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

该项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划的努力，通过开发、测试和传播工具和战略，提高残疾高中生对STEM相关职业的认识，从而更好地了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、发育或身体残疾的学生及其教师。在为期三年的项目中，调查人员将：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)发展当地STEM团队，每个团队包括俄勒冈州四个社区的STEM和特殊教育教师、行业专业人员和过渡专家；c)为STEM团队提供专业发展机会，并促进STEM团队建设能力，以创建和实施行动计划，以增加其学校和社区中残疾学生的STEM学习体验；让160名残疾学生参与体验式学习和职业探索，使用在线工具、学校赞助的活动，如科学博览会和机器人俱乐部，以及社区体验，如实地考察和职业跟踪。该项目旨在改善残疾学生的就业结果，并增进对影响他们进入高中STEM学习途径的背景和条件的了解。将特别重视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，这些因素被认为影响残疾学生在STEM职业道路上的参与和兴趣。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个新的STEM和针对残疾的工具：a)STEM职业人行横道部分，确定需要STEM知识，但不到四年大学学位的职业；b)职业评估反向报告，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个人概况；d)关于残疾意识、披露和适应的课程；e)资源部分，培养对奖学金、暑期实习和其他资源的认识，以帮助残疾学生取得成功；以及f)可用于可视地绘制和操纵中学后过渡计划的交互式中学后过渡地图。要实施和测试的模式是以以前项目的结果为基础的，这些项目侧重于创造职业发展资源和实施从学校到工作的协作过渡方案。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。该项目将在第三年结束，对修订后的模型进行试点测试。修订后的模式预计将在三个层面促进具体成果：(A)提高学生的STEM成效、参与度和对STEM职业的兴趣；(B)提高教师在STEM和残疾内容方面的知识和自我效能；以及(C)提高参与学校为残疾学生提供STEM学习的能力。将使用基于设计的实施研究方法来经验性地设计、开发和测试计划模型，使用各种标准措施作为预试和后测、一系列使用情况分析和定制报告来衡量项目进度和影响。

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.