This ITEST Strategies project, engages middle school students in project-based learning around their community's water resources. Through the innovative use of technology the project enables data sharing among schools in different parts of the country and provides a forum for the development of a professional learning community for teachers.

STEM Career Clubs builds on a successful and research-based Strategic Teaming Model to increase the likelihood that participating students will pursue STEM majors and careers.

Research studies, commissioned reports, and national and international tests of educational progress in STEM fields show that a large gap exists, in interest and achievement, between underrepresented students and their counterparts.

To address the needs of the US to increase the ICT workforce with enhanced preparation and a diverse population of prepared secondary students, this strategies ITEST project will strengthen the current regional partnerships in place between secondary schools, the University of Cincinnati's IT and STEM education programs, and local industries.

Involving more students from urban and rural areas in STEM fields and careers has been at the forefront of national STEM education reform efforts for decades. Research shows that engaging these students in STEM activities relevant to their everyday lives is critical to increasing their motivation, interest, learning, and participation in STEM.

Nationwide, middle-school youth from underrepresented communities have few opportunities to engage in authentic STEM investigations that build on the students' intrinsic interests in space science and robotics to increase their interests in both ICT and STEM careers.

The GIS Resources and Applications for Career Education (GRACE) project builds upon a recent NSF-funded project, the Mayors Youth Technology Corps (MYTC), that developed a model of geographic information systems and technology (GIS/T) based education.

Given recent advancements in geospatial technologies and the expanding geospatial technology industry, this project is timely in its focus on spatial thinking and strengthening geospatial technology skills among high school students.

In existing CryptoClub after school programs, middle school students use mathematics to make and break secret codes. The CryptoClub website has tools for encrypting, messages to crack, treasure hunts and other activities. In this project, the learning in fifteen Crypto Clubs is extended by having

Embedded in existing computing education and STEM courses, the project-developed curriculum--Scalable Game Design (SGD)--introduces middle school students to computational thinking through game design and advances them to STEM simulation design.