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

培育本土教育和STEM领导力研究社区(CLOBS)联盟建立在爱达荷州、蒙大拿州、新墨西哥州、北达科他州、南达科他州和怀俄明州六个EPSCoR州之间现有合作伙伴关系的基础上，以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劳动力中代表性严重不足的问题。通过与STEM和包括人工智能/AN学生、教职员工和土著社区在内的传统知识持有者的有意合作，该项目旨在开发和维持一个以STEM的土著、响应文化的教育方法和做法为中心的国家模式，以增强包容性，增加参与，并在AI/AN STEM教育工作者和其他专业人员中建设能力。圈子联盟正在建立一个以地点为基础的教育资源和活动、教师专业发展和学生支持体系，以改变人们对与文化相关的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、传统知识和认识方式之间固有的认识论冲突，STEM中AI/AN学生被边缘化。圈子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/AN人口的10.5%，它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，通过整合土著了解方式来加强STEM教育。联盟国家的每个圈子都有人工智能/代表，并与部落、部落学院和大学以及在部落社区内工作的专业人员建立了关系。该项目将通过建立一个与文化相关的K-12 STEM课程材料储存库，并为STEM学科的学生、教职员工和STEM劳动力提供量身定制的支持和学习机会，创造有形的资源和新的合作伙伴关系。这个NSF Includes联盟由NSF Includes(NSF Includes)资助，NSF Includes是一项综合性的全国性倡议，旨在通过关注多样性、包容性和扩大对STEM的参与，加强美国在发现和创新方面的领导地位。该联盟由NSF设立的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。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。

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.