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MARCH UPDATE
The InterMountain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Launch Pilot (IM STEM)
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Broadening Participation in STEM in Rural Communities
This quarter’s IM STEM Network meeting will focus on strategies for increasing the participation of underrepresented students in STEM in rural communities. Programs that have been successful in working in rural communities to expand STEM education opportunities for students will be highlighted including:
Nevada’s Regional STEM Network
- With a growing need for a workforce skilled in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) across Nevada, the state’s new Regional STEM Networks aim to increase student interest and achievement in STEM within the classroom and grow partnerships outside of the traditional classroom to support students. The presentation will focus on how the creation of Regional STEM Networks will broaden participation in STEM in rural areas.
Project ECHO in New Mexico
- The goal of this initiative is to increase the expertise of educators in K-12 programs and schools in remote and isolated communities across New Mexico to improve graduation rates, outcomes for students, and the teacher shortage. A team of specialists in Career Technical Education, Teaching and Training Career Pathway programs, college and career counseling, and the multiple Colleges of Education from around the state of New Mexico provide best practices and resources. Participants benefit from receiving recommendations to help them overcome barriers to success and improve programs in their classrooms and schools.
American Indian Service’s Pre-Freshman Engineering Program in Idaho
- is a mathematics-based academic enrichment program that emphasizes the development of abstract reasoning and problem solving skills. Students participate in a six week summer enrichment program in STEM that includes course work, homework, hands-on experiments and field trips. The program is held at Idaho State University and Idaho National Lab.
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We want to highlight your program
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Learning about programs and initiatives around the network is a key benefit to being part of the IM STEM community. If you would like to have your program highlighted in a future IM STEM newsletter or potentially showcased at a network meeting, please click here to enter your information.
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What's going on In the network?
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Communications and Resource Sharing
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The Communication and Resource Sharing group asks that you get the most out of network membership by engaging in conversation with each other on our social media channels, including our LinkedIn group (IM STEM Network) and Twitter (@imstemequity). We have also created a form on the IMSTEM website where you can enter information about your program, so we can share it across the network in future IM STEM newsletters.
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In partnership with Idaho, this workgroup has developed a pilot data dashboard to display data from Idaho’s career and technical education programs to test the feasibility of using a dashboard to conduct a more comprehensive equity gap analysis. Perkins V requires data to be disaggregated by gender, race/ethnicity and each of the 9 special population groups. This pilot dashboard can inform states as they are working on data collection and accountability in their State Plans for Perkins V. To learn more about Perkins V and to view the national data dashboards go to NAPE’s resource page at
https://www.napequity.org/public-policy/frontline-legislation/strengthening-career-and-technical-education-for-the-21st-century-act/
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Our asset mapping team is currently working with Nevada to develop an asset map that shows where STEM programming exists. Some states already have maps, including
Idaho
,
Wyoming
,
and
New Mexico
. You can view them by clicking on the state name.
Any other questions about the IMSTEM Asset map initiative, please contact Kathleen Fitzpatrick
kfitzpatrick@napequity.org
.
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Effective Practice Scaling
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The Rubric for Evaluating Programs to Broaden Participation in STEM is complete.
Click here to access it
.
Watch our network meeting
where Utah Valley University, UT and Clark County School District, NV share how they are using the rubric to improve their STEM programs.
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This workgroup continues to monitor NAPE’s professional development efforts in the six states. Since the fall of 2017 (the beginning of the NSF INCLUDES DDLP: IM STEM grant) NAPE has conducted professional development (PD) in five states at twelve sites with over 1200 educators. The Pilot Monitoring workgroup conducted a follow-up survey with participants to learn more about the impact of this PD. Ninety-two percent of the respondents said they had used what they learned and 80% said the strategies had a positive impact on their students. Ninety four percent would recommend the training to others. Currently the evaluator is conducting interviews with survey respondents and a complete summary will be included in the final evaluation report.
For more information about NAPE’s PD contact Kathleen Fitzpatrick at
kfitzpatrick@napequity.org
.
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What's going on Around the network?
