Addressing Inequity through the ITEST Program

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).  The Coding Makerspace is providing hands-on digital maker projects and support for boys of color to earn certification in Python, the computer programming language related to cybersecurity.  The Makerspace is also exposing boys of color ages eight and above to research-based and best practices in

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by bringing together youth (grades 2-5), their families, librarians, and professional engineers in an informal environment centered on engaging youth with age-appropriate, technology-rich STEM learning experiences fundamental to the engineering design process.

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase student motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). This Industry-Informed STEM Pathways for Students is a project concerned with underrepresentation of people of color and women in STEM fields.

The proposed project, Preparing African American Males for Energy and Education (PAAMEE), is an ITEST Strategies project designed to expose, motivate and prepare African American males for technical careers and post-secondary education in the Power Generation and Renewable Energy industries.

This project will develop specific strategies for teachers, STEM career professionals, and caregivers of economically disadvantaged African American middle school adolescents.

The report includes examples drawn from projects in the national ITEST program which seeks to ensure the breadth and depth of the U.S. STEM workforce.

To explore the role and impact of Youth Radio’s NEXT: The Innovation Lab, Rockman et al, an independent research and evaluation organization, conducted an external evaluation of the project.

Careers in the U.S. that require STEM knowledge have grown rapidly, reinforcing the need to develop a future
workforce that is prepared to meet growing business needs and solve global challenges. Considering that there is a low number of
students pursuing STEM degrees and the low percentages of minority students in the STEM pipeline, STEM education has
been a focus of local and national education curriculum reform efforts. Extending beyond the classroom, university, industry,

The drive for broader participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has resulted in a growing interest in out-of-school programs that bring enriching educational experiences to children from ethnic and racial groups that are traditionally underrepresented, particularly children from low-income households. Ideally, such programs would have clear strategies for recruiting students from low-income communities, thereby minimizing barriers to participation, such as transportation and cost.

Discourse about girls and women of color in technology has followed the familiar path of using a single-unit analysis to explain disparity. Consequently, approaches to “motivate” girls of color overemphasize gender and engage in technological fetishization without fully considering how race, gender, class, and technology are co-constituted.

For the SciGirls Strategies supplemental activity, ten educators were trained to be SciGirls Strategies trainers during June 2019 (see the Training Evaluation Report). During that time, they developedaction plans for their local teacher training. The goal was for each Trainer to train ten or moreteachers in their local schools/districts.

The STEM Career Interest Questionnaire is a 12-item survey using a Likert scale.  Items comprise three scales, measuring perception of supportive environment for pursuing a career in science, interest in pursuing educational opportunities that would lead to a career in science, and perceived importance of a career in science.

The links and attached documents provide the instrument as well as documentation for the instrument.

Authors provide instrument validity and/or reliability information.

The purpose of this study was to examine the development of the Engineering Identity Development Scale (EIDS), an instrument designed to assess elementary school students' identity development in engineering. This study describes a three-phase approach to item construction, administration, and the gathering reliable and valid evidence for scores on the EIDS. 

The Culturally Responsive Teaching Outcome Expectancy (CRTOE) Scale was developed and administered to a sample of preservice teachers in the Midwest.

The Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (CRTSE) was developed and administered to a sample of preservice teachers in the Midwest. It was designed to elicit information from preservice teachers regarding their self-efficacy to execute specific culturally responsive teaching tasks.

Moderator: Alyssa Na'im

Presenters: Araceli Martinez Ortiz, Sustainable Future; Pam Van Dyck, Evaluation Resources; Karen Yanowitz, CSI; Angelique Tucker Blackmon, Try-IT

Presenters: Siobhan Bredin, ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC; Cynthia Newson, ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC; Dr. Kimberly A. Scott, COMPUGIRLS; Dr. Kevin Clark, Game Design Through Mentoring and Collaboration; Dr. Daryl Williams, National Science Foundation