The Coalition for Science After School

STEM Education in the State of the Union address

2012-01-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

We are thrilled that Washington DC is buzzing about STEM education lately!

Last November, Congressman Michael Honda of Silicon Valley proposed the STEM Education Innovation Act, which would create an Office of STEM Education in the Department of Education. Read Congressman Honda’s appeal to Congress to pass the STEM Act here.

Last week, President Obama highlighted the importance of STEM education in his State of the Union address. Here is some of our favorite media coverage of the address, where the President linked STEM education to American innovation, jobs and the economy.

US News & World Report, STEM Education blog “Obama Pushes STEM in State of the Union”

Education Week, Curriculum Matters blog “Obama Emphasizes STEM Education in State of the Union”

Nature Magazine, Nature News blog “Obama boosts Science in State of the Union address”

Then the Today show did a heartwarming story about a recently homeless teenager who was invited to attend the State of the Union address. What has helped her stay positive during this difficult time for her family? Doing science! Watch her story here.

What do you think of the conversations in Washington about STEM Education? Add your comments to this conversation in the Scientific American blog post, “Science Education Experts Respond to Obama’s Speech”.

Math and Social (In)justice

2012-01-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

When I told friends and colleagues last week that I was excited to go to a conference on Math and Social Justice, I saw a lot of curious and confused faces. Many of them said that it sounded interesting, but what does math have to do with social justice?

Well, did you hear the one about the math teacher in Georgia who assigned slavery-themed word problems to a class of third graders?

The Creating Balance in an Unjust World 2012 conference brought together over 300 educators, youth and community members at Mission High School in San Francisco. The conference featured 31 workshops and 50 workshop facilitators who engaged attendees in discussions of equity, justice, pedagogy and practices. The keynote speaker was Dr. Lisa D. Delpit, the author of Other People's Children and Multiplication is for white people.

I quickly understood that this was a very hands-on conference, with most of the attendees being math or science instructors eager to learn about the intersection of math and social justice, forge partnerships, share best practices, discuss challenges and plan for advocacy. The major themes of the conference were:

Social Justice in the Mathematics Classroom
Understanding the math around us is important for all youth, and perhaps especially for at-risk and marginalized populations. At the conference, Jessica Hopson from Portland Youth Builders presented a powerful lesson she developed about the impact of gun violence on children and teens. By using current events or historical information as a jumping off point in the math classroom, teachers shared new and culturally relevant ways to motivate students to understand graphs, charts, statistical trends, causal relationships, percentages and other math.

Additionally, educators interested in incorporating a social justice component in their classroom or after school programs presented how to convey concepts and information through math. Teacher educators who believe that mathematics courses for preservice teachers should have a social justice and equity focus met at the conference to design courses with social justice-oriented lessons.

Mathematics literacy as a "gatekeeper"
We already have a good sense that the mastery of math, and the corresponding test scores, act as a gatekeeper for higher education and better jobs. But a good understanding of math is also the key to some basic "gatekeeping" life skills. Teachers from El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in Brooklyn, NY presented a 9th grade math unit called "Finance My Life" which gives students a basic understanding of budgeting, loans, taxes and savings.

Gatekeeping also comes into play in the sense that a student gets 'locked out' of higher math, and therefore related science, engineering and technology fields, without a solid base of knowledge. A presentation by the Boston Public Schools' Secondary Math Department and MathPOWER, a Boston-based non-profit, described an innovative partnership to attempt to keep the 'gates' open under new district demands on the 8th grade algebra requirements. In this partnership, teachers and students elected to spend 3 or 5 weeks in the summer to focus on pre-algebra skills and prepare for the school year.

Ethnomathematics
It may seem as though math is an international language, but math instruction can be alienating without equitable teaching practices. The term "ethnomathematics" was used first used by a Brazilian mathematician named Ubiratan D'Ambrosio to describe the mathematical practices of different cultural groups. He said,

Mathematics is absolutely integrated with Western civilization, which conquered and dominated the entire world. The only possibility of building up a planetary civilization depends on restoring the dignity of the losers and, together, winners and losers, moving into the new. [Ethnomathematics, then, is] a step towards peace.

By far the most heady and philosophical theme of the conference, being introduced to the idea of Ethnomathematics was the highlight of the conference for me. To explore further, I recommend watching this video, which I watched as part of a discussion by Professor Anita Bright of Portland State University.

The Dot and the Line won an Academy Award in 1965. As you watch, think about how this short cartoon uses mathematical terms to express social and cultural values.

Overall, it was an incredibly inspiring and eye-opening conference. In light of horrifying international social injustice in the STEM field, it is up to us to move discussions about math and social justice from theory into practice. Check out the complete list of 2012 conference presenters to find out who the leaders in this area are, and get your literature review and background from Joan Kwako's article in the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education.

Please comment what your organization is doing to address issues of social justice with math and science, or how you ensure the youth you work with are receiving an equitable STEM education!

Closing the STEM Gender Gap through Mentoring Programs

2012-01-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! As you probably already know, January is National Mentoring Month, which makes now the perfect time to resolve to learn how your organization can impact gender equity in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields through a mentoring program.

Why is mentoring so important in establishing equity in the STEM fields? Isn’t it enough to provide high quality science programs in after school settings, spark boys’ and girls’ interest in science, and offer them support to explore, build, experiment and discover?

According to the Collaborative for Gender Equity in Emerging Technologies, young women don’t consider careers in science because they don’t have female role models in the field or because they feel dissuaded by adults to pursue a career in science. Furthermore, there are powerful implicit assumptions, held by both men and women, that prevent girls from continuing on in STEM fields.

One implicit assumption often made is that boys are just ‘naturally’ better at math than girls. However, in a recent cross-cultural analysis of math abilities across gender by Jonathan Kane and Janet Mertz, no significant difference was found between boys’ and girls’ math abilities. The report suggests that we need to make social and cultural changes if we want to close the gender gap. As Mertz explains:

"None of our findings suggest that an innate biological difference between the sexes is the primary reason for a gender gap in math performance at any level. Rather, these major international studies strongly suggest that the math-gender gap, where it occurs, is due to sociocultural factors that differ among countries, and that these factors can be changed."

The partners of the Gender Equity Collaborative, and we at the Coalition for Science After School, believe that mentoring is a critical sociocultural key that can help debunk implicit assumptions about gender and science, and keep us moving towards equity in the STEM fields.