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Colorado
Timberley Roane, of the
Building a Network for Education and Employment in Environmental Stewardship of Indigenous Lands (ESIL) project
, based at the University of Colorado Denver, recently participated in the NSF webinar,
Strengthening Capacity to Implement Culturally Responsive Practices
. Th
e ESIL network provides training for job placement for Indigenous students interested in environmental issues involving tribal and non-tribal entities, and opportunities for Indigenous students to use STEM to contribute to their communities by combining a passion for protecting natural resources with a desire to work with communities and different schools of thought. During the webinar, Timberley discussed building the ESIL network, and challenges her team faced along the way. Click on the link below to learn more from Timberley about the importance of building a collaborative culture, and the need to keep the student voice at the center of this important work.
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Idaho
SheTech 2020 was a big success in January thanks to amazing sponsors, volunteers, industry partners, and the Women Innovators leadership. In three short years, SheTECH Idaho has grown from 80 high school girls in 2018 to 330 in January, as well as 30+ tech zones and 20+ workshops! And the impact stories are pouring in. The girls in attendance had so much energy to innovate and know they are needed to invent solutions to our world's most challenging problems. They know that failure IS an option, but you dust yourself off and learn from it. And they know that they have support during their journey in STEM from all 400+ people at Boise State where the event was held. Thanks to everyone who made this possible. Women Innovators’ mission to make Idaho THE place for girl and women innovators is possible because of you!
Women Innovators runs a techgirlz event for middle school in the fall and SheTECH for high school in January
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Nevada
Unfortunately, Clark County School District’s special
STEM Movie screen of "DREAM BIG" on March 14
had to be
CANCELLED
due to COVID-19 .
There was to be a special presentation and project by Texas Instruments(TI) around programming color, sound, and self-driving robotic vehicles all using a TI calculator. A free event, entire families were encouraged to come and learn about STEM/STEAM/Technology pathways in the Clark County School District (CCSD) and the workforce. Over 165 participants were registered to attend. This proof of concept was so well responded to that the District will be planning on conducting more of these types of activities in the Fall. If you want to learn more about how to plan your own event like this in the future contact Snehal Bhakta, CTE Office, Clark County School District at
bhakts@nv.ccsd.net
.
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New Mexico
Albuquerque has been named a top
10 best city for women in technology
for two years in a row. According to the
new study from SmartAsset
, Albuquerque has one of the highest percentages of women in the tech workforce, and one of the lowest gender pay gaps. For a second year running, Albuquerque has punched above its weight, beating out cities nationally known for leading the technology sector, such as San Francisco and Oakland. The study weighed four factors: the gender pay gap, income after housing, women as a percent of the tech workforce, and the percent change in tech jobs. Click on the following link to read more about Albuquerque’s unique solutions to help close the gap:
https://cityalive.org/2020/02/26/albuquerque-named-top-10-city-for-women-in-tech/
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Utah
The Utah STEM Action Center’s nonprofit--the Utah STEM Foundation--is excited to announce the
2nd annual STEM Entrepreneurial Challenge
benefitting Girls Who Code (GWC) clubs in Utah. This is a great opportunity for GWC clubs to be awarded grants toward STEM scholarships, equipment, and programs in associated schools. It also is an opportunity to highlight the efforts of individuals and clubs, expand Girls Who Code clubs statewide, and incentivize girls to continue on in STEM subjects.
This challenge is available to all individuals and clubs involved in the Girls Who Code program. Projects don’t have to be completed to enter! Awards include scholarships & grants.
Application, rubric, and guidelines
are now open until April 3, 2020. Award Ceremony will be held on Thursday - April 30, 2020 at Recursion Pharmaceuticals.
SheTech Explorer Day
is scheduled for April 15, 2020, at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Utah. The Women Tech Council’s SheTech Explorer Days are industry-centered, interactive STEM exploration days held for 9th through 12th grade high school girls. These day-long events are focused on hands-on activities in STEM. Girls spend the morning in hands-on sessions and the afternoon solving a technology challenge, pitching their solution and competing.
