Caminos a la Ciencia/Pathways to Science: A Program Designed to Recruit, Retain, and Develop Latinas in STEM Disciplines

这是一个多年项目，旨在推动学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划的努力，以更好地了解和促进激励拉丁裔追求科学、技术、工程或数学(STEM)职业的教育途径的实践。该项目将致力于确定和解决影响拉美裔学生在整个高中阶段从事STEM教育的程度的因素。这些因素将包括：(A)获得STEM学习机会的机会；(B)影响他们参与这些活动的语言问题；(C)家庭或社区对接受STEM教育的鼓励程度；以及(D)财政压力，例如为家庭或儿童保育提供支持。该项目团队由兰道夫-梅肯学院(Randolph-Macon College)组成，作为骨干组织，与一批专注于STEM的财富500强公司和非营利组织以及州和地方政府以及当地公立学校系统合作。该项目将根据一位老师的推荐和一篇书面文章，在他们的高中一年级识别有前途的学生。被选中的学生将在连续三个暑假(大一、大二和大三之后)每年被邀请到校园，在那里他们将参加有针对性的活动。这些活动将旨在实现几个目标：(A)建立一个具有凝聚力的群体，其身份接受智力的STEM跨学科研究；(B)发展和培养领导技能；(C)使该群体接触到STEM领域杰出的成功的拉丁裔；以及(D)培养成功申请并坚持在大学环境中工作的技能。将为这些学生和他们的家庭提供协同活动，以将目标延伸到学年。在每个暑期结束时，学生将获得他们选择的认可机构的适度奖学金。研究问题将是：(1)与这些结构的初始测量相比，目标人群的参与度，包括态度、对STEM学科的兴趣以及对从事STEM大学教育的兴趣如何变化？(2)与专注于STEM的公司和非营利组织的伙伴关系在多大程度上解释了参与者队列中观察到的参与度的变化？以及(3)父母的参与和其他外部因素在多大程度上解释了焦点人群中观察到的参与度变化？为了回答这些问题，该项目将使用多种数据收集途径，包括：(A)学生对STEM的态度(S-STEM)调查，该调查衡量学生在STEM科目、21世纪的学习技能和对STEM职业的兴趣方面的信心和有效性的变化；(B)夏令营前和夏令营后的调查，衡量学生对STEM主题的兴趣和家庭参与度；(C)对与家庭成员的参与度的观察性评估。重点人群将由拉丁裔组成。该项目将对三分之一的人口进行为期五年的跟踪调查，对三分之一的人口进行为期四年的跟踪调查，并对三分之一的人口进行为期三年的跟踪调查，以收集超过资助期结束后的相关数据，以便在高中毕业后的第二年跟踪整个队列。数据解释战略将包括对参与度变化的纵向趋势分析和对促成这种变化的因素的解释性分析。该项目的主要成果将是确定与拉丁裔从高中到大学的成功途径相关的因素。该项目将进行形成性和终结性评估，以对计划进行改进和调整，并确定工作的潜在可扩展性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This is a multi-year project aimed at advancing efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that motivate Latinas to pursue educational pathways to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) occupations. The project will work toward identifying and addressing the factors which influence Latinas' levels of engagement in pursuing STEM education throughout their high school years. These factors will include (a) accessibility to STEM learning opportunities; (b) language issues that affect their participation in these activities; (c) level of family or community encouragement to pursue STEM education; and (d) financial pressures, such as providing support for the family or child care. The project team consists of Randolph-Macon College, which serves as the backbone organization, working together with a group of STEM-focused Fortune 500 corporations and nonprofits, as well as state and local government and local public-school systems. The program will identify promising students during their freshman year of high school based on recommendation from a teacher and a written essay. Selected students will be invited to campus for each of three consecutive summers (after the freshman, sophomore, and junior years) where they will participate in targeted activities. These activities will be designed to accomplish several goals: (a) to create a cohesive cohort with an identity embracing intellectual interdisciplinary STEM enquiry; (b) to develop and nurture leadership skills; (c) to expose the cohort to prominent successful Latinas in STEM fields; and (d) to develop skills leading to success in applying to and persisting in a college environment. Synergistic activities will be included for these students and their families to extend the goals into the academic year. At the conclusion of each summer, students will earn modest scholarships to an accredited institution of their choice.The research questions will be (1) How does engagement, including attitudes, interest in STEM disciplines, and interest in pursuing college education in STEM change for the target population, compared to initial measures of these constructs?; (2) To what extent do partnerships with STEM-focused corporations and nonprofits account for change in engagement observed in participant cohorts?; and (3) To what extent does parental involvement and other external factors account for an observed engagement change in the focus population? To answer these questions, the project will use multiple data collection pathways, including (a) the Student Attitudes Toward STEM (S-STEM) Survey, which measures changes in confidence and efficacy in STEM subjects, 21st century learning skills and interest in STEM careers; (b) pre- and post-camp surveys, which measure interest in STEM topics, and family engagement; and (c) observational assessments of engagements with family members. The focus population will consist of Latinas. The project will follow one third of the population for five years, one third for four years, and one third for three year to collect pertinent data past the end of the funding period to follow the entire cohort through the second year after graduation from high school. Data interpretation strategies will include longitudinal-trend analysis of engagement change and explanatory analysis of the factors that contribute to that change. The main outcome of the project will be the identification of factors that are associated with a successful Latina's pathway from high school to college. The project will conduct formative and summative evaluation to make improvements and adjustments to the program, as well as to determine potential scalability of the work.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.