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In 1945, in an effort to educate the public on issues relating to disability and employment, the government declared the 1st week of October as “National Employ the physically Handicapped Week.” In 1962, the word “physically” was dropped to include individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, it was expanded from one week to a full month and changed to National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NEDEAM). This year's theme, “Increasing

The Hispanic Heritage observance began in the United States in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week and was later expanded in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. National Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off every year from September 15 to October 15 by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. This year’s theme – Hispanic Americans: A

August is typically known as national "Back to School" month in the US, but in the era of COVID-19 this phrase might need to be appended with "online." Depending on your area, schools may be planning to hold in-person, hybrid, or remote learning this fall, and those plans could change in the coming weeks. Now may be a good time to review the rich resources available if you need to continue your planned activities online. Whether you are

The Black Lives Matter movement has ignited renewed calls for equality and has caused individuals, institutions, and organizations to turn inward and reflect on their role in a system built on racism and oppression. As these conversations continue, they highlight how deeply racism runs through every facet of life; justice, poverty, health, and of course education. As education researchers, the ITEST community is well-situated to study these issues, to explore ways of making learning more equitable, and to make recommendations to the larger field.

Did you know that more than 50% of the world’s oxygen is produce by the ocean? It also stores 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. The ocean plays a crucial role in our lives and there are many ways people can help protect it.

Since 1970, Earth Day has served as an opportunity for society to examine our actions and explore the impact that humankind has had on the planet. At the heart of its mission is education: "to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide." For 2020, in recognition of its 50th anniversary, the theme for Earth Day 2020 is "Climate Action." Environmental science is a discipline than many ITEST projects have explored over the

January is National Mentoring Month! Since 2002, the National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) has celebrated the month of January to bring attention to mentoring and the positive impacts that it can have, especially on youth. Each year they seek to:Raise awareness of mentoring in its various formsRecruit individuals to mentor, especially in programs that have waiting lists of young peoplePromote the rapid growth of mentoring by recruiting

On May 15-22 STELAR joins together with six other NSF-funded resource centers including CADRE, CAISE, CIRCL, the CS10K Community, and MSPnet to host a cross-center online video event to showcase cutting-edge NSF work. The 2017 STEM for All Video Showcase: Research & Design for Impact is the third-annual showcase, with more than 170 projects presenting three-minute videos of their innovative work on broadening participation and access to STEM. We

The ITEST program is working to motivate youth to pursue the many STEM-related careers and educational pathways available. One popular avenue of engaging students in a variety of STEM disciplines is by making connections to their environment. Many projects employ problem-based learning to discover environmental issues and explore potential solutions. This Earth Day we highlight ITEST publications, instruments, and curricular materials related to

March is Women's History Month, an excellent time to reflect on women's contributions to the sciences, and to examine the ongoing work of ITEST projects to increase the participation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Below is a collection of the events, publications, instruments and materials developed by ITEST projects and the STELAR Center as they engage with and inspire girls to pursue STEM education and career