The Development of Technology Engineering
Over the past decade Massachusetts has developed academic technology-engineering standards and implemented related programs. The Massachusetts experience has become a reference point for a number of other states and countries looking to support engineering education. This paper outlines the process Massachusetts has undertaken and some of the successes and challenges related to the implementation of engineering concepts in K-12 education.The development of state technology-engineering standards was initially made possible through the Massachusetts 1993 Education Reform Law but was only carried out through the advocacy of technology education educators and engineers with an interest in education. Massachusetts treats technology engineering as a science discipline, equivalent to physical science, life science, and earth and space science. A number of state policies support the implementation of school and district technology-engineering programs aligned with the technology-engineering standards, such as licensure and assessment expectations. A number of challenges remain, however, before technology-engineering can be considered to have developed to a point equivalent to traditional science disciplines.
The development of technology-engineering standards in Massachusetts started with the inclusion of language in the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Law: The board shall develop academic standards for the core subjects of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts. The board may also include in the standards a fundamental knowledge of technology education and computer science and keyboarding skills.The inclusion of”science and technology” in this legislation was the impetus for the development of the first state M4 Science and Technology Framework(MA ESE, 1996). The inclusion of the word “technology” in this label sparked a state-wide discussion of what that should include. For the science education community, it was indicative ofa science, technology, and society (STS) perspective reflective of Science for All Americans (AAAS, 1989) and the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996). For the technology education community, it suggested a technological literacy perspective reflective of Technology for All Americans (ITEA, 1996). There was some discussion as to whether it meant computers-instructional technology but the later inclusion of the label “technology education” in the statement about what the board “may also include” was interpreted as a reference to computers. The result of this state-wide discussion was an initial state framework that defined “science and technology” as an academic subject that integrated the STS and technology education perspectives. Later, in the 2001 framework revision, the STS perspective was reduced and replaced with more specific engineering principles, leading to the modified framework title “science and technology-engineering.” Learning things is not limited to the scentific area. Instead it also has relations with some other things like speaking a language or using software, including Rosetta Stone English and Rosetta Stone French. If you have a creative mind, you will make all your own differences in the end!

