Middle Grades Career Mentors: Digital Resources for Effective CTE STEM Mentoring

该项目将推进“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目的工作，通过开发一套数字工具，更好地理解和促进提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学（STEM）领域追求职业的动机和能力的实践，旨在支持围绕技能教育和职业的积极信息传递，并改善导师与中学生青年学员的沟通。保持美国的经济优势，需要吸引人才从事高增长、高需求、以技能为基础的stem相关职业，这些职业传统上是通过职业和技术教育（CTE）获得的。用新的、更准确的CTE信息取代旧的负面观念，然后在青少年进入高中之前向他们传达这些信息是至关重要的。以职业为中心的指导是传递这些信息的工具，并支持青年探索CTE，将其作为自己生活的可能途径。研究人员将探索这样一种假设，即通过那些最有能力表达行业需求的人（导师）和那些最容易满足需求的人（学员）之间的紧密联系，该项目将提高年轻人对CTE的认识和兴趣，并为他们提供有回报的职业。研究和开发活动将在波士顿和纽约市的非正式学习环境中合作开展，通过以职业为重点的指导项目，为来自代表性不足社区的中学生提供服务。项目团队由WGBH教育基金会的媒体制作人领导，包括全球战略集团的市场研究人员和传播战略家，教育发展中心的学习科学家，以及SkillsUSA，终身学习中学探索俱乐部和美国童子军Scoutreach的指导项目合作伙伴。如果前景良好，SkillsUSA、终身学习（Learning for Life）和美国童子军（Boy Scouts of America）的以职业为重点的指导项目将把信息传递路线图和数字工具纳入到他们的指导课程中，这些课程每年影响100多万青少年。在研究的第一阶段，调查人员将从全国范围内的800名中学生和30名来自技能STEM行业的导师中研究对以STEM为重点的CTE的看法。在第二阶段，调查人员将与来自SkillsUSA、探险家俱乐部、Scoutreach和其他指导项目的6名项目负责人和30名导师合作，记录导师在进入指导过程时对支持的需求。第三阶段将让导师项目负责人和36名导师参与一套数字工具的迭代开发，这些工具将支持围绕技能教育和职业的积极信息，并改善导师与青年学员的沟通。此外，一项职前辅导计划试点研究将探索数字工具的前景，有效支持导师与学员之间的沟通，提高青年对以stem为重点的CTE和基于技能的stem相关职业的认识和兴趣。36名导师和288名青年学员将参加试点研究。研究的数据来源包括对项目负责人、导师和学员的访谈和调查，以及在线数字工具环境中对导师活动的跟踪。这项研究将进一步了解导师如何影响弱势青年对CTE和基于技能的STEM职业道路的看法和兴趣，目前很少有证据表明导师准备如何塑造对青年成果产生积极影响的能力。主要成果将包括：a)更深入地了解青年和导师对CTE的看法，以及导师对支持他们与学生一起工作的需求；b)为导师与中学生一起工作做好准备的信息传递路线图和数字工具；c)关于数字工具的潜力的实证研究结果，这些工具可以有效地支持导师与学生之间的沟通，从而提高青年对CTE和基于技能的stem相关职业的认识和兴趣。成果将通过社交媒体、合作伙伴网络、会议演讲和研究出版物广泛分享给当地和全国的研究、教育和行业社区。咨询委员会将对项目活动进行独立审查。

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by developing a suite of digital tools designed to support positive messaging around skill-based education and careers and to improve mentors' communication with middle school-aged youth mentees. Maintaining U.S. economic advantage requires attracting talent to high-growth, high-demand skill-based, STEM-related careers that are traditionally attained through Career and Technical Education (CTE). Replacing old negative perceptions with new, more accurate messages about CTE and then reaching youth with these messages before high school is essential. Career-focused mentoring is a vehicle for delivering these messages and supporting youth exploration of CTE as a possible path for their own lives. Investigators will explore the hypothesis that through strong connections between those best positioned to articulate industry needs (mentors) and those most receptive to filling that need (mentees), this project will improve youth awareness and interest in CTE and the rewarding careers that are available to them. Research and development activities will be carried out collaboratively in informal learning environments in Boston and New York City that serve middle school-aged youth from underrepresented communities, through career-focused mentoring programs. The project team, led by media producers of the WGBH Education Foundation, includes market researchers and communications strategists at Global Strategy Group, learning scientists at Education Development Center, and mentorship program partners at SkillsUSA, Learning for Life's Middle School Explorer Clubs, and Boy Scouts of America's Scoutreach. If promising, the career-focused mentoring programs of SkillsUSA, Learning for Life, and Boy Scouts of America will incorporate the messaging roadmap and digital tools to support their mentoring curricula, which impact greater than one million youth in each year.In the first phase of research, investigators will study perceptions of STEM-focused CTE from a nationwide sample of 800 middle school-aged youth and 30 mentors from skill-based STEM industries. In the second phase, investigators will work with six program leaders and 30 mentors from SkillsUSA, Explorer Clubs, Scoutreach, and other mentoring programs to document the needs of mentors for support as they enter into the mentoring process. The third phase will engage mentorship program leaders and 36 mentors in the iterative development of a suite of digital tools that would support positive messaging around skill-based education and careers and that would improve mentors' communication with youth mentees. In addition, a pre-post mentorship program pilot study will explore the promise of the digital tools for effectively supporting mentor-mentee communications that improve youth awareness and interest in STEM-focused CTE and skill-based, STEM-related careers. Thirty six mentors and 288 of their youth mentees will participate in the pilot study. Data sources for research include interviews and surveys of program leaders, mentors, and mentees, as well as tracking mentor activity within the online digital tool environment. This research would advance knowledge of how mentors influence disadvantaged youth perceptions of and interest in CTE and skill-based, STEM career pathways, in which there is currently little evidence as to how mentor preparation shapes ability to positively impact youth outcomes. Major outcomes will include a) deeper understandings of youth and mentor perceptions of CTE and mentors' needs for supporting their work with mentees, b) a messaging roadmap and digital tools that prepare mentors for their work with middle school youth, and c) empirical findings regarding the potential of the digital tools for effectively supporting mentor-mentee communications that improve youth's awareness and interest in CTE and skill-based, STEM-related careers. Outcomes will be shared widely to research, education, and industry communities, locally and nationally, through social media, partner networks, conference presentations, and research publications. An advisory board will provide independent review on the project activities.