Mentoring programs can and should look different depending on the needs of the youth in your community, and the strengths of your organization.

4-H’s mentoring program Tech Wizards is designed for all youth, not just girls, who tend to be underrepresented in STEM fields.

Techbridge highlighted in this article by EdWeek, serves over 600 elementary and secondary girls, most of whom are minorities. The website has great resources for potential mentors.

New Coalition member Chidren First CEO of Kansas recently announced the launch of their mentor program. They are currently recruiting college women seeking STEM degrees, as well as girls in middle and high school to participate in monthly meetings.

Girls Inc of the Island City, Girls Inc of Alameda County and the Center for Science Education at the Sciences Laboratory are creating a mentoring program for 5 ‘generations’ of females - elementary, middle, undergraduate, graduate students and scientists - will participate in after school science studies together.

At the Exploratorium, the Biology Department has created an internship program for one high school student. This video shows that even the smallest of mentoring programs can have a tremendous impact on how a mentee feels about pursuing a future in STEM.

If Mentoring Month, the stories listed above, or your reflections on your own career path have motivated you to make a difference in a young person’s life and in the future of the STEM field, visit mentoring.org on information on how to start a mentor program. And if you’re already involved with a mentoring program, you’re not off the hook! This is the perfect time time to think about evaluating your program.

How are you and your organization resolving to impact equity in the STEM fields through a mentor program?

Service-Learning: An Innovative Approach to Science After School

2011-12-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

Out-of-school time presents an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about how science, technology, engineering, and math are intertwined with the world around them. But even in an afterschool environment, science education program developers and teaching staff may struggle with helping students connect what they are learning to their everyday lives. In order to create meaningful learning, students should be able to emotionally invest themselves in their work, creating a personal connection that extends beyond academic value and achievement.

Service-learning is a hands-on method of learning that helps students connect to their projects in a meaningful way. In service-learning projects, students use their skills and subject matter to complete a project that benefits the community. Similar to citizen science--where individuals or groups of students participate in various components of the science process to contribute to a larger data-set--students participating in STEM service-learning projects do "real" science that benefits the world around them. In service-learning, students' projects often have a real effect on their own neighborhoods and communities, helping them to see the connection between science and their everyday lives.

Service-learning is a natural environment for STEM-related projects. In one form of service-learning, students use their scientific knowledge to craft a community program--as these students did at L'Anse Creuse Public Schools in Michigan, where they facilitated a recycling event to improve their local environment. Students in high school or college with advanced scientific knowledge can also form community partnerships to mentor students in STEM subjects, as in the Engineers as Teachers program designed by Iridescent (who are also members of the Coalition for Science After School).

If you're interested in starting a service-learning project in your community--or you would like to integrate it as a component into your existing program--check out the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. This database is a great starting point for research on service-learning outcomes, case studies of successful programs, and lots of other resources for getting started in service-learning.

If you're looking for a way to share your service-learning program, consider listing it in the National After School Science Directory.

Vote NOW for Time Warner Cable's first-ever STEM Super Connector!

2011-11-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

There are thousands of individuals hard at work across the country working to connect young people in their communities to high-quality, high-impact science, technology, engineering, and math learning opportunities. Now, Time Warner Cable is seeking to recognize those individuals through their Super Connector search. Part of their Connect a Million Minds initiative, the Super Connector search will award one individual with $10,000 to support the non-profit of their choice, as well as the opportunity to appear in a Connect a Million Minds TV commercial!

Every nominee has an inspiring story to tell--including some Coalition for Science After School members--and you can view their video stories, and read more about them, on their page. Good luck to all of the contenders, and thank you for the inspiring work that you do!

Science Festival Fun!

2011-11-10T11:33:00.000-08:00

This is Kalie, Membership Manager at the Coalition for Science After School. Last Sunday, I attended Discovery Days at AT&T Park, the capstone event for the inaugural Bay Area Science Festival. For those not in the Bay Area, AT&T Park is home to the San Francisco Giants, and it was a lot of fun to see this local sports landmark turned into a science wonderland!

We were so excited to partner with Radio Disney for two great performances that taught kids about energy through the adventures of Phineas and Ferb, two popular cartoon stars of their own Disney Channel show. In the performance, two scientists were turned into robots by the nefarious Dr. Doofenshmirtz and his Robot-In-Ator Force Field. Kids had to use different forms of energy by moving their bodies to release the scientists. At the end, kids and parents learned that they could find more fun learning opportunities for science outside of the classroom by visiting ConnectAMillionMinds.com. Radio Disney also hosted a booth where kids could compete in fun science-related challenges and pick up some prizes and goodie bags. Thanks to Radio Disney and PG&E for putting on a great show!

The Radio Disney dancers perform near their table. Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

The show begins! Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

Aside from the Radio Disney performance, there were a lot of other fun things to explore and see. Over 90 different science organizations from around the Bay Area--including Coalition members like the Lawrence Hall of Science, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Chabot Space & Science Center, the California Academy of Sciences, Techbridge, and the Tech Museum--offered activities, contests, demonstrations, prizes, products, and much more. While there, I saw a squid dissection, telescopes from NASA, Lego robots, and lots of kids and families excited about science.

A Radio Disney performer checks out the PG&E booth. PG&E sponsored the performance, which focuses on energy.

Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

Science festivals are a great opportunity to explore science in an informal setting. Tabletop activities make it easy for families to move from one station to the next, and facilitators often bring a project or prize for kids to take home, lengthening the experience beyond the one-day event. The wide variety of exhibitors at the festival--universities, museums, researchers, industry leaders, and many other science institutions--meant that there was bound to be something fun for every attendee. Kids and parents got the opportunity to closely interact with professional scientists, as well as many college students and other science educators enthusiastic about their subjects. The location was close to public transportation, making getting to the event as eco-friendly as could be--and with the generous support of the event's sponsors, attendance was free.

The Bay Area Science Festival is just one of several Science Fests going on around the country. Other upcoming events will be held in San Diego, Philadelphia, and Cambridge. Check out the Science Festival Alliance to find a science festival near you--or how to bring one to your area.

Lots of kids and families viewed the performance. Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

Even San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee stopped by! Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

Kids explored wind energy by moving their arms. Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

It was a beautiful and fun day for science! Image courtesy of Radio Disney.

