NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant: Creating the Networks That Can Build and Sustain Inclusive, Workforce-relevant STEM Courses for Underrepresented Students

在获得和提供与劳动力相关的STEM课程方面的差距仍然存在。这种不平等对有色人种的高中生、来自农村和低收入家庭的学生来说尤为严重。因此，这些学生不太可能在STEM课程中取得成功，也不太可能从事STEM专业和职业。当提供与劳动力相关的STEM课程时，代表性不足和服务不足的学生也更有可能由没有准备好教授此类课程的教师授课。这进一步加剧了教育系统中不公平的问题和失败。这项规划赠款将开始通过大规模的社会变革驱动的协调努力来应对这些挑战。美国研究院（AIR）与100Kin10合作，将通过准备、启动和支持三个基于地点的网络来创造这一大规模变革，以提高与劳动力相关的STEM课程的质量和公平获取。这些网络将制定计划，在实施后，将使更多代表性不足的学生能够获得与劳动力相关的STEM课程并取得成功，并确定协作基础设施及其使用对这些系统性改进的贡献程度。每个基于地点的网络由地区、教师培训项目、商业社区和地理区域内的其他相关组织组成，将测试、调整和完善推动当地STEM改进的战略。如果成功，这项基础工作不仅将为扩展和扩展该模型的方法提供信息，而且还将有助于国家科学基金会致力于提高K-12教育系统的质量和包容性，重点关注扩大高中层面的参与挑战。在为期12个月的项目期间，工作的指导框架将集中在协作基础设施的五个NSF INCLUDES设计元素中的两个；(a)领导和沟通(b)扩展、可持续性和规模。利用这一框架，这项工作将从AIR进行的文献扫描开始，以确定基于证据的实践和措施，这些实践和措施与PK-12教育系统的领导力、沟通、扩展、可持续性和规模相一致。然后，AIR和100Kin10将与基于地点的网络合作，共同设计计划，使用基于证据的实践促进成员之间的协作，并促进基于证据的战略，以减少系统性的STEM不平等，以支持设计和提供与劳动力相关的高中STEM课程，特别是在低收入、农村和多数少数民族高中。具体而言，共同设计的计划将致力于：(1)提高教育工作者开发和教授与劳动力相关的STEM课程的能力；(2)增加高中学生参加和完成与劳动力相关的STEM课程的人数；(3)扩大、维持和扩大循证实践，以支持STEM中代表性不足的学生群体。基于地点的网络计划将包括目标和指标，以跟踪克服不平等的进展，并确定具体合作机制在多大程度上促进了基于地点的网络目标的进展。在确定和选择目标和指标后，项目团队将与基于地点的网络合作，了解当地学生在获得与劳动力相关的STEM方面不平等的根本原因；支持建立强大的地方网络；起草计划，制定目标和衡量在克服不平等方面取得进展的标准，以及可能促进这种进展的合作机制。这些工作的支持将由骨干组织100Kin10领导。骨干组织的作用将是支持三个地点网络的启动，通过研讨会和会议支持它们的伙伴关系，并将它们与来自全国30多个组织的代表组成的广泛的国家网络联系起来，这些代表具有系统性STEM变革的核心杠杆方面的专业知识，并专注于改善获得与劳动力相关的STEM课程的机会。该计划由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）在全国范围内的工程和科学领域代表性不足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。

Disparities in access to and availability of workforce-relevant STEM courses continue to persist. The inequities are particularly profound for high school students of color and students from rural and low-income backgrounds. As a consequence, these students are less likely to succeed in STEM courses and pursue STEM majors and careers. When workforce-relevant STEM courses are available, underrepresented and underserved students are also more likely to be taught by teachers who are ill-prepared to teach such courses. This further exacerbates the problems and failures of inequity in the education system. This planning grant will begin to address these challenges through a large-scale social-change-driven coordinated effort. The American Institutes for Research (AIR), in collaboration with 100Kin10, will create this large-scale change by preparing for, launching, and supporting three place-based networks to improve the quality of and equitable access to workforce-relevant STEM courses. These networks will develop plans that, when implemented, will enable more underrepresented students to access and succeed in workforce-relevant STEM courses, as well as determine the extent to which the collaborative infrastructure and its use contribute to those systemic improvements. Each of the place-based networks, made up of districts, teacher preparation programs, business communities, and other relevant organizations in a geographic region, will test, adapt, and refine strategies for driving STEM improvements at the local level. If successful, this foundational work will not only inform the approach for expanding and scaling the model, but it will also contribute to NSF’s commitment to improving quality and inclusion within the K–12 education system by focusing on broadening participation challenges at the high school level.Over the 12-month project duration, the guiding framework for the work will be centered on two of the five NSF INCLUDES design elements of collaborative infrastructure; (a) leadership and communication and (b) expansion, sustainability and scale. Using this framework, the work will begin with a literature scan conducted by AIR to identify evidence-based practices and measures aligned to leadership, communication, expansion, sustainability, and scale in PK–12 education systems. AIR and 100Kin10 will then work collaboratively with the place-based networks to co-design plans that use evidence-based practices for collaboration among members and promote evidence-based strategies for reducing systemic STEM inequities to support the design and delivery of workforce-relevant high school STEM courses, especially in low-income, rural, and majority-minority high schools. Specifically, the co-designed plans will work to: (1) improve educators’ capacity to develop and teach workforce-relevant STEM courses; (2) increase the number of high school students enrolling in and completing workforce-relevant STEM courses; and (3) expand, sustain, and scale evidence-based practices for supporting underrepresented student populations in STEM. The place-based network plans will include goals and metrics for tracking the progress in overcoming the inequities and determining the extent to which specific collaborative mechanisms spur progress toward the place-based networks’ aim. After identifying and selecting the goals and metrics, the project team will work with the place-based networks to understand the local, root causes of inequity in student access to workforce-relevant STEM; support the creation of strong local place-based networks; and draft plans with goals and metrics for progress in overcoming the inequities and collaborative mechanisms that may spur that progress. The support of these efforts will be led by the backbone organization, 100Kin10. The role of the backbone organization will be to support the launch the three place-based networks, support their partnerships through workshops and convenings, and connect them to its extensive national networks of representatives from more than 30 organizations nationwide with expertise in the central levers of systemic STEM change and focused on improving access to workforce-relevant STEM courses. This planning grant 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.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.