic graduation ceremonies, had students sign pledge cards, and worked to engage parents and business leaders to make a diploma a priority for students. The graduation rate climbed for several years before 2011-12 and has hovered around 95 percent on Mr. Worthington鈥檚 watch. Ms. Smith said the schools鈥� chief is still looking to improve it.

The 100 percent graduation initiative has received some pushback for being lofty, according to Elise Shelton, a district spokeswoman. However, she noted that it was a goal created 鈥渋n conjunction with business leaders in the community. We all kept saying, 鈥業f it is not all, then who do we exclude?鈥欌��

One thing stakeholders in the district seem to agree on is that Mr. Worthington has bridged the gap with the community in ways that are overall mutually beneficial. For instance, a requirement of teacher externs 鈥渋s that they establish a relationship with the business and maintain it throughout the year,鈥� said Ms. Rudolph, the STEM coordinator. The business and community leaders 鈥渃ome into our schools and actually help our students with these science and math problems.鈥�

As Ms. Rudolph sees it, that鈥檚 a win-win. The business leaders bring real-world expertise to classrooms, she said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e building those 21st-century skills our business community has told us they want in our graduates.鈥