Q&A: Anne Pope

Anne Pope is Vice President of STEM Education for Oak Ridge National Lab in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (University of Tennessee-Battelle). She’s also assisting with the new Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN). We spoke with her about TSIN.

How did the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) come about?

In March 2010, Tennessee was one of two states awarded a Race to the Top federal grant supporting educational transformation. Our state then established the Tennessee First to the Top initiative, which designated $15.7 million for establishing TSIN. Battelle Memorial Institute manages the Oak Ridge National Lab in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, so Battelle already had a significant presence in our state. That, as well as Battelle’s experience creating the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN), was instrumental in our governor signing an executive order in 2010 designating Battelle to be the managing partner of TSIN.

How does TSIN operate?

TSIN is a unique public/private partnership between the Tennessee Department of Education and Battelle. There are two co-directors of TSIN -- one within Battelle and one within the Tennessee Department of Education. Sky Gallegos is the co-director of the network within the State Department of Education. We also have a 14-member STEM Advisory Council, which consists of leaders from education, from K through 12 and post-secondary, and the business community.

In the Race to the Top application, the Tennessee Department of Education committed to fund six STEM Platform Schools and up to six Regional STEM Innovation Hubs, including a virtual school/hub to serve the needs of rural communities. Each Hub is required to have a specific partnership with the STEM Platform School the Network funds in that particular region. The first two STEM Platform Schools -- Stratford STEM Academy in Nashville and L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville -- are operational.

What’s the current status of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN)?

In response to our May 2011 RFP, TSIN awarded two grants in November  to form a Middle Tennessee Regional Innovation Hub and an East Tennessee Regional Innovation Hub. The $850,000 grants were awarded to Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools in the Middle Tennessee region and Knox County Schools in the East Tennessee region.

The TSIN issued an RFP in September 2011 to support the creation of at least one STEM Platform School and at least one Regional STEM Innovation Hub in East and West Tennessee. TSIN has reserved the right to award a third grant based on the merits of the proposals submitted in response to this RFP. Proposals were due on December 30, 2011, and TSIN received eight responses. The proposals will be scored in late January, and grants will be awarded in February 2012 to qualified applicants.

Did representatives from Tennessee have an opportunity to see OSLN in action before the two TSIN platform schools were established?

Yes, a number of us made several enlightening trips to Ohio. Business people, education leaders, government representatives and policy leaders visited the OSLN platform schools and Hubs to see these components in action. The visits helped clarify things for us and answered our questions. Not only did OSLN give us important information about setting up a network, they showed us what it looked like and how it operated. It was extremely helpful.

What’s the relationship between TSIN and OSLN?

OSLN has been a tremendous resource for us right from the start. There was, and continues to be, a tremendous partnership and collaboration between TSIN and OSLN. We have a strong connection with OSLN. They’re invaluable to us. They’ve always been very generous in sharing best practices and lessons they’ve learned as pioneers in the STEM education movement.

What’s on your plate for 2012?

Right now, two of our most important things are completing the RFP process to fund and make operational three more platform schools and hubs in Tennessee, as well as conducting an RFP for a virtual school and hub to serve the needs of rural communities.

What do you think is the biggest misperception the general public has about STEM education?

The biggest misunderstanding is, I think, what exactly STEM education is and why it’s important. We need to do outreach work with grassroots initiatives to get the word out that STEM education is for all students and is essential for critical thinking, problem solving and learning 21^st century skills – all so important to being competitive in today’s workplace.