The initiative STEM School Label stems from Scientix, the community that since 2009 has promoted in Europe the collaboration between teachers and professionals in the STEM field. Coordinated by European Schoolnet, the project’s objective is to spread at the international level innovative practices in science education.

INDIRE is the organization in charge of disseminating the project’s results in Italy where, according to the international surveys, the situation is particularly negative. In fact, the tests ran by Pisa Ocse on mathematical skills shows that Italian 15 year-old teenagers have a delay compared to their peers in other industrialized countries.

The steps to follow to register a school are very simple: accessing the online platform www.stemschoollabel.eu, European schools can measure their results in the education of science subjects.

The self-assessment of STEM School Label is based on seven key elements that help teachers to evaluate areas of strength and weakness of their schools’ STEM programs, and that highlights the aspects that needs to be developed and improved.

The areas to focus on for an effective STEM education strategy are the following: education, curricula implementation, evaluation, staff professionalization, leadership, link between territory and local enterprises, school infrastructures.

Once the self-evaluation form is submitted, the school/teacher will receive a customized plan of action, based on the self-assessment results. Useful suggestions and resources will be provided to improve the schools’ educational offer on STEM subjects by identifying the lacking areas, so to provide the students with a better engagement and technical-scientific skills.

The project involves both teachers and students with various activities that include case studies analysis, participation to open and collaborative on-line forums, the study of good practices and exchanges between the participating European schools.

For more information: stemschoollabel@eun.org

By SGI