Building Effective Community Partnerships for Science After School Part II: Finding STEM Resources in Your Community

2011-11-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is the second part in a two-part series on Building Effective Community Partnerships for Science After School, a workshop we recently hosted at the Up Your Game conference. Read Part I on Including Science Volunteers in Afterschool Programs for more information.

In the second half of our workshop on partnerships for afterschool science, our panel of speakers focused on finding and using community resources. Our first speaker, Leslie Lowes, is an informal education specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA has a great many resources available for supporting informal science education (as well as lots of resources for in-school learning), and Leslie helped us navigate where to find them.

NASA has a number of education centers around the country--if you live nearby, contact your center to find out about the availability of public tours. The education centers may also have a representative available from NASA's Speakers Bureau (a great way to find scientists with public communication skills!) or a chapter of the Solar System Ambassadors program, a national program of volunteers that specialize in JPL's work.

NASA also offers customizable curriculum just for out-of-school learning. For elementary school students, the Out of School to Outer Space program offers 15 hours of NASA/solar system science and engineering activities, including teacher training and ongoing support. This program is designed to get 4th and 5th graders "thinking like a scientist." The Space School Musical program, featuring downloadable videos, songs, and a guide to putting on a space-themed musical production, gets kids excited about STEM through song and dance.

For middle school students, NASA focuses on developing science skills through programs like the Summer of Innovation. Programs for high school students are geared toward research and preparation for STEM careers through internships and innovation challenges, like the Real World In World engineering challenge.

Not everyone is close to a NASA center, but many people have a museum or science center in their community. Katie Levedahl, Director of Out-of-School Programs for the California Academy of Sciences joined the panel to talk about how to partner with science centers and museums to bring STEM content to afterschool environments. Katie highlighted the Careers in Science (CiS) program, a multi-year internship program for high school students. CiS interns, along with an Academy scientist, bring science activities to afterschool programs in their communities. Because the interns often come from the communities they visit, they become role models for the afterschool program students. Because museum workers are science content experts, they can be great sources of high-quality STEM activities. Katie talked about other ways that afterschool programs can partner with science museums, including:

Using the museum as a field trip site
Connecting with older youth programs (like CiS) to find science mentors for afterschool youth
Obtaining curriculum and activities from museums, or bringing museum scientist-educators into your program to facilitate activities

For the last presentation, I spoke about the many different resources available through the Coalition for Science After School. In particular, I highlighted our members and the National After School Science Directory as being great places to find local partnerships or connect with programs outside of your immediate area. I also highlighted our Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages as being great places to connect with resources, funding streams, events, professional development opportunities, research, and more. These tools are free and easily customizable to your needs.

For the final half hour of the workshop, we engaged in networking and a white-board brainstorming session to identify what individual programs actually need to facilitate STEM partnerships. We ended with a productive conversation on goals and next steps for the workshop participants.

For more information about the workshop--as well a starter kit for getting STEM in your afterschool program--visit Gabrielle Lyon's post on the Project Exploration blog.

Many thanks again to our wonderful speakers and engaged participants, and a special thank you to the California AfterSchool Network and Time Warner Cable for helping to make this workshop a reality.

Building Effective Community Partnerships for Science After School Part I: Including Science Volunteers in Afterschool Programs

2011-11-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

This is Kalie, Manager at the Coalition for Science After School. Yesterday, I flew from our offices in Berkeley, CA down to San Diego to participate in a pre-conference session at the Step Up Your Game conference hosted by the California AfterSchool Network. The session was facilitated by Gabrielle Lyon, who serves on the Steering Committee of the Coalition, and sponsored by our friends at Time Warner Cable.

We assembled a two panels of speakers to talk about how to build successful partnerships to promote science after school, who spoke about 1) how to recruit and integrate volunteers from the science and business worlds into afterschool STEM programs, and 2) community resources that programs can leverage to include STEM. This blog post summarizes the first part of that conversation.

Many thanks to the California AfterSchool Network and Time Warner Cable for helping us to make this event happen!

First, Dr. Lyon asked the participants about their programs. About half of the participants were already doing some level of STEM in their programs. We also established that "science" and "STEM" were interchangeable in our conversation. We then had a few moments for a free write, prompted by the question "What is worth it for young people in your programs to know and experience when it comes to science?" Some responses of the free write included:

Exposure to skill for college and careers (for example, in computer programming)
Wanting students to know that STEM is fun
Relevance to 21st century career pathways, especially in a rural area
Real-life connections to everyday life

Dr. Lyon pointed out that kids are only in school for about 20% of the day, which leaves lots of opportunities for alternate or extended learning of STEM skills. She also asked us to frame the rest of the conversation as how our vision can support the goals outlined during the free write.

After a brief presentation on Project Exploration (including on some of the results of the 10-year retrospective study of their STEM programming), we moved on to the first panel of presenters, who talked to us about including volunteers in their afterschool programs.

First, we heard from Linda Kekelis, Executive Director of Techbridge. Techbridge is an afterschool program for girls that focuses on STEM activities with a strong connection to careers. Linda said that early feedback in the program indicated that the girls saw the activities as fun hobbies, but not necessarily things that could help them in the future. The program's leaders saw the need to invite role models--women with real careers in the STEM fields--to work with the girls. After bringing in role models, program leaders found that even a one-time meeting with a role model can make a huge impact. Not all of the role models intuitively knew how to successfully interact with the girls, and Linda offered these tips for guiding interactions between the girls and the role models:

Make the interactions easy for the role models by providing training
Start by asking for a one-time commitment to build interest
Start by simply asking the role models to talk about what they do--making that personal connection to each girl participant is important

Other insights included to cultivate relationships by sending regular email updates about the program, communicating the value of training, and always expressing thanks.

Next, we heard from Liz Ferguson of BioWaves, one of the organizers of the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference. This large conference brings together hundreds of girls for a day of workshops hosted by real female scientists, most of them affiliated with local universities in the San Diego area. Liz emphasized that it is important to make the conference an authentic science experience to spark interest among the participants. She said they largely recruit their scientist mentors by finding clubs on the different university campuses in San Diego.

