text: This statement is quite vague in my mind. It usually means that students will take traditional courses in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The vision does not communicate the journey students will take to learn new ways of thinking so they’re ready to engage more complex problems. It does not illustrate how the curriculum has been designed through the lens of STEM or STEAM. Students continue taking subject-specific, end-of-course tests or high-stakes tests? Most students graduate without any experience organizing a performance-based assessment that requires them to analyze and synthesize ideas. Personally, I would like to see schools design more courageous visions that illuminates a path for learning through a STEAM lens, in which students use the knowledge and skills from STEAM disciplines in an integrated fashion. A program that expects students to draw on diverse skills and knowledge to solve complex problems.
  At ASCD 2014 (#ascd14), I attended a workshop sponsored by three educators from the Boston Arts Academy, an urban school in Boston. The school’s mission is:
  Boston Arts Academy, a pilot school within the Boston Public Schools, is charged with being a laboratory and a beacon for artistic and academic innovation. Boston Arts Academy prepares a diverse community of aspiring artist-scholars to be successful in their college or professional careers and to be engaged members of a democratic society.
  While their mission is not a road map for how they will achieve their goal(s), it is aspirational and somewhat specific. They want to prepare “artistic-scholars” and be a school that serves as a “beacon for artistic and academic innovation.” Immediately it is clear who they serve (students) and what they value (art integrated with STEM). In articulating their STEAM vision, the school lays out some specific guideposts used to educate students.