Project Lead the Way

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a non-profit organization which strives to promote pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. The program partners with educational institutions, trains the instructors that will be teaching and implementing the curriculum, and acts as a bridge between educational institutions and private businesses.

The Charitable Leadership Foundation of Clifton Park, NY, provided initial funding of the project, based on collaboration with Richard Blais, currently vice president of state and corporate relations for PLTW. Blais conceived the idea of a pre-engineering curriculum while chairman of the technology education department of an upstate New York school district. Having worked as both a secondary school teacher and as an engineer, he had recognized the growing demand for engineering professionals in the U.S.

The high school curriculum was first introduced to 12 New York State high schools in the 1997-'98 school year, with the goal of being in 50 upstate New York high schools by 2005. A middle school component was field tested in 2000. The program is now found in over 2,200 schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia, with another 600 schools entering the network in September 2008.

The mission is to utilize its partnerships with schools to increase the quantity and quality of engineers graduating from the educational system and contribute to the continuance of America's national prosperity.

The middle school program, Gateway to Technology, is a stepping stone to expose students to a broad overview of the field of technology, focusing on developing stronger math, science and technology skills. The complementary high school program, Pathway to Engineering, uses project-based, hands-on experience to teach key elements and skills of engineering and technology-based careers.

There is an engineering research component which requires a community sponsor and mentor. The students work in teams in order to solve an open-ended, real-world problem facing the engineering world. The mentor provides an outside facility where students can get advice and support from experts in the field while trying to solve the problem.

In addition, teams must present and defend their research projects, results, solutions and conclusions to a panel of representatives including members of the industry and business, as well as parents and members of the educational system.

For the first decade of PLTW "our strategic plan focused on growth with an emphasis on quality," says Niel Tebbano, PLTW vice president of operations. "Our revised strategic plan [for the second decade] focuses on quality with an emphasis on continued growth." Certain priorities haven't changed though, such as PLTW's emphasis on partnerships to allow students to learn with guidance from a professional.

The buddy system

"Everything that we do is based on partnerships," Tebbano says. "The ultimate goal is solving the nation's 21st-century technical and scientific workforce issue. Our partners recognize that if they are going to have the workforce and markets they need for future success, then they need to invest human and financial resources in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education.

Each PLTW school assembles a local Partnership Team (PT) which links the educational sector with the community and creates a diverse support network for teachers and students alike. The PTs are to provide students with hands-on, relevant learning experiences to complement the educational curriculum.

A team should include an educator, a coordinator of technology, and two or three parents or employers involved in engineering. The PT members serve as mentors for the students, as well as resources for information and internships/job shadowing opportunities to give the student an enriched and well-rounded educational experience in the engineering field.