Science Technology Engineering and Math: Developing Education and Career Opportunity Systems

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、测试和传播工具和策略，提高残疾高中学生对STEM相关职业的认识，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。该项目的参与者将包括根据2004年《残疾人教育法》有资格获得特殊教育服务的有学习、情感、发展或身体残疾的学生及其教师。在为期三年的项目中，研究者将：a)研究项目活动对参与者在STEM学习和职业中的信心、兴趣和效能的影响；b)在俄勒冈州的四个社区建立当地的STEM团队，每个团队包括STEM和特殊教育教师、行业专业人士和过渡专家；c)提供专业发展机会，并促进STEM团队建立能力，以制定和实施行动计划，以增加学校和社区残疾学生的STEM学习经验；d)利用在线工具、学校赞助的科学展览和机器人俱乐部等活动，以及实地考察和工作见习等社区体验，让160名残疾学生参与体验式学习和职业探索。该项目旨在改善残疾学生的就业结果，并增进对影响他们获得高中STEM学习途径的背景和条件的了解。将特别强调与区域经济倡议和当地社区资源相关的STEM领域，包括先进制造业，农业，工程，环境科学，健康科学，海洋生物学和自然资源。该项目将测试社区、学校和个人因素的生态模型，这些因素被认为会影响残疾学生对STEM职业道路的参与和兴趣。在第一年，该项目将建立一个项目设计团队和四个STEM团队（俄勒冈州四个不同社区各一个），他们将与项目研究团队合作，利用现有的职业信息系统开发在线职业探索内容和工具，该系统已在俄勒冈州80%以上的学区和其他16个州使用。该项目将开发并纳入六项新的STEM和残疾人专用工具：a) STEM职业十字路口组件，确定需要STEM知识但不需要四年大学学位的职业；b)职业评估逆向报告，确定与学生的兴趣、技能和价值观相关的stem相关职业；c)在stem相关领域工作的残疾人概况；d)关于残疾意识、披露和便利的经验教训；e)资源组成部分，以提高对奖学金、暑期实习和其他资源的认识，帮助残疾学生取得成功；f)一个交互式的高等教育过渡图，可以用来直观地映射和操纵高等教育过渡计划。即将实施和测试的模型基于先前项目的研究结果，这些项目侧重于创造职业发展资源和实施合作的从学校到工作的过渡计划。经过一年的开发阶段，该项目将对80名残疾学生进行设计实验，并根据需要进行修改。该项目将于第三年结束，届时将对修订后的模型进行试点测试。修订后的模型有望在三个层面上促进具体成果：a)提高STEM的有效性、参与度和学生对STEM职业的兴趣；b)教师对STEM和残疾内容的知识和自我效能感提高，STEM职业意识增强；c)参与学校为残疾学生提供STEM学习的能力有所提高。基于设计的实现研究方法将被用于经验地设计、开发和测试程序模型，使用各种标准度量作为预测试和后测试、一系列使用分析和自定义报告来度量项目进度和影响。

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase student motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by developing, testing, and disseminating tools and strategies for increasing awareness of STEM-related careers among high school students with disabilities. Participants in the project will include students having learning, emotional, developmental, or physical disabilities who are eligible for special education services under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 2004, and their teachers. During the three-year project, investigators will: a) Study the effects of project activities on participants' confidence, interests, and efficacy in STEM learning and occupations; b) Develop local STEM Teams that each include STEM and special education teachers, industry professionals, and transition specialists in four Oregon communities; c) Provide professional development opportunities and facilitate a process for the STEM teams to build capacity to create and implement action plans to increase STEM learning experiences for students with disabilities in their schools and communities; and d) Engage 160 students with disabilities in experiential learning and career exploration using online tools, school sponsored activities such as science fairs and robotics clubs, and community experiences such as field trips and job shadowing. The project aims to improve employment outcomes for students with disabilities, and to advance knowledge of the contexts and conditions that influence their access to high school STEM learning pathways. Special emphasis will be given to STEM fields related to regional economic initiatives and local community resources, including advanced manufacturing, agriculture, engineering, environmental sciences, health sciences, marine biology, and natural resources. The project will test an ecological model of community, school, and individual factors thought to influence participation and interests in STEM career pathways among students with disabilities. During year one, the project will establish a Project Design Team and four STEM Teams--one for each of four different communities in Oregon--that will work with the project's research team to develop online career exploration content and tools using an existing Career Information System that is used in over 80% of Oregon school districts and across 16 other states. The project will develop and incorporate six new STEM and disability-specific tools: a) A STEM Crosswalk of Occupations component that identifies occupations that require STEM knowledge, but less than a four-year college degree; b) An Inverse Report for Career Assessment that identifies STEM-related occupations that correlate to a students' interests, skills, and values; c) Profiles of individuals with disabilities working in STEM-related fields; d) Lessons on disability awareness, disclosure, and accommodations; e) A Resources component to foster awareness of scholarships, summer internships, and other resources to help students with disabilities succeed; and f) An interactive Postsecondary Transition Map that can be used to visually map and manipulate a postsecondary transition plan. The model to be implemented and tested is grounded in the findings of previous projects focusing on the creation of career development resources and implementation of collaborative school-to-work transition programs. Following a one-year development phase, the project will conduct a design experiment with 80 students with disabilities, making revisions as needed. The project will conclude in year three with a pilot test of the revised model. The revised model is expected to promote specific outcomes at three levels: a) Increased STEM efficacy, participation, and interest in STEM careers among students; b) Increased knowledge and self-efficacy in STEM and disability content and STEM career awareness among teachers; and c) Increased capacity to provide STEM learning for students with disabilities among participating schools. A design-based implementation research approach will be used to empirically design, develop, and test the program model using a variety of standard measures as pretests and posttests, a range of usage analytics, and custom reports to measure project progress and impact.