Stem Education In Underserved Schools

Offers a model for increasing equity in STEM education at the K–12 level in the United States. In STEM Education in Underserved Schools, editor Julia V. Clark addresses an urgent national problem: the need to provide all students with a quality STEM education. Clark brings together a prestigious group of scholars to uncover the factors that impede equity and access in STEM education teaching and learning and provides research-based strategies to address these inequities. This contributed volume demonstrates that students of color and those from lower socioeconomic communities have less access to qualified science and mathematics teachers, less access to strong STEM curriculum, less access to resources, and fewer classroom opportunities than their peers at other schools. Identifying the challenges and best practices related to producing more equitable and inclusive routes to access STEM education and professions, contributors explain how to positively impact the trajectory of individuals from underrepresented groups in K–12 and pre-college programs and lay out a bold reenvisioning of STEM education. These essays aim to build knowledge and theory for how schools can promote coherent guidance for culturally responsive instruction by exploring the policies and practices of four nations—Finland, Singapore, Korea, and Australia—that have made noteworthy strides toward more equitable achievement in science and mathematics. Clark offers a powerful framework in STEM to capture the benefits of international collaborations that would embed American scientists and students in vibrant, globally collaborative networks. Through a deep analysis of successful programs elsewhere in the world and a uniquely international framework, Clark and these contributors present an innovative road map to equalize access to STEM education in the United States.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are cultural achievements that reflect our humanity, power our economy, and constitute fundamental aspects of our lives as citizens, consumers, parents, and members of the workforce. Providing all students with access to quality education in the STEM disciplines is important to our nation's competitiveness. However, it is challenging to identify the most successful schools and approaches in the STEM disciplines because success is defined in many ways and can occur in many different types of schools and settings. In addition, it is difficult to determine whether the success of a school's students is caused by actions the school takes or simply related to the population of students in the school. Successful K-12 STEM Education defines a framework for understanding "success" in K-12 STEM education. The book focuses its analysis on the science and mathematics parts of STEM and outlines criteria for identifying effective STEM schools and programs. Because a school's success should be defined by and measured relative to its goals, the book identifies three important goals that share certain elements, including learning STEM content and practices, developing positive dispositions toward STEM, and preparing students to be lifelong learners. A successful STEM program would increase the number of students who ultimately pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields, enhance the STEM-capable workforce, and boost STEM literacy for all students. It is also critical to broaden the participation of women and minorities in STEM fields. Successful K-12 STEM Education examines the vast landscape of K-12 STEM education by considering different school models, highlighting research on effective STEM education practices, and identifying some conditions that promote and limit school- and student-level success in STEM. The book also looks at where further work is needed to develop appropriate data sources. The book will serve as a guide to policy makers; decision makers at the school and district levels; local, state, and federal government agencies; curriculum developers; educators; and parent and education advocacy groups.

Although STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has been diversely defined by various researchers (e.g. Buck Institute, 2003; Capraro & Slough, 2009; Scott, 2009; Wolf, 2008), during the last decade, STEM education has gained an increasing presence on the national agenda through initiatives from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES). The rate of technological innovation and change has been tremendous over the past ten years, and this rapid increase will only continue. STEM literacy is the power to “identify, apply, and integrate concepts from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to understand complex problems and to innovate to solve them” (Washington State STEM, 2011, Internet). In order for U.S. students to be on the forefront of this revolution, ALL of our schools need to be part of the STEM vision and guide students in acquiring STEM literacy. Understanding and addressing the challenge of achieving STEM literacy for ALL students begins with an understanding of its element and the connections between them. In order to remain competitive, the Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy has recommended that the US optimize “its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology” (National Academies, 2007, p. 4). Optimizing knowledge-based resources needs to be the goal but is also a challenge for ALL educators (Scheurich & Huggins, 2009). Regardless, there is little disagreement that contemporary society is increasingly dependent on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and thus comprehensive understandings are essential for those pursuing STEM careers. It is also generally agreed that PK-12 students do not do well in STEM areas, both in terms of national standards and in terms of international comparisons (Kuenzi, Matthews, & Mangan, 2006; Capraro, Capraro, Yetkiner, Corlu, Ozel, Ye, & Kim, 2011). The question then becomes what might PK-12 schools do to improve teachers’ and students’ STEM knowledge and skills? This book will look at equity and access issues in STEM education from PK-12, university, and administrative and policy lenses.

