Implementing the STEM Excellence and Leadership Program to Understand the Role of Local Agency in Broadening High-Potential, Rural Students' STEM Participation and Achievement

作为加强非正式环境中学习的整体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助创新研究，方法和资源，用于各种环境。该服务于实践的研究项目将解决农村中学生的非正规教育问题，这些学生在促进计算机和IT知识，先进的定量知识和STEM技能方面具有很高的学术成功潜力。本研究将选择爱荷华州农村的十个学区。预计将产生关于农村非正规教育的新知识，以造福于全国的劳动力。具体目标是了解非正式STEM学习如何塑造农村高潜力学生的学术和心理社会成果，并确定农村高潜力学生及其教师成功的非正式STEM学习环境的关键特征。该项目的成果将为教育工作者提供新的工具，以增加来自经济贫困农村地区的服务不足学生进入STEM的流动。总统科技顾问理事会预测，未来十年STEM工作岗位数量将迅速增加，迫切需要学生的教育机会，为他们进入这一劳动力市场做好准备。2014年，62%的美国大公司首席执行官表示，他们在填补需要高级计算机和信息技术知识的职位时遇到了挑战。项目组将采用混合方法，结合比较案例研究和混合效应纵向方法，研究卓越计划。数据来源包括教师访谈、课堂观察、学生对学业能力和心理社会结果的评估。对该计划的分析和评估将基于对学区当地努力的了解，以建立符合其高潜力学生群体需求的课程。项目设计和后续分析计划采用混合方法，结合案例研究和纵向定量方法来分析自然数据，并为该计划的实施和影响建立强有力的证据。该项目将为如何最好地设计，实施和支持非正式的校外学习环境提供重要的见解，以扩大资源不足的农村学生在STEM教育和职业生涯的最高水平的参与。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. This Research in Service to Practice project will address the issues around Informal Education of rural middle school students who have high potential regarding academic success in efforts to promote computer and IT knowledge, advanced quantitative knowledge, and STEM skills. Ten school districts in rural Iowa will be chosen for this study. It is anticipated that new knowledge on rural informal education will be generated to benefit the Nation's workforce. The specific objectives are to understand how informal STEM learning shapes the academic and psychosocial outcomes of rural, high-potential students, and to identify key characteristics of successful informal STEM learning environments for rural, high-potential students and their teachers. The results of this project will provide new tools for educators to increase the flow of underserved students into STEM from economically-disadvantaged rural settings. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology predicts a rapid rise in the number of STEM jobs available in the next decade, describing an urgent need for students' educational opportunities to prepare them for this workforce. In 2014, 62% of CEOs of major US corporations reported challenges filling positions requiring advanced computer and information technology knowledge. The project team will use a mixed methods approach, integrating comparative case study and mixed effects longitudinal methods, to study the Excellence program. Data sources include teacher interviews, classroom observations, and student assessments of academic aptitude and psychosocial outcomes. The analysis and evaluation of the program will be grounded in understanding the local efforts of school districts to build curriculum responsive to the demands of their high-potential student body. The project design, and subsequent analysis plan, utilizes a mixed methods approach, incorporating case study and longitudinal quantitative methods to analyze naturalistic data and build robust evidence for the implementation and impact of this program. This project will provide significant insights in how best to design, implement, and support informal out-of-school learning environments to broaden participation in the highest levels of STEM education and careers for under-resourced rural students.