Fusing Equity and Whole-School STEM Models: A Conference Proposal

在美国，人们对全校STEM教育模式的兴趣正在迅速扩大，但对有效STEM学校的基本特征的共识有限，对有效实践的研究基础也有限。还有人担心与全校STEM模式相关的股权问题。该项目将通过规划、实施和评估一次关于公平在高中阶段的全校STEM教育模式，特别是包容性STEM学校(ISS)中的作用的邀请性会议的成果来解决这些问题。会议将包括25名受邀与会者，他们在股权问题或全校STEM改革努力方面拥有研究人员或从业人员的专业知识。这些与会者将讨论如何：1)在利益攸关方社区中建立关于公平在全校STEM模式中的作用的集体理解；2)绘制、综合和报告围绕公平在全校STEM和非STEM模式中的作用的现有研究领域，包括研究基础中的优势和差距；以及3)确定可以指导未来研究的中心问题和问题，以便确定这些主题的优先次序，并启动参与者之间富有成效的合作，以寻求关键问题的答案。这些讨论将产生两个关键结果：1)一个以实践者为中心的逻辑模型，将公平整合到全校STEM的设计和实施中；2)一个研究模型，支持对公平和全校STEM计划之间的交叉建立一个经验上的理解。以STEM为中心的学校有各种模式，不同模式之间最显著的差异是招生标准。该项目将侧重于开放招生的包容性STEM学校，并为所有学生提供在STEM领域进修或就业的途径。联邦倡议推动和支持了这些学校的扩张，但关于这些学校的影响的研究很少，关于公平考虑对这些学校的设计和实施的作用的研究更少。该项目将针对有限的研究基础，特别关注包容性STEM学校的文化相关性和文化响应性方案，并启动关于公平在设计包容性STEM方案中的作用的研究议程。该项目将寻求确定有效的实践，并记录不同人群的成果。探索研究预科-12课程(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高预科-12年级学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。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。

Interest in whole-school STEM education models is rapidly expanding in the United States, but there is limited agreement on the essential features of effective STEM schools and a limited research base on effective practices. There are also concerns regarding equity issues associated with whole-school STEM models. This project will address these issues by planning, implementing, and evaluating the outcomes of an invitational conference on the role of equity in whole-school STEM education models, particularly Inclusive STEM Schools (ISS), at the high school level. The conference will include 25 invited participants who have expertise as researchers or practitioners in equity issues or whole-school STEM reform efforts. These participants will discuss how to: 1) Create a collective understanding among a community of stakeholders regarding the role of equity in whole-school STEM models, 2) Map, synthesize, and report the terrain of existing research around the role of equity in whole-school STEM and non-STEM models including both strengths and gaps in the research base, and 3) Identify central issues and questions that can guide future research in order to prioritize these topics and initiate productive collaborations among participants to pursue answers to critical questions. These discussions will result in two key outcomes: 1) A practitioner centered logic model that integrates equity into the design and implementation of STEM at the whole-school level, and 2) A research model that supports building an empirical understanding of the intersection between equity and whole-school STEM programs.There are various models of STEM-centered schools, with the most significant difference across models being the enrollment criteria. This project will focus on Inclusive STEM Schools which have open enrollment and provide paths for all students to advanced learning or careers in STEM fields. Federal initiatives have promoted and supported expansion of these schools, but there is little research on the impacts of these schools, and even less research on the role of equity considerations on the design and implementation of these schools. This project will address the limited research base by focusing specifically on culturally relevant and culturally responsive programing for inclusive STEM schools and initiating a research agenda on the role of equity in designing inclusive STEM programs. The project will seek to identify effective practices, and document outcomes on diverse populations.The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.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.