This report provides an overview of the rationale and design of the STEM Excellence Project, the key findings and takeaways from the research, and future directions for raising the aspirations of rural students for success in STEM fields.
How do afterschool programs view their local public libraries? Are they working with them, and in what ways? These are the questions that the Afterschool Alliance, along with its partners at the Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) and the American Library Association, wanted to answer. Overall, our goal is to build bridges between the afterschool and library fields, so that both can share knowledge and resources to better serve our youth. While our work together has primarily focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education through
The FIRST Longitudinal Study is a multi-year longitudinal study assessing the impacts of FIRST’s afterschool robotics programs on the STEM related interests and educational and career trajectories of program participants. FIRST is one of the nation’s largest after-school robotics programs, serving more than 460,000 youth aged 6-18 annually through the FIRST LEGO League (Ages 7-14), the FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 7-12) and the FIRST Robotics Competition (grades 9-12). The study is tracking over 1200 program participants and comparison students, using a quasi-experimental design, over a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alan MelchiorCathy BurackMatthew HooverJill Marcus
In Spring 2006, the Missouri Botanical Garden received a National Science Foundation grant to fund the LIONS program. LIONS trained educators from the St. Louis region, through professional development about place-based education, to deliver after school and summer programming to students grades 5 through 8. Since its inception, the LIONS program has included evaluation of program implementation and outcomes. There were dramatic changes in the scope of the program, which expanded beyond the originally targeted University City school district by adding additional schools recruited by LIONS
The Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium (MMS) received funding from the National Science Foundation in 2004 to develop and implement After-school Programs Exploring (APEX Science). APEX Science is a three-year project designed to enhance the capacity of community-based organizations (CBOs) to deliver quality science after-school programming for children ages 5-10. This report provides the results of the summative evaluation which focused on the extent to which: 1) APEX Science curriculum increases CBO activity leaders' interest, awareness, and appreciation of science and level of comfort
WGBH Boston (wgbh.org) was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to, in part, develop outreach materials based on the children's television series FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman. The outreach materials were designed to help typically underserved kids learn about science in informal camp or after-school settings. The centerpiece of this effort was the Camp FETCH! Guide (the Guide). The Guide is meant for anyone who wants to lead hands-on science activities with six- to ten-year-olds: camp counselors, afterschool providers, teachers, librarians, museum staff, and others. WGBH hired
The Exploratorium is home to XTech, a science education program which began in 2006 and was primarily funded by a three-year National Science Foundation grant (Award # 05-25217) through its ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) initiative. XTech provided project-based afterschool activities in science, engineering, and technology to underserved middle school students from the San Francisco Bay Area. As part of the Exploratorium's Community Outreach department, XTech involved partnerships with two community-based organizations in the Bay Area "Aim High and First
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Becky CarrollAnita SmithPam CastoriExploratorium
Veridian inSight performed an evaluation study in fall of 2009 to evaluate the effectiveness of an online training developed as an outreach component of the FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman series (http://pbskids.org/fetch/). The FETCH! Hands-On Science Training was designed for anyone who wants to lead science activities with elementary-age kids (including after-school providers, teachers, camp counselors, librarians, museum staff, parents, and others). The goals of the evaluation study were to assess the extent to which the FETCH! training was successful at:· Preparing afterschool educators
During the spring of 2006, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted an evaluation study on behalf of WGBH. The purpose of the study was to gather data related to the effectiveness of the FETCH! Activity Guide, which was designed to extend the teachings of a new children's show, "FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman. The four main study objectives were to: Assess the activities' appeal for children (for example, do children enjoy the activities, do they realize they are learning about science, etc.?) Assess whether the facilitators liked the Activity Guide and deemed it appropriate for their after
Explore It! Science Investigations in Out-of-School Programs, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was a collaboration among the Center for Science Education at the Education Development Center (EDC), six science and children museums, after-school centers across the United States, and the National Institute for Out-of-School Time (NIOST). The project primary goals were to develop and implement hands-on, inquiry-based units of activities for out-of-school programs for children ages 8-12 and to develop a support structure for after-school or out-of-school programs with science
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Patricia CampbellEducation Development CenterRosa Carson