NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education and STEM (CIRCLES) Alliance

培养教育和STEM领导的土著研究社区（圈子）联盟建立在EPSCoR六个州（爱达荷州、蒙大拿州、新墨西哥州、北达科他州、南达科他州和怀俄明州）现有合作伙伴关系的基础上，旨在解决美国印第安人和阿拉斯加原住民（AI/ an）学生在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学科和STEM劳动力中严重不足的问题。通过与STEM和传统知识持有者（包括AI/AN学生、教职员工和土著社区）的有意合作，该项目旨在发展和维持一个以STEM为中心的土著文化响应教育方法和实践的国家模式，以增强AI/AN STEM教育工作者和其他专业人员的包容性、参与度和能力建设。圈子联盟正在建立一个基于地方的教育资源和活动、教师专业发展和学生支持的系统，以改变对与文化相关的STEM教育的认识和支持。研究认为，由于主流STEM教育背景与AI/AN身份、传统知识和认知方式之间固有的认识论冲突，人工智能/AN学生在STEM中被边缘化。CIRCLES联盟正在应对这一挑战。这六个州的专家、机构和社区网络占全国人工智能/人工智能人口的10.5%，他们参与了一个网络改进社区，以开发一种基于证据的模式，与部落社区携手合作，通过整合土著的认识方式来加强STEM教育。圈子联盟的每个州都有人工智能/人工智能代表，并与部落、部落学院和大学以及从事部落社区工作的专业人员建立了关系。该项目将通过建立与文化相关的K-12 STEM课程材料储存库，并为STEM学科的学生、教师和工作人员以及STEM劳动力提供量身定制的支持和学习机会，从而产生切实的资源和新的伙伴关系。NSF INCLUDES联盟由美国国家科学基金会全国工程和科学领域未被充分代表的发现者学习者社区（NSF INCLUDES）资助，这是一项全面的国家倡议，旨在通过关注多样性、包容性和扩大STEM的大规模参与来增强美国在发现和创新方面的领导地位。该联盟由美国国家科学基金会建立的刺激竞争性研究计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。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。

The Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education and STEM (CIRCLES) Alliance builds on the collaborative efforts of an existing partnership among six EPSCoR states - Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming - to address the severe underrepresentation of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and within the STEM workforce. Through intentional collaboration with STEM and traditional knowledge holders, including AI/AN students, faculty and staff, and Indigenous communities, this project aims to develop and sustain a national model for centering Indigenous, culturally responsive educational approaches and practices in STEM to enhance inclusivity, increase participation, and build capacity among AI/AN STEM educators and other professionals. The CIRCLES Alliance is establishing a system of place-based educational resources and activities, teacher professional development, and student supports to effect change in the awareness of, and support for, culturally relevant STEM education.Research has considered the marginalization of AI/AN students in STEM due to an inherent epistemological conflict between mainstream STEM educational contexts and AI/AN identity, traditional knowledge, and ways of knowing. The CIRCLES Alliance is addressing this challenge. The network of experts, institutions, and communities in these six states, which represent 10.5% percent of the Nation’s AI/AN population, participate in a Networked Improvement Community to develop an evidence-based model of working hand- in-hand with tribal communities to enhance STEM education through the integration of Indigenous ways of knowing. Each of the CIRCLES Alliance states has AI/AN representation and established relationships with tribes, tribal colleges and universities, and professionals engaged in working within tribal communities. This project will generate tangible resources and new partnerships by building a repository of culturally relevant K-12 STEM curricular materials and providing tailored supports and learning opportunities for students, faculty, and staff involved in STEM disciplines and the STEM workforce. This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion, and broadening participation in STEM at scale. The Alliance is jointly funded by the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program.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.