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

在美国，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模式相关的公平问题。该项目将通过规划、实施和评估邀请会议的成果来解决这些问题，该会议将讨论公平在全校STEM教育模式中的作用，特别是在高中阶段的包容性STEM学校（ISS）。会议将邀请25位在公平问题或全校STEM改革工作方面具有专业知识的研究人员或实践者参加。这些与会者将讨论如何：1)在利益相关者社区中建立关于公平在全校STEM模型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模型中的作用的现有研究领域，包括研究基础的优势和差距；3)确定可以指导未来研究的核心问题和问题，以便优先考虑这些主题，并在参与者之间发起富有成效的合作，以寻求关键问题的答案。这些讨论将产生两个关键成果：1)以实践者为中心的逻辑模型，将公平整合到全校级STEM的设计和实施中；2)一个研究模型，支持建立对公平与全校级STEM项目之间交集的实证理解。以stem为中心的学校有各种各样的模式，不同模式之间最显著的差异是招生标准。该项目将重点关注包容性STEM学校，这些学校开放招生，为所有学生提供STEM领域的高级学习或职业道路。联邦政府的举措促进和支持了这些学校的扩张，但对这些学校的影响的研究很少，对公平考虑在这些学校的设计和实施中的作用的研究就更少了。该项目将通过特别关注包容性STEM学校的文化相关和文化响应计划来解决有限的研究基础，并启动关于公平在设计包容性STEM计划中的作用的研究议程。该项目将寻求确定有效的做法，并记录不同人群的成果。探索研究preK-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高preK-12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）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实证依据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.