Bioinformatics: the Rutgers Initiative in Teacher Enhancement (BRITE) is an NSF ITEST Comprehensive Project that involves teachers and their students. BRITE invites high school teachers to participate in, and contribute to, a series of scientific "Challenges" posted over the World Wide Web, the answers to which require using the computational tools of molecular biology, structural biology, and bioinformatics. Over the period of the grant, BRITE will work closely with teachers participating in a Local Project and remotely with teachers who participate in a Regional Project.

Rutgers University will provide a comprehensive project in molecular biology and bioinformatics that engages high school teachers and students in DNA sequencing research. More than 75 teachers will participate in the project and approximately 30 students per year will attend the summer program and 300 additional students will engage in the Project during each academic year.

GUTS y Girls is a three-year ITEST Strategies project targeting middle school girls in Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. This project builds on a previously funded NSF Academies for Young Scientist award (06-39637) and includes partnerships between the Santa Fe Institute and MIT, University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, New Mexico State University, Santa Fe Complex, Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails, the Supercomputing Challenge, regional educational organizations, and local schools.

I-C STEM In My FUTURE is a two-year, year-round, informal learning program for 80 students focusing on mathematics, the use of hand-held technology, computer literacy skills, technical training and career paths. The project will examine the impact of this technology-enriched intervention program on the STEM career interest of underrepresented minorities.

The goal of this ITEST scale-up project (ITSI-SU) is to address the need for research-based science materials and teaching techniques that generate demonstrable improvements in student science achievement in grades 3-12. The project will reach 264 teachers directly and 10,000 students in four states and has the capacity to reach another 1,500 teachers and 50,000 students nationwide in a dissemination phase, and still more if teachers and trainers adopt project-generated resources.

From 2003 to 2012, the ITEST LRC at EDC, now STELAR, served as the NSF ITEST program's technical assistance and resource center.  It implemented collaboration and support opportunities to connect youth-based and comprehensive ITEST projects and to leverage lessons learned into new knowledge that was shared nationally.  The LRC also worked to tightenen the research/practice cycle and promote data-based decision-making.  It helped to create a national presence for the ITEST program as a primary resource for learning about, experiencing and using IT in STEM ini

This project will use the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center's highly successful remotely operated vehicle (ROV) competition network to reach, engage, and support the participation of middle schools. They represent a critical point in the educational pathway where students, particularly from underrepresented groups, are most likely to lose interest in math and science. It will provide career information and guidance tools that enable students to make the transition from middle school through high school to college and into the workplace.

This collaborative project is conducting a research study to delineate the effective components of mentoring for underrepresented and non-underrepresented students in STEM, utilizing a robotics educational program. To understand STEM expectations of success and interests in pursuing STEM careers, it is imperative to understand the achievement-related choices people make when deciding what areas to study and what careers to pursue.

NanoExperiences: Pathways to Workforce Success is an out-of-school program that supports high school students in Career and Technical Education to prepare for post secondary education in multiple STEM career pathways related to nanoscale science and technology (NS&T). The project builds on NS&T instructional materials developed and tested by Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), and others, on professional development being developed by McREL and on recent recommendations for structuring academically-focused out-of-school programs.

Robotics and GPS/GIS in 4-H: Workforce Skills for the 21st Century is a-five year scale-up project to use 4-H clubs to prepare middle school youth for the STEM workplace. The project builds on and extends an existing research-based ITEST project by developing and testing new national curricula to introduce basic technology skills, foster problem solving and inquiry skills, and encourage teamwork.