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.

124 low income immigrant middle and high school students living in Seattle Public Housing participate in a year long program focused on mentoring, tinkering, and understanding the role that woman and people of color play in STEM fields.

This project will develop an ongoing partnership with disadvantaged schools across a 14-county region of New York that will facilitate teacher and student recruitment, preparation, and mentorship for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Project activities will focus

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

The Urban Community Project to Stimulate Interests in STEM Careers (U-CPS) project of Fisk University is a three-year project designed to provide challenging and stimulating learning experiences to middle school students by providing high quality professional development experiences for three

The Innovation Institute: From Problem to Product (I2) takes high school students through the entire process of inventing a device, software or other technology. This proposal makes use of a Makerspace at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), which is located in a community with a high proportion of

This project develops an interdisciplinary and transformative in- and out of-school science education and technology program that engages high school aged youth and their teachers in 1) the production of food using hydroponics, and 2) the use of green energy technologies (solar, and wind) to power hydroponic systems.