We learned more about EYH from Cassondra Williams, who spoke next about recruiting in the science community. Cassondra spoke about both EYH--a large, one-time event--and BeWISE (Better Education for Women In Science and Engineering), a long-term mentoring program for girls. Cassondra identified four places for finding STEM professional volunteers:

Universities: the National Science Foundation (NSF) now requires many scientists who receive NSF funding to include public outreach in their research plans; this means that many professors and graduate students in the scientists may be looking for opportunities.
Corporations: research individual companies in your local area; they may have an employee volunteer program and/or an outreach coordinator
Research Institutions: this could include zoos and aquariums, as well as medical centers
Government: branches of the military and federal agencies may have volunteering programs; state and county branches may be a resource as well

Cassondra emphasized that programs should have resources available to support volunteers, such as ways to communicate their complicated research. She recommended personal networking (such as getting on listservs), researching specific scientists/STEM professionals to reach out to, and contacting organizations' outreach coordinators as effective ways to find scientists volunteers.

Finally, we heard from Milinda Martin of Time Warner Cable. Milinda is the Vice President, Communications for the Southern California/Mountain West region. Milinda talked about Time Warner Cable's philanthropic initiative Connect a Million Minds, including the Connectory. We also watched a great video of Time Warner Cable employees talking about their volunteer experiences working with kids to promote STEM education.

Milinda talked about some of the challenges for their volunteers, which could help afterschool programs identify ways to better incorporate and connect with corporate volunteers. First, many employees may not identify as STEM workers--for example, they work in marketing or administration--and might not feel prepared to do science with kids. Second, most employees work during the time that afterschool programs typically operate. Third, afterschool programs may struggle to find the right person at the corporation to contact--look for a volunteer or outreach coordinator. She also emphasized that many employees like to hear feedback from the organizations and programs for which they volunteer.

After the panelists wrapped up their presentations, they participated in a moderated discussion with the audience. Questions ranged from sources of funding to evaluation--some highlights from the conversation included:

Building a relationship with volunteers and their home organizations is a key to success on both ends; this requires a good deal of dedication, investment, and time
Nonprofit organizations should collect data on their impact with students--for example, giving students pre- and post-participation surveys to identify changing attitudes
Students need and want a wide variety of exposures to STEM, and volunteering can help

Thank you again to our speakers, and we hope that this was useful for conference attendees. We'll post Part II of the session--on community resources for STEM--later this week!

Take Advantage of a Great Pre-Conference Opportunity this Monday in Sunny San Diego, CA!

2011-10-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

We are traveling to sunny San Diego, CA this October 31st for the Step Up Your Game conference focusing on engaging older youth in afterschool. We will be hosting a pre-conference panel from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on building successful partnerships for science afterschool. We are happy to be able to offer FREE attendance to the pre-conference session for members of the Coalition for Science After School. Seating is limited!

This panel will be co-sponsored with Time Warner Cable. Our panel participants will include:

Linda Kekelis, Executive Director, Techbridge
Cassondra Williams, UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Gabrielle Lyon, Founder and Senior Explorer, Project Exploration
Liz Ferguson, Director of Education, Bio-Waves
Milinda Martin, Vice President in Communications, West Region, Time Warner Cable
Leslie Lowes, Informal Education Specialist, NASA
Katie Levedahl, Assistant Director of Out-of-School Time Programs, California Academy of Sciences
Kalie Sacco, Manager, Coalition for Science After School

Again, space is limited. If you are a member of the Coalition who will be able to attend the pre-conference, email Kalie Sacco at kaliesacco {@} berkeley {dot} edu with your name, title, and organization affiliation.

For those who will be unable to attend, check back on this blog next week for a summary of the panels.

We hope to see you in San Diego!

What I Learned at the Association of Science-Technology Centers Conference

2011-10-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is Kalie, Manager at the Coalition for Science After School, just back from four great days in Baltimore at the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) conference. I spent the first two days of the conference in the exhibit hall, where I was seated next to representatives from the Afterschool Alliance. The exhibit hall gave me a chance to meet representatives from many of our science center members, as well as introduce new people to the Coalition and the National After School Science Directory.

There is no doubt that science center leaders are interested in connecting with afterschool programs, or looking to include afterschool content in their educational programming. If you’re from a science center looking to partner with or include more afterschool programming, join the Coalition to receive our newsletter and engage with this dynamic community of out-of-school time STEM stakeholders.

Outside of the exhibit hall’s open hours, I was able to attend some interesting sessions focusing on education in science centers. I took some notes to share with our members. Descriptions of each session are below; some of them run a bit long, so skip ahead to the session titles that interest you the most:

1) Integrating Scientists Into Educational Programming

2) How to Demonstrate the Value of Science Centers

3) The Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE): Year 4 Initiatives and the Future

4) Innovative and Collaborative Sharing of Educational Resources Online

5) Activating Young Science Learners

Thank you to the team at ASTC for putting on a great conference! I learned a lot and plan on attending again next year when the conference moves to Ohio. See you in Columbus!

Integrating Scientists Into Educational Programming

This session focused on showcasing the ways in which museums work with scientists to enhance their education programs and events. We heard from two representatives from the American Museum of Natural History, who offers a Science Café night for adults and a two-year mentoring program for high-school youth that matches them with a scientists mentor. We also heard from Elizabeth Babcock of the California Academy of Sciences, who talked about the museum’s Careers in Science program and efforts to make their scientist researchers accessible to museum visitors by opening up their glass-fronted research lab. Monique Scott of the Anchorage Museum talked about an exhibit on mammoths and mastodons and their programming that brought research scientists and community members together on the museum floor. Steve Tritz of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) told us about a great summer camp program that takes place all across the Pacific Northwest, in which students travel with scientists researchers and help them with their fieldwork.

Student connection to professional scientists is an important motivator for showing students that they can become scientists too. For example, Mr. Tritz of OMSI talked about how his program works with tribal scientists to connect American Indian students to the research that they do. Challenges in integrating scientists into education programs include finding scientists who are natural communicators to the public, as well as reaching out to scientists outside of personal networks. Several presenters mentioned that working with post-docs or graduate students has been a good strategy, as those students and recent PhDs often have an interest in outreach and a natural connection with students. For afterschool programs looking to partner with scientists, reaching out to a local college’s STEM departments could be a great way to find scientists interested in outreach.