More and more young people are learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a wide variety of afterschool, summer, and informal programs. At the same time, there has been increasing awareness of the value of such programs in sparking, sustaining, and extending interest in and understanding of STEM. To help policy makers, funders and education leaders in both school and out-of-school settings make informed decisions about how to best leverage the educational and learning resources in their community, this report identifies features of productive STEM programs in out-of-school settings. Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings draws from a wide range of research traditions to illustrate that interest in STEM and deep STEM learning develop across time and settings. The report provides guidance on how to evaluate and sustain programs. This report is a resource for local, state, and federal policy makers seeking to broaden access to multiple, high-quality STEM learning opportunities in their community.

The future of American STEM education is here...in every state, there are thousands students that would benefit from science education, if only they had the resources, support systems and psychological ownership. There are brilliant young minds that could be called on to solve a myriad of world problems, earning money and respect in the process. But these students don’t see science as a viable option for a life. Or they do but there are no textbooks in the classroom, or the teacher is the fifth one this semester...and he is on the verge of leaving too. If STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers are the future driving force of the American economy; and if only an anointed few American students choose STEM as a career path, where will that leave us as a nation as we strive to compete on the global stage? Will America maintain its position as leader of the free world? Can a country that shuns the word “elite” ever maintain its elite status? Everything we value depends on this; our national security, reputation, and quality of life all depend on our ability to meet the needs of future generations of American workers as they compete for jobs. Jobs that will require problem solving skills, innovation, creativity, scientific literacy, and mathematical knowledge. Jobs that will require Americans who are tops in their fields with expertise, intellectual curiosity, ambition and vision. This book seeks to address these problems, as well as providing an historical backdrop for the discussion of STEM in American schools, race and gender issues, the effects of the standards movement on STEM, and what good teaching looks like in urban public schools. The future is here. Will we rise to the occasion?

STEM Education 2.0. discusses the most recent research on important selected K-12 STEM topics by synthesizing previous research and offering new research questions.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are cultural achievements that reflect our humanity, power our economy, and constitute fundamental aspects of our lives as citizens, consumers, parents, and members of the workforce. Providing all students with access to quality education in the STEM disciplines is important to our nation's competitiveness. However, it is challenging to identify the most successful schools and approaches in the STEM disciplines because success is defined in many ways and can occur in many different types of schools and settings. In addition, it is difficult to determine whether the success of a school's students is caused by actions the school takes or simply related to the population of students in the school. Successful K-12 STEM Education defines a framework for understanding "success" in K-12 STEM education. The book focuses its analysis on the science and mathematics parts of STEM and outlines criteria for identifying effective STEM schools and programs. Because a school's success should be defined by and measured relative to its goals, the book identifies three important goals that share certain elements, including learning STEM content and practices, developing positive dispositions toward STEM, and preparing students to be lifelong learners. A successful STEM program would increase the number of students who ultimately pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields, enhance the STEM-capable workforce, and boost STEM literacy for all students. It is also critical to broaden the participation of women and minorities in STEM fields. Successful K-12 STEM Education examines the vast landscape of K-12 STEM education by considering different school models, highlighting research on effective STEM education practices, and identifying some conditions that promote and limit school- and student-level success in STEM. The book also looks at where further work is needed to develop appropriate data sources. The book will serve as a guide to policy makers; decision makers at the school and district levels; local, state, and federal government agencies; curriculum developers; educators; and parent and education advocacy groups.

"If you are interested in STEM education, policies, programs or practices, or you work on STEM in some capacity at any level, The case for STEM education will prove to be valuable reading. Author Rodger W. Bybee has written this book to inspire individuals in leadership roles to better understand and take action on STEM initiatives. The book's 10 chapters accomplish several tasks: Put STEM in context by outlining the challenges facing STEM education, drawing lessons from the Sputnik moment of the 1950s and 1960s, and contrasting contemporary STEM with other education reforms; Explore appropriate roles for the federal government, as well as states, districts, and individual schools; Offer several ideas and recommendations you can use to develop action plans for STEM. With an emphasis on both thinking and acting, The case for STEM education is a must-read for leaders at all levels: national and state policy makers, state-level educators responsible for STEM initiatives, college and university faculty who educate future STEM teachers, local administrators who make decisions about district and school programs, and teachers who represent STEM disciplines." - Back cover.