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Wyoming
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: 2020 WYOMING INNOVATIONS IN LEARNING CONFERENCE
. The Wyoming Innovations in Learning Conference and the Roadmap to STEAM are joining forces to create one amazing conference centered around innovations for teaching and learning. This is a chance to share innovative teaching practices at the fourth annual Wyoming Innovations in Learning conference on November 5-6, 2020 in Casper. Presenters from all fields willing to share their innovative ideas and experiences, to inspire educators to bring their best teaching practices to K-20 learning, are welcome to provide a proposal. Session proposals will be accepted through May 8, 2020. Selected presenters will be notified of their inclusion in the conference by June 1, 2020, and will receive a discounted registration rate of $30. This conference is hosted by the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE), the Wyoming Distance Education Consortium (WyDEC), the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming community colleges, the Wyoming State Library, school libraries, and the Wyoming Arts Council.
For more information, contact Robin Grandpre, Project & Performance Manager, at 307-777-5315 or
robin.grandpre1@wyo.gov
.
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STEM Equity News, Events, & Resources
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Introducing the STEM Teacher Leadership Network
The
STEM Teacher Leadership Network
, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is inviting teacher leaders, as
piring teacher leaders, as well as researchers and administrators interested in effective school leadership, to join, view, and interact with this new virtual learning community and collegial network. The
free
membership will provide access to networking tools, resources, and interactive online events throughout the year to explore topics related to STEM teacher leadership. Members will share their leadership paths, challenges, strategies, resources, upcoming opportunities and events with each other. Each month, the site will explore a theme related to teacher leadership. Each theme will have an online, interactive, expert panel, related resources, a blog, and a month-long facilitated discussion. December 2, 2019.
http://blog.nsta.org/2019/12/02/introducing-the-stem-teacher-leadership-network/?utm_source=realmagnet&utm_medium=email&utm_term=STEM%20Teacher%20Leadership%20Network%20%7C%20Outstanding%20Science%20Trade%20Books%20for%20Students%20K12%3A%202020&utm_campaign=2019%5FDec%5F3%5FNewsletter%5FExpress%5FMember
Digital Youth Divas
Digital Youth Divas is an out-of-school program that engages middle school girls, especially those from non-dominant communities, in design-based engineering and computer science activities driven by a narrative story. The program supports girls to develop STEM identities by participating within face-to-face and online spaces to design, create, and re-imagine everyday artifacts (jewelry, hair accessories, music) and activities (dancing and talking to friends) using techniques including collaboration, critique, circuitry, coding, and fabrication. The program is designed to bridge connections between girls’ existing incoming interests and STEM. Click on the following link to learn more about the innovative program components and take a look at the lesson plan sampler.
http://digitalyouthnetwork.org/divas/
How Do We Achieve Computer Science for All?
There are large equity gaps to access and enrollment in computer science courses for low-income students, underrepresented students of color, female students, and rural students. STEM Next is committed to taking on this opportunity gap in computer science by advocating for family engagement in order to promote engagement in programs both in and out of school. As part of their commitment to closing this opportunity gap, STEM Next launched
The Family Engagement Project
to elevate the critical role of families in supporting youth, particularly youth who are under-represented in tech, to pursue and persist in computer science. STEM Next wants to make sure that every child and every family has an equal opportunity to access and benefit from the possibilities that computer science has to offer. Click on the following article for five ideas you can use to support families in your community. October 7, 2019.
https://medium.com/stem-next-opportunity-fund/how-do-we-achieve-computer-science-for-all-fd17a4bba3b9
Why Utility Providers Must Invest In Early STEM Education
New technologies that enable the provision of greener energy to combat climate change are in high demand. Incorporating the best ideas to advance this goal requires inclusion of all voices, especially the voices of people from underrepresented groups. Equipping all people with education ensures that there are STEM professionals who can design and plan the grid of the future. Utility providers need to recognize their role in filling these much-needed STEM positions. It is vitally important for STEM companies like energy providers to constantly pursue innovation and the talented people needed to drive it starting with supporting early STEM education
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/12/11/why-utility-providers-must-invest-in-early-stem-education/#514662866ced
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NAPE’s 2019 Annual Report
Click here
to view NAPE’s
2019 Annual Report
and learn how, with your help, we've successfully advocated for and promoted equity in education and the workforce. Thank you for your continued collaboration, partnership, and dedication to this critically important work!
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Help grow the network!
Please forward this newsletter to colleagues and contacts.
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IM STEM is a network of STEM educators and leaders across six states (CO, ID, NM, NV, UT, and WY) working to support STEM equity at key transition points (middle school to high school and high school to college).
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1744472. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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