For more information about this topic, stay tuned on our blog for a summary of the workshop we’ll be facilitating at the Up Your Game conference on October 31^st in San Diego, where we will be focusing on connecting scientist volunteers and afterschool programs.

How to Demonstrate the Value of Science Centers

In this session, we heard from representatives from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on their research and evaluation efforts to demonstrate how valuable museums and libraries—including those that focus on science content—are to their communities. IMLS recently put out a study on 21^st century skills, which is available for download at their website and may be a useful tool for afterschool groups seeking to integrate skill-building STEM activities into their programs.

We also saw a video produced by the California Science Center highlighting some of their great exhibits, programs, and community recognition over the years. William Harris, Senior Vice President of Development and Marketing at the California Science Center Foundation, said that they have saved everything positive said about them over the years—ranging from local news coverage to a donation letter sent by a six-year-old visitor. These testaments to their educational impact, combined with videos of some of their most exciting exhibits and programs, was informative while also creating a deep emotional impact. He also said that they made their first video of this nature using a flip-phone camera—something relatively cheap that many people already have. Producing a video of this nature would be a great asset for an afterschool program to show potential funders and policymakers.

The Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE): Year 4 Initiatives and the Future

The Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) is a partnership between several projects, initiatives, and institutions that seeks to bring together and advance the field of informal science educators. Funded by the National Science Foundation, CAISE is continuously growing and expanding to bring together more partners and stakeholders across multiple STEM fields. Check out their website for more information about their projects, partnerships, and constituents.

Innovative Collaborative Development and Sharing of Educational Resources Online

This session introduced participants to a variety of educational resources and tools—all collaborative in nature and available online. Many of the resources found on these sites may be useful for afterschool programs looking to increase their STEM content—or for STEM providers seeking new venues for distributing their work.

NSDL SMILE pathway: This great collection of informal math and science activities from science centers all across the country can be found at www.howtosmile.org. Users can search for activities by content, age, cost, and many other parameters. They can also submit reviews, ratings, and suggestions for modifications for each activity. We often recommend the SMILE pathway to afterschool programs looking for short science activities that use inexpensive materials and explain their science content in an easy-to-understand way.
NISE Network: The NISE Network is a collaborative partnership of science institutions offering resources for understanding and explaining nanotechnology in informal education environments. The presenter, Catherine McCarthy of the Science Museum of St. Paul, also gave an enlightening talk about copyright and the potential issues of sharing digital resources. The NISE Network uses a Creative Commons license, and encourages sharing with attribution.
Open Exhibits: This community-based initiative provides free software that uses multi-touch and other human-computer interaction (HCI) technology to museums and other educational organizations. They also use a Creative Commons license. This new project capitalizes on the collaborative nature of science centers and the ease of open-source software development and sharing. Many of the exhibits that have been developed through Open Exhibits use cheap technology that visitors may be familiar with, like Microsoft Kinect and Google Maps. Check out their community site to see some of the projects that have been developed.

Activating Young Science Learners

The Science Learning Activation Lab research project based in the San Francisco Bay Area seeks to identify and explain the factors that “activate” science learning in children before they reach middle school. Their working definition of activation is a dynamic state composed of dispositions, skills, and knowledge that enable success in proximal learning experiences. It is definable, malleable, and predictive of future learning choice. Identifying factors of activation has the potential to present tangible evidence to policymakers and funding organizations that learning outcomes other than test scores can effectively measure science learning and increasing the number of students who go through the STEM pipeline (that is, students who go on to choose STEM majors and careers).

The research team, which includes the Lawrence Hall of Science and the University of Pittsburgh, is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which has long supported Bay Area science research. The researchers are still formulating their tools for identifying and measuring activation. They hope to answer the question of how we, as informal science educators, can activate children’s interest and curious minds in ways that ignite persistent engagement in science learning and inquiry. Although this work is focused in the Bay Area, the research findings and any resulting models or tools for measurement can certainly be used by organizations in other areas.

At the session, we heard from leaders at major Bay Area informal science learning institutions (the Lawrence Hall of Science, the Children’s Discovery Museum, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Exploratorium) about what they hope the research can accomplish as it moves forward. The hope is that by working together, the institutions can dramatically increase the amount of science being offered to Bay Area children.

The research being pursued in this project is highly relevant for afterschool providers who are seeking to offer science content in their programs. The researchers agree that any kind of learning experience has potential for activation, and afterschool learning is certainly a part of children’s learning experiences. Keep an eye on their website for preliminary results, and we certainly hope that they will present the next stage of their findings at next year’s ASTC conference in Columbus, Ohio.

Join Us at These Upcoming Conferences & Events This Fall

2011-10-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

One of our top priorities in the coming year is to attend conferences and events around the country to meet afterschool leaders and learn more about the latest developments in the field. Here is where we’ll be in the next month—let us know if you will be at any of these meetings and events, or suggest somewhere for us to go next!

Association of Science & Technology Centers (ASTC) Annual Conference: We are kicking off our conference season this weekend at the ASTC conference in Baltimore, MD. Kalie will be there with the Afterschool Alliance to talk to science centers about how out-of-school time programs are an important part about science center offerings.
Up Your Game Pre-Conference Workshop: Later this month, we’ll be travelling to sunny San Diego, CA to host a pre-conference workshop at the Up Your Game conference. This conference focuses on older youth in afterschool, with sessions oriented towards middle school earlier in the week and high school later in the week. Our pre-conference workshop on the 31st will focus on building partnerships for afterschool STEM, with two panels on engaging volunteers and finding community resources. We will have speakers representing high-quality afterschool programs and resources, and the workshop will be a great way to share practices and learn how to integrate community partnerships to promote STEM in your afterschool program. There is still time to register for this conference, so we hope to see you there!
National Summer Learning Conference: It may be fall, but it's still a great time to talk about summer learning! We'll be exhibiting at the National Summer Learning conference in San Francisco, CA from November 15th-16th. Summer learning is an important part of providing out-of-school time education opportunities for youth, and we look forward to connecting with many great summer programs at this event.

Keep an eye out for our Steering Committee members at other conferences and events around the country. You can also find out more about where we will be in our monthly newsletter.

STEM in Afterschool Impacts & Outcomes

2011-10-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

The Afterschool Alliance recently released an analysis of the impacts and outcomes of STEM learning in afterschool. The report identifies evaluation studies that have been done in a wide range of afterschool programs across the country and highlights common themes, laying the foundation for future evaluation studies of STEM in afterschool.

