Engineering Site Visit Guide

Engineering:
Document 8: Site Visit Guide
District Name:
Name of Campus/School:
Campus/School Street Address / City / State / Zip Code:
Name of Person Completing this Report: / Affiliation/Title:

Program Implementation

A. Instruction (required) / Yes / No / Usually
1. / The current version of curriculum is being used.
2. / Teachershared evidence of accessing end-of-course assessments.
B. Student Portfolios (required)
1. / Student portfolios and engineering notebooks meet or exceed PLTW requirements (see Document #3).
C. Software (required)
1. / Current software revisions are being used for all PLTW courses (see Document #4).
2. / Software lease agreement is current (copy available at site visit).
D. Facility and Equipment (required)
1. / There isadequate space and equipment to teach the PLTW courses offered. (See Document #3).
E. / Teacher Qualification
1. / Evidence of some thoughtful selection criteria was used to identify and recruit teachers for the PLTW courses.
2. / There is evidence of teacher “buy-in” of the PLTW program.
I. Notes or comments:

Professional Development

A. Counselors (required) / Yes / No / Usually
1. / At least one on site counselor has attended a PLTW Conference.
2. / Counselors have accessed the PLTW or state affiliate website for college and program information.
B. Teachers (required)
1. / Evidence of successful completion of a Core TrainingSession for each course taught.
2. / Evidence of participation in the Virtual Academy.
3. / Evidence of attending course update training (Core TrainingSession or Virtual Academy) if training was more than five years ago.
C. Administration
1. / At least one school level administrator has attended a PLTW conference.
II. Notes/comments:

Partnership Team

A. Membership (required) / Yes / No / Usually
1. / Includes members from business/industry.
2. / Membership is diverse in terms of industry and education roles.
3. / Interview was conducted with at least one member.
B. Frequency (required)
1. / Agendas from at least two previous meetings.
2. / Calendar or dates of next two meetings.
C. Minutes (required)
1. / Minutes from the two most recent meetings were available.
D. Administrative Support
1. / Site and district level administrators and counselors are actively engaged with the partnership team.
III. Notes/comments:

Students

A. Diversity / Yes / No / Usually
1. / PLTW program enrollment reflects school diversity.
2. / School has strategy for improving diversity if needed.
B. Equity
1. / Percent of females enrolled in PLTW classes. / %
2. / School has strategy for increasing female enrollment if needed.
C. Selection and Recruitment
1. / School has policy/plans which allow all students access to PLTW courses.
D. Concurrent Mathematics (required)
1. / Students interviewed are enrolled in college preparatory mathematics.
2. / Counselors interviewed understand mathematics requirements.
E. Retention
1. / Retention rates are adequate to sustain higher level courses (see Document #2).
F. Matriculation
1. / Students interviewed had a four year plan of study or knew which academic and PLTW courses they needed to graduate and be prepared for post secondary study.
2. / Students interviewed were aware of state and local universities and colleges that offered programs in engineering or engineering technology.
IV. Notes/comments:

Student Assessment

A. End of Course Assessment (required) / Yes / No / Usually
1. / Verify that teachers are properly rostering students and administering the end-of-course exam at the conclusion of each PLTW course.
2. / Inspect student final exam grade report summary to see if there is a normal distribution of grades.
B. Data Collection (required)
1. / Evidence was given to verify that teachers and students are participating in PLTW end-of-course assessments.
V. Notes/comments:

Administrative Support

A. Facility and Equipment (required) / Yes / No / Usually
1. / Verify that teachers have laptops that meet or exceed PLTW specifications.
2. / Adequate classroom/laboratory space is provided for students to participate in the PLTW curriculum.
B. Funding and Budget
1. / Site Level Support: Teachers receive adequate support for the PLTW program, including but not limited to release time and budget allocation (based upon teacher interviews).
2. / District Level Support: Teachers receive adequate support for their PLTW program, including but not limited to release time and budget allocation (based upon teacher interviews).
3. / Sustainability plan is in place to ensure program longevity.
VI. Notes/comments:

Post Secondary

A. Student Plans of Study / Yes / No / Usually
1. / A system is in place to help each student develop a program of study which extends beyond high school. (Based on interviews with students, counselors and teachers.)
B. Local and State Articulation
1. / Counselors, teachers and students are aware of the articulation agreements between the school and local/state post secondary institutions.
VII. Notes/comments:

Communication & Outreach

A. Awareness / Yes / No / Usually
1. / School counselors have made students and parents aware of the program.
2. / The partnership team has made the community aware of the program.
3. / Teachers have made the community aware of the program.
4. / Administrators have made the community aware of the program.
B. Recruitment
1. / There is a system in place to identify, encourage, and recruit a diverse group of students.
2. / Teachers and counselors work together to build enrollment.
3. / Site and district level administration supports the work done to recruit students.
C. Celebration
1. / Student and program successes are being celebrated and recognized within the school.
2. / Student and program successes are being celebrated and recognized outside the school. (example – newspaper articles)
VIII. Notes/comments:

Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Pathway to Engineering: Document 8: Site Visit Guide – Page 1