STEAM Hub Communities of Practice

A Community of Practice (CoP) is designed to a be a “by us, for us” collaborative and working environment intentionally crafted to promote collective learning, problem solving, and resource sharing among Expanded Learning Colleagues. The STEAM Hub Communities of Practice (CoP) in Region 8 are geared for leaders, decision makers, and site coordinators who want to create sustainable change within their organization. The process of sustainable change occurs within the organization by knowledgeable leaders at multiple levels representing the organization to move the regional work forward (e.g., COEs, districts, schools, CBOs, etc.). Program leaders encompasses Program Directors, Grant Managers, District Administrators, and CBO Directors. Site Coordinators encompasses Principals, Teacher Liaisons, and Coordinators managing front line staff.

The goal of STEAM Hub CoP is to provide continuous networking opportunities with various local expanded learning leaders in order to share promising practices and resources. Ultimately, STEAM Hub CoP will bring an increased understanding of and ability to develop collaborative partnerships to support high quality STEAM learning opportunities across multiple sites.

The STEAM Hub CoP meetings involve joint activities such as discussions & collective learning that allow members to build relationships with one another, which in turn enables them to effectively learn more from and with each other. The content and format of the meetings is entirely based on the emergent, mutually identified, needs of the group.  Topics covered include, but are not limited to:

• Coaching & Facilitation Skills
• Project-based & Inquiry-based Learning
• Mindfulness & Growth Mindset
• STEAM Needs Assessment
• STEAM Program evaluation tools
• STEAM Learning models: FIVE “E" Model, Engineering Design Model, Dimensions of Success
• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
• Building partnerships with the school day and community
• Continuous Quality Improvement 

For more information on STEAM contact Region8@vcoe.org.

Last revised September 2023.