To find the 19 studies highlighted in the report, the Alliance cast a wide net among out-of-school time intermediaries (including the Coalition for Science After School) and program providers themselves. The report includes large national programs, (such as FIRST Robotics and the 4-H Science Initiative), statewide projects and initiatives (like After-School Math PLUS in New York and Missouri, and the Student Science Enrichment Program in North Carolina), as well as local groups (such as Project Exploration in Chicago and Techbridge in Alameda County, California).

The Alliance was able to identify three overarching themes that were examined and/or defined in the evaluation studies:

· Improved attitudes toward STEM fields and careers

· Increased STEM knowledge and skills

· Higher likelihood of graduation and pursuing a STEM career

Further details of how each of the evaluation studies addresses each theme—and what the actual outcomes of each theme look like—are available in the full report.

Individual organizations can take action by conducting evaluation studies of their own programs. Evaluation studies are an excellent way for afterschool organizations and programs to identify what is and isn’t working in their program, as well as provide tangible evidence of success to funding organizations and community advocates. Afterschool programs can look for success indicators in two ways:

Youth development outcomes:

Increased graduate rates
Likelihood of attending college
Better attendance in school
Increased community service or involvemnet

Science and Math education outcomes:

Higher test scores
Demonstrated understanding of math and/or science concepts through high-quality projects and schoolwork
Likelihood of pursuing a STEM college degree and/or career

If you’re looking for more resources on doing an evaluation study within your program, see our Assessment & Evaluation Resources page.

President Obama’s LinkedIn Town Hall: How Does STEM Education Fit with the American Jobs Act?

2011-09-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

On September 26^th, President Obama and LinkedIn presented a Town Hall discussion at the Computer History Museum in Palo Alto, CA. The theme of the Town Hall, “Putting America Back to Work,” was aimed at addressing questions about the proposed American Jobs Act. Participants at the Town Hall included LinkedIn members and employees and was moderated by the CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner. I was lucky to be one of the approximately 20 members chosen to attend the event and have the chance to ask the President a question about how he plans to get America back to work.

LinkedIn set up a discussion group (which is still active) asking its members to submit questions. The company also reached out to active members through a survey and direct contacts. The team coordinating the event selected questions and attendees that represented a variety of interests and groups from all across the country—our questions topics ranged from unemployment insurance, Medicare and Social Security, tax reform, encouragement and tips for job seekers, and of course, education.

I’ve expressed in previous blog posts the idea that investing in STEM afterschool education is important for educating America’s future workforce. The President has expressed interest and support for STEM education in the past—as in his 2009 launch of the Educate to Innovate initiative—so I was curious to find out if and how support for STEM education was specifically included in the American Jobs Act.

While I wasn’t able to ask my question due to time constraints, the President did include science and math education in some of his answers to other questions asked by audience members, including the need to recruit and train qualified teachers and provide incentives for students to study science and math. He described a partnership between New York Public Schools and IBM to get kids excited about learning STEM skills:

“IBM is engaged in a really interesting experience in New York… and this is not for the kids who are in the top 1 percent, this is for ordinary public school kids…. You follow this program, you work hard, IBM will hire you at the end of this process. And it suddenly gives kids an incentive. They say, oh, the reason I'm studying math and science is there's a practical outcome here. I will have a job. And there are practical applications to what I'm doing in the classroom.”

The ideas that the President expressed in his support for STEM education are an integral part of many afterschool programs, and out-of-school time represents an important opportunity for getting students excited about STEM. Students already have little time for science learning—a 2007 study done in the San Francisco Bay Area showed that 80% of K-5 teachers spent 60 minutes or less per week on science, with 16% spending no time at all. While clearly reforms need to be made for school-day learning, afterschool learning time can help to fill the gap as well as promote experiences that may never be a part of the school day. Out-of-school learning can range from internships and research apprenticeships with scientists to robotics teams to science center exhibits—all of which have the power to activate and inspire learning and future STEM workers.

Thank you to LinkedIn and the White House for this incredible opportunity. I encourage all of our readers to watch the rest of the event (or read a transcript) and to continue to promote out-of-school time STEM learning opportunities in their communities.

--Kalie Sacco, Manager, Coalition for Science After School

Badges for Lifelong Learning: What Could They Mean for Afterschool?

2011-09-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges of providing high-quality STEM experiences outside of the classroom is ensuring that students' learning experiences are recognized by college admission offices and employers. Skills learned and projects completed in out-of-school time may not be documented on a traditional resume, and there are few spaces on social networking sites or other forms of self-representation for highlighting non-academic or non-professional learning experiences. The result of this lack of space is that students who excel in non-traditional learning environments--or students who complete significant accomplishments outside of the classroom or professional arena--may not be recognized for their learning achievements.

The new Open Badges project launched by Mozilla and the Humanities, Arts, Science, & Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC), with support from the MacArthur Foundation, aims to recognize the non-traditional learning paths that are characteristic of 21st-century learning. Students--and adults--will be able to collect badges to share on their social networking sites, personal websites, and digital resumes that demonstrate accomplishments or skill-building experiences. The open-platform nature of the project means that everyone will be able to create badges for causes or experiences that they find important. You can see an announcement of the project and learn more about it here.

There is a lot of potential for badges to tie into afterschool programs. Large organizations--like 4H, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and Girl Scouts--could use badges to show tangible results of experiences from their youth participants. Smaller programs could use badges to showcase unique and individual projects, and help their students create portfolios of their afterschool work. Afterschool professionals could use badges to show completion of professional development workshops, mentorship, or curriculum development or activity enhancement ideas.

Badges have a way to go before they become recognized as parallel to academic and professional credentials--the process for creating and earning digital badges may be ever-evolving. How could you see badges integrated into your afterschool program? What challenges would you anticipate?

Afterschool, STEM, & Jobs For the Future

2011-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Afterschool learning certainly benefits youth through rich learning opportunities--but few people outside of the afterschool field may realize that afterschool programs can be a boon for local economies and communities in several ways. Earlier this week, President Barack Obama recognized the importance of afterschool education by including support for afterschool in his American Jobs Act. Jodi Grant, Coalition Steering Committee Member and Executive Director of the Afterschool Alliance, wrote on the Afterschool Snack blog about why afterschool is deserving of this attention, and made a case for increasing support for afterschool.

