Exploring the Relationship Between Continuous Improvement Culture and Afterschool STEM Program Quality

在过去的二十年里，课后课程在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学习生态系统中的作用不断增强，这导致了越来越多的努力来支持和提高课程质量。这些努力包括制定STEM项目和课程，制定促进非正式STEM学习经验的标准，建立支持网络，以及开发评估和评价工具。然而，这些努力在持续的质量改进方面可能影响有限。STEM课程在学科重点和质量上各不相同，可能不适用于当地情况和需求。许多课后项目采用简单的STEM工具包或在线活动，而不是严格的课程和教育工作者的支持。该项目将研究加州教育部（CDE）改变组织文化以支持持续质量改进（CQI）的努力如何影响该州4500多个公共资助的课后场所的课后STEM课程的提供和质量。EPISTEMIC项目将为CQI如何为服务不足的青少年提供更高质量的STEM学习机会提供新的研究成果。更重要的是，该项目将为组织文化如何影响课外CQI的参与和实施提供新的见解。研究团队将使用组织理论框架和混合方法进行三项研究活动：(1)通过访谈、参与者观察和工件分析来描述组织背景，以映射和描述整体支持系统作为理解组织文化变革的背景；(2)通过对课后青年、员工、主管和受资助者代表的调查/访谈，描述组织文化、CQI流程、STEM项目提供和质量随时间的变化；(3)通过深入的案例研究，对不同背景下组织文化、CQI和STEM质量之间的关系进行解释。将组织文化、CQI和STEM产品和质量纳入共同关注的焦点是这项工作最重要的智力贡献。组织理论的语义概念将指导对组织文化、CQI和STEM项目变化模式进行描述、举例和生成理论解释的分析，并关注相关的上下文因素。持续的质量改进为课后STEM工作人员提供了确定需求和改进方法的工具。认识论研究将为加利福尼亚的政策制定者、资助者、支持提供者和课后组织以及全国其他州或非政府支持系统提供有关改进策略的系统、组织和文化方面的建议。该研究还将为课后工作人员和现场主任提供CQI指南，以反映和纳入组织文化的变化，作为CQI的一部分。这将对全国各地的从业者有所帮助。该研究将重点放在三种组织背景下——学区、全国课后和地方课后——将扩大研究结果和建议的相关性，这些结果和建议将通过论坛、研讨会、实践文章和政策导向出版物进行传播。本研究也将为研究组织文化和CQI提供一个框架和方法。关于组织文化、CQI和STEM产品和成果之间关系的研究结果将为进一步研究这些与青少年STEM学习成果之间的关系奠定基础。EPISTEMIC由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，扩大STEM学习经验的获取和参与，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深度学习的理解。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 role of afterschool programs in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning ecosystem has grown over the past two decades, which has led to increasing efforts to support and improve program quality. These efforts include developing STEM programs and curricula, creating standards for facilitating informal STEM learning experiences, building networks of support, and developing tools for assessment and evaluation. However, such efforts may have limited impact in terms of ongoing quality improvement. STEM curricula vary in disciplinary focus, quality and may not apply to local contexts and needs. Many afterschool programs resort to using simple STEM kits or online activities rather than rigorous curricula with support for educators. The project will study how the California Department of Education's (CDE) efforts to change organizational culture to support continuous quality improvement (CQI) have affected the offerings and quality of afterschool STEM in the state's more than 4,500 publicly funded afterschool sites. The EPISTEMIC project will contribute new research findings on how CQI can increase access to higher quality STEM learning opportunities for underserved youth. Even more important, the project will provide new insights on how organizational culture affects participation in and implementation of afterschool CQI. The team will use an organizational theory framework and a mixed methods approach to conduct three research activities: (1) Describe the organizational context through interviews, participant observations, and artifact analysis to map and describe the overall support system as a context for understanding organizational culture change; (2) Describe change over time in organizational culture, CQI processes, and STEM program offerings and quality through surveys/interviews of afterschool youth, staff, directors, and grantee representatives; and (3) Generate explanations about the relationships between organizational culture, CQI, and STEM quality in different contexts through in depth case studies. Bringing organizational culture, CQI, and STEM offerings and quality into shared focus is the most important intellectual contribution of this work. Organizational theory's sensemaking concept will guide analyses to describe, exemplify, and generate theoretical explanations for patterns in organizational culture, CQI, and STEM program changes, with attention to relevant contextual factors.Continuous quality improvement provides tools for afterschool STEM staff to identify needs and ways to improve. The EPISTEMIC study will contribute recommendations on the systemic, organizational, and cultural aspects of improvement strategies relevant to policymakers, funders, support providers, and afterschool organizations in California, as well as other state or nongovernmental support systems around the country. The study will also produce CQI guidelines for reflecting on and incorporating changes to organizational culture as part of CQI for afterschool staff and site directors. These will be helpful for practitioners around the country. The study's focus on three organizational contexts -- school district, national afterschool, and local afterschool -- will extend the relevance of the findings and recommendations, which will be disseminated through forums, workshops, and articles in practice and policy-oriented publications. The study will also benefit the research community by providing a framework and methods for studying organizational culture and CQI. The findings on the relationships between organizational culture, CQI, and STEM offerings and outcomes will provide a foundation for further research on how these relate to STEM learning outcomes for youth. EPISTEMIC is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.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.