Advancing Racial Equity for Youth in Alternative Schooling Systems through Culturally Responsive STEM Programming

当黑人和拉丁裔青年被不成比例地停学或开除，然后进入替代学校系统时，学校系统中存在种族差距。一旦进入替代系统，他们可能得不到追求一系列STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)轨迹和职业所需的支持，这些轨迹和职业与他们的兴趣和优势相一致。这种缺乏支持的情况可能会导致匹配不足，因为高中生有很大的潜力为STEM领域做出贡献，他们不申请那些为他们感兴趣的STEM职业做准备的大学。为了解决这种种族不平等，休斯顿大学将共同开发和研究一个项目，为休斯顿市以黑人和拉丁裔为主的高中生提供文化响应的指导、辅导、暑期研究实验室体验，以及大学和职业准备研讨会。在这一背景下，休斯顿大学的本科生职前教师将学习反种族主义和响应文化的教育学课程，他们将利用这些教学法作为框架，指导他们在暑期研究实验室以及实验室后辅导和STEM辅导中与青年互动。研究将探索职前教师是否报告在文化响应型教学中提高了自我效能感，以及该项目是否以及如何塑造高中生的STEM身份和对STEM职业的兴趣。结果将通过开放日、学区集市和媒体等场所与当地高中社区以及参与活动的青年及其家庭分享。休斯顿大学将与800万Stories合作，这是一种替代教育系统，旨在扰乱休斯顿市从学校到监狱的管道，共同设计和实施一项全面的计划，支持以黑人和拉丁裔为主的替代教育系统注册的学生在STEM职业生涯中做好准备。混合方法研究将探索参与该项目是否以及如何塑造年轻人的STEM身份，对STEM职业的兴趣，以及对上大学的感知准备。为了实现这一研究目的，项目组将分析STEM身份和兴趣的前后调查，以及重点小组的记录和对青年的采访。此外，混合方法研究将探索参加该项目是否以及如何形成职前STEM教师对文化响应型教学的自我效能感。为了达到第二个研究目的，除了焦点小组和访谈的成绩单外，项目组还将分析职前教师对文化反应的教学自我效能感和结果预期信念的前后调查。研究成果将通过专为STEM教师教育工作者、STEM教师、STEM教育研究人员和替代学校系统的利益相关者设计的网络、会议和期刊广泛传播。为了进一步在全国产生影响，为职前教师编写的材料将在国家UTeach计划的50多个地点广泛传播。总体而言，这些成果通过推进全面的方法，在被赶出主流学校系统的年轻人中支持STEM职业发展轨迹，从而实现STEM教育中的种族平等。该项目由STEM教育种族平等项目(EDU Race Equity)资助。该计划支持研究和实践项目，调查种族平等因素如何影响科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育和劳动力的改善。获奖项目寻求集中受STEM企业内部系统性不平等影响最大的个人、社区和机构的声音、知识和经验。该计划符合NSF的核心价值，即支持来自全国不同人口群体、地区和组织类型的杰出研究人员和创新思想家。EDU各地的方案向种族平等方案提供资金，以表彰其项目与理事会四个部门的集体研究和发展努力的一致性。该项目还得到了国家科学基金会HSI计划的资助，该计划旨在加强高等专科学校的本科生STEM教育和能力建设。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。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。

Racial disparities exist in school systems when Black and Latinx youth are disproportionately suspended or expelled and subsequently enter alternative schooling systems. Once in alternative systems, they may not receive the supports needed to pursue a range of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) trajectories and careers that align with their interests and strengths. This absence of supports can result in undermatching when high school students, who have great potential to contribute to STEM fields, do not apply for colleges that would prepare them for STEM careers of interest to them. To address this racial inequity, the University of Houston will co-develop and research a program that offers culturally responsive mentoring, tutoring, a summer research laboratory experience, and college and career readiness seminars to predominantly Black and Latinx high school students who are enrolled in alternative schooling systems in the city of Houston. Within this context, undergraduate pre-service teachers at the University of Houston will take coursework on anti-racist and culturally responsive pedagogies, and they will use these pedagogies as a framework to guide their interactions with the youth during their summer research laboratory, and in post-laboratory mentoring and STEM tutoring. Research will explore whether the pre-service teachers report increased self-efficacy in culturally responsive teaching, and whether and how the program shapes the high school students’ STEM identities and interest in STEM careers. Results will be shared with the local high school communities, and with the participating youth and their families, through open houses, school district fairs, and media, among other venues. The University of Houston will partner with 8 Million Stories, an alternative schooling system created to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in the in the city of Houston, to co-design and implement a comprehensive program that supports college and career readiness in STEM careers among predominantly Black and Latinx students enrolled in the alternative system. Mixed methods research will explore whether and how participation in the program shapes the youths’ STEM identities, interest in STEM careers, and perceived readiness for college. To achieve this research purpose, the project team will analyze pre-and post-surveys of STEM identity and interest, as well as transcripts of focus groups and interviews with youth. Additionally, mixed methods research will explore whether and how participation in the program shapes the pre-service STEM teachers’ sense of self-efficacy toward culturally responsive teaching. To achieve this second research purpose, the project team will analyze pre-and post-surveys of the pre-service teachers’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs, in addition to transcripts from focus groups and interviews. Research findings will be distributed widely through networks, conferences, and journals designed for audiences of STEM teacher educators, STEM teachers, STEM educational researchers, and stakeholders in alternative school systems. To achieve further national impacts, the materials developed for the pre-service teachers will be disseminated widely to over 50 sites in the National UTeach Program. Collectively, these deliverables move toward racial equity in STEM education through advancing comprehensive approaches for supporting STEM career trajectories among youth who have been pushed out of mainstream school systems. This project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education program (EDU Racial Equity). The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. This program aligns with NSF's core value of supporting outstanding researchers and innovative thinkers from across the Nation's diversity of demographic groups, regions, and types of organizations. Programs across EDU contribute funds to the Racial Equity program in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate. This project is also funded by the National Science Foundation's HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these goals.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.