Science, technology, engineering, and math represent an important component of afterschool learning. Investing in afterschool STEM means supporting economic growth in the United States both now and in the future. Here are some reasons why afterschool STEM is essential in supporting the current and future workforce:

Afterschool provides a safe and enriching childcare environment for families who work outside of the home. Afterschool programs provide childcare for parents, enabling them to work full-time jobs and support their families. According to a fact sheet from the Afterschool Alliance, "decreased worker productivity related to parental concerns about after school care costs businesses up to $300 billion per year." With a record number of American families living under the poverty rate, investing in childcare opportunities is more important than ever in getting Americans back to work.
Afterschool and other out-of-school time programs provide jobs. Out-of-school time jobs are often seasonal and part-time, and represent rich on-the-job learning experiences for youth and students. Youth unemployment depends heavily on seasonal and part-time employment typical of afterschool direct provider positions, and unemployment during youth correlates to fewer opportunities as an adult. Investing in afterschool programs enables more students to participate in the program, necessitating hiring more afterschool providers and administrative staff.
Early STEM learning opportunities influence choosing STEM as a college major and career. A recent survey by Microsoft yielded quite a bit of interesting information about parent and student attitudes toward STEM. About 78% of college STEM majors said they decided to study STEM in high school or earlier; about 21% said they decided in middle school. Investment in quality STEM experiences at early ages could increase the numbers of students who ultimately choose to pursue STEM careers.
There is a pressing need for investment in the future STEM workforce. In a time when unemployment and poverty rates are increasing the US, STEM fields provide a light at the end of the tunnel. STEM jobs are projected to grow by 17% from 2008 to 2018, in contrast with non-STEM jobs, which are only expected to grow 9.8%. This view is reflected in the Microsoft survey on parent and student attitudes toward STEM, where 66% of college STEM majors reported choosing STEM for the job potential, and slightly over half of parents said STEM should be a priority "to produce next-generation innovators."

It's clear that different groups recognize the importance of both STEM and afterschool. However, in the Microsoft survey, only 24% of parents said they would be willing to spend extra money to help their children be successful in their math and science classes. Decreased funds from government and private sources have devastated afterschool programs, although the need for their presence within communities continues to rise. It's clear that support for afterschool will have to come from multiple sources--including President Obama's jobs plan, as well as from successful private-public STEM education partnerships highlighted in a recent Congressional hearing.

Are you looking for more ways to include STEM in your afterschool program? Find curricula, professional development opportunities, and more on our Resources page. If you're interested in helping to advocate for afterschool in your community--and across the country--check out the Afterschool Alliance's Policy and Action Center.

Connecting Young Minds to STEM

2011-09-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Time Warner Cable's five-year Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) initiative has reached a major milestone just two years into its existence. The $100 million philanthropic initiative aims to introduce one million children in the U.S. the exciting world of science, technology, engineering, and math. Already, CAMM has connected 400,000 young minds to STEM.

How has CAMM managed to reach out to so many kids and their families--and how can you support their effort?

Educators, parents and other individuals can join the campaign and pledge to bring STEM learning opportunities to their communities.
Check out the CAMM-produced videos featuring kids from all over the world talking about why STEM is important to them.
If you're in a Time Warner Cable market, you can request support from CAMM. In just the last few weeks, CAMM has supported groups in South Carolina and California, and Time Warner Cable corporate volunteers have volunteered as coaches for robotics teams.

We're proud to say that we have worked with CAMM by operating the National After School Science Directory. The STEM programs and events in the Directory populate the Connectory, where kids and families from across the country can find STEM learning opportunities in their hometowns.

Thanks to Connect a Million Minds and Time Warner Cable for their great work!

Change the Equation: A Rubric for Corporate Philanthropy in STEM Learning

2011-08-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

There’s no doubt that STEM education is getting more attention these days. Education advocates, professional scientific organizations, and governments at the local, state, and federal levels have stepped up their commitments to promoting STEM. Increasingly, corporations are coming to understand that supporting STEM education is essential for ensuring that there is a STEM workforce in the future.

Change the Equation (CTEq), a group of more than 110 corporate leaders devoted to supporting STEM education programs, has released two guiding documents for their members and other corporate philanthropists interested in STEM learning. The Design Principles for Effective STEM Philanthropy and the accompanying Rubric are designed to help corporate leaders support STEM learning in a way that will have a meaningful impact and align their philanthropic goals around common interests. The Design Principles draw on research and the real-world experiences of corporate philanthropic leaders.

The Design Principles outlines eight overarching principles to use as a framework when partnering with a STEM education partner:

· Address a compelling and well-defined need

· Use rigorous evaluation to continuously measure and inform progress toward ambitious but manageable goals

· Ensure work is sustainable

· Promote replicability and scalability

· Identify outside conditions that can hinder or thwart progress

· Create high-impact partnerships

· Ensure individual attention to diverse learners’ needs

· Ensure organizational capacity to achieve goals

In addition, there are six STEM-specific principles:

· Offer challenging and relevant STEM content

· Include a focus on “21^st century skills”

· Inspire interest and engagement in STEM

· Encourage hands-on, inquiry-based learning

· Address the needs of underrepresented groups

· Ensure the capacity of program staff or volunteers to promote student learning in STEM

Notably, the Design Principles and Rubrics are not designed to be a checklist for corporate partners to evaluate STEM education programs. Rather, they serve as a guideline for corporate leaders who want to make the greatest impact in their philanthropy. Furthermore, the Design Principles are a work in progress, and Change the Equation’s website says that the organization will “refine and improve them as [they] learn more from our member companies and other leaders in STEM learning.”

What does this mean for afterschool programs? Afterschool practitioners and intermediaries may find that they are already doing many of the things outlined by the Principles—especially if their program is concerned with youth development. Since the Principles are not a checklist for evaluation, programs should not feel that they have to meet all of the criteria outlined in the Rubric. Rather than be a hard and fast rule for determining quality, the Design Principles could provide a common ground for corporate philanthropists and STEM educators to have a conversation about STEM learning.

Member Blog Post: Techbridge Student Wins NCWIT Bay Area Affiliate Award

2011-08-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

We recently got a message from the National Center for Women & Information Technology about the winner of their Bay Area affiliate award, Ana Peña , who happens to be a participant of Coalition member Techbridge. Read on to find out about her project--and how a girl in your community could be a winner too! Congratulations, Ana!

"Ana first became interested in programming through the Techbridge after-school program. She really enjoyed the challenging aspect of programming a robot to move and making a roller coaster function. At Techbridge, Ana has also worked on a project making a clay animation movie.

She loves to help other Techbridge students with their programming problems, and is the go-to person in her family if anyone has problems with their computers. Ana would like to combine her programming skills with her passion for architecture and maybe help to design and program roller coaster for amusement parks.

Unfortunately, interested and well-prepared young women like Ana often don’t choose a computer science major. Only 18% of computer and information science degrees were awarded to women in 2009 (11% at major research universities), though 57% of college degrees are awarded to women. (source NCWIT By the Numbers 2010) The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing is designed to reverse this trend by identifying, recognizing and supporting young women interested in and aspiring to pursue a major in computing.

Founded in 2007, the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing has grown to a combined National and Affiliate program with local awards serving 22 states in 2011. To date NCWIT has recognized 855 young women and plans to grow the award program to a reach of 10,000 young women and recognize 1,000 award recipients annually.

Contrary to the name, the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing is much more than an award program. Recipients are provided long-term support for their interests in computing through peer networking, mentorship, scholarships and access to opportunities.

Applications open September 15, 2011 for the 2012 competition. All high school young women residing in the US are eligible to apply for regional awards if offered in their area, as well as the national award. Girls, parents and teachers should visit www.aspirationsaward.org for more information about both opportunities."

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

2011-08-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, we were lucky to attend a staff lecture hosted by our host institution, the Lawrence Hall of Science, featuring Dr. Helen Quinn, a professor of physics at Stanford University and chair of the National Academy of Sciences committee that issued the new Framework for K-12 Science Education. Dr. Quinn talked about the process behind designing the Framework, and why it's different from other recommendations in the past.

Symmetry Breaking, a physics publication, just did a Q&A with Dr. Quinn on the new recommendations.

What are your thoughts on the recommendations?

Making and STEM

2011-07-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

The act of making things--whether its gluing toothpicks into simple or complex structures, or welding scrap metal to make art--is a natural vehicle for exploring concepts and applications of science, technology, engineering, and math. In addition to taking into account the aesthetics of design, makers are in essence performing constant experiments: what do I think will happen if this is attached to that? What can I do to make that happen? Making equals exploration, which leads to innovation.

Making encourages creativity--an important ingredient in answering scientific questions. But many scientists and non-scientists alike may not consider themselves to be "creative" as the word is typically applied to the arts. Fortunately, there is a movement to make "making" accessible and show how creativity can be found in unexpected places.

The Maker Faire, a.k.a. the world's "largest DIY Festival," hosts showcases of innovation across the country. This year, the World Maker Faire will be held on September 17th and 18th in New York City in partnership with the New York Hall of Science. Smaller faires inspired by the larger event frequently take place in smaller communities, highlighting regional activities.

Individual institutions can support the science of making. At the Exploratorium, daily activities at The Tinkering Studio support exploration of many kinds of materials and science concepts. Check out their blog for highlights of recent activities. And in case you're starting to feel inspired, the Institute for the Future (IFTF) has a blog up post about integrating the Maker community with K-12 education (specifically in-school, but the idea of linking making to the out-of-school time education field is worth considering as well).

Making represents great opportunities for doing science, engineering, technology, and math outside of typical school hours. Have you seen making in action?

What Afterschool In New York Could Mean for Afterschool Nationwide

2011-07-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg launched the citywide Out-of-School Time Initiative in New York City, which grew to serve up to 85,000 students per year. Now, New York City is rolling out new standards for how afterschool student support should be included in school-community partnerships. Lucy Friedman, Founding President of The After-School Corporation (TASC) and member of the Coalition for Science After School Steering Committee, summarizes the findings and explores the implications in today's Huffington Post in an article called "Raising Standards After 3 PM."

What could this mean for the rest of the nation? As Lucy puts it:

"...the proposed new standards neatly encapsulate what a decade of independent research has told us: that in order to truly benefit kids, after-school program activities should be based on planned and sequenced curricula that support specific learning and developmental goals. Kids should be involved in active, project-based learning, especially middle school students who desperately need to feel like they own their own learning and that learning is relevant to their lives -- otherwise they'll stop attending. Program staff members need to intentionally support the development of kids' social and emotional skills."

The new standards create a framework for schools and afterschool programs to work together to reach common goals surrounding student achievement. If successful, this could create a model for other large cities across the country where schools and afterschool programs serve diverse and varied communities. It could also scaled down to support smaller communities, which can also have a great deal of invested partners. Especially in a time of scarce resources, it will be interesting to see if the proposed program--which is designed to lower bureaucratic barriers--increases efficiency without sacrificing high-quality experiences and content in a time of scarce resources.

The proposal is still in its beginning stages--a concept paper has just been released by the New York Department of Youth and Community Development--and it will be interesting to see how it is implemented and developed over the coming school year.

Bringing STEM Professionals to Your Program

2011-07-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Students and STEM professionals alike benefit when they're brought together in an afterschool environment. Connecting youth to scientists breaks the stereotype of scientists and their work as being elite, inaccessible, too hard, or boring. By working directly with students, scientists have the benefit of knowing that they're having an impact on the future scientific workforce. Educators, parents, and community volunteers can all play a part in connecting students to scientists.

But finding a scientist willing to take time to talk to afterschool students may present a challenge. Fortunately, there is an able and enthusiastic effort to bring the two communities together. If you're a parent or educator who wants to bring scientists into your child's afterschool program--or a STEM student looking for a science mentor--where should you start looking?

Scientist outreach online communities. There are several great sources for finding scientists in your area, and more initiatives are underway. The National Lab Network is an online source for scientist volunteers and classrooms in need can connect with one another. Scientific American is leading another outreach initiative, 1,000 Scientists in 1,000 Days, to recruit more scientists who may be interested in educational outreach.
Science departments at colleges and universities. Many departments offer some kind of educational outreach--such as public lectures, summer camps, mentoring, or on-site science fairs. Some departments may require graduate students to participate in outreach activities as