A Track 1 Proposal for Creating a Pipeline for Diversity in the Geosciences: A Sustainability-based Approach

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。伍斯特州立学院（WSC）正在与马萨诸塞州伍斯特市的当地学区合作，通过为不同层次的学生创建一个综合渠道，增加本科生地球科学课程的多样性。在这个地区，35.7%的学生是拉丁裔，12.9%是非裔美国人，7.8%是亚裔美国人，这使得该项目对代表性不足的人群产生了特别的影响。该项目的关键是与伍斯特职业技术高中环境技术计划的战略合作伙伴关系。该项目将通过一系列相互关联的课程项目、实习和WSC与周边学校之间的促进协议来建立这些联系。第一个倡议是为中学教师开发一个课程丰富计划，这是马萨诸塞州唯一一个将地球科学明确纳入课程的公共教育水平。我们项目的下一阶段是建立一个实习项目，将伍斯特的少数民族青年与可持续发展组织和企业配对。我们与伍斯特麻省奥杜邦、马萨诸塞州彼得舍姆的哈佛森林、地区环境委员会和有毒土壤克星等青年组织合作开发了这个项目。高中实习计划的高潮将是鼓励成功的实习生利用WSC和地区高中之间的衔接协议，这将使他们能够参加大学水平的地球科学课程。如果他们选择攻读更高的学位，接触大学环境和获得大学学分将给这些学生带来显著的经验和经济优势。其目的是建立一条从公立学校到WSC地球科学项目的途径。大多数从伍斯特州立学院毕业的学生毕业后都留在了该地区，所以我们的努力将培养出能够在周边社区的中学阶段教授地球科学的毕业生，进一步巩固这些机构之间的关系。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Worcester State College (WSC) is working with the local school district in the City of Worcester, MA, to increase diversity in undergraduate geoscience programs through the creation of an integrated pipeline for engaging students at a variety of levels. In this district, 35.7% of the students are Latino, 12.9% are African-American, and 7.8% are Asian-American giving the program particular impact on under-represented populations. Key to this project is a strategic partnership with the Worcester Vocational Technical High School Environmental Technologies program.The project will establish these connections through a series of interlinked curricular programs, internships, and facilitation agreements between WSC and surrounding schools. The first initiative is to develop a curriculum enrichment program for middle schools teachers, the only level in public education where the geosciences are an explicit part of the curriculum in Massachusetts. The next phase in our project is to establish an internship project that will pair minority youth in Worcester with sustainability based organizations and enterprises. We have partnered with Worcester Mass Audubon, Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA, the Regional Environmental Council and youth groups like Toxic Soil Busters to develop this program. The culmination of the high school internship program will be to encourage successful interns to take advantage of an articulation agreement between WSC and area high schools that will allow them to take college level courses in the geosciences. Gaining exposure to the college environment and earning college credit will give these students a significant experiential and economic advantage should they chose to pursue an advanced degree. The aim is to create a pathway from the public schools to the WSC Earth Science program. Most students who graduate from Worcester State College remain in the area after graduation so this endeavor we will produce graduates who will go on to teach geosciences at the secondary level in the surrounding communities, further cementing these institutional relationships.