STEM Collaboratories: A Keystone to Equity in STEM Opportunities
Abstract
For military-connected students, the impact of educational disruption related to the pandemic has been catastrophic. Although the statewide average of math proficiency dropped 5.9 points when comparing pre- and post-pandemic assessments, the average proficiency among WSD3 military connected students plummeted 45.8 points. Despite the growing number of formal course options for STEM instruction, far too few military-connected students enroll in this coursework at the middle and secondary level due to scheduling conflicts, a lack of confidence in their skills and capabilities, or scaffolded coursework that makes late entry challenging. WSSD3 proposes to sustainably bridge the gap in STEM accessibility during secondary years, creating a Collaboratory in the shared space of each school that offers low barriers to entry, engages students in all subgroups, and builds authentic skills that lead to industry certification in DoD priority fields such as: Physical Computing/Robotics, In/Out-of-Atmosphere Flight Applications, CAD/Advanced Manufacturing and Computer Science/Cybersecurity. The Planning Year deliver trainings, preparing educators to utilize Collaboratories and building educator buy-in. Schedule changes will be made to remove barriers, allowing educators to utilize the space during the protected study hall / homeroom period, addressing an existing obstacle to STEM engagement – the lack of embedded STEM opportunities at the secondary level. Through the Collaboratory, military-connected students will remain active in ongoing, hands-on STEM programming, promoting their continued enthusiasm for the topic and increasing the likelihood that they will opt to enroll in higher level STEM coursework and thereby increasing greater equity in access for all students to meaningful STEM opportunities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 06, 2022
- Source ID
- HE12542211003
Entities
People
- Nathaniel Sobin
Organizations
- Department of Defense Education Activity
- United States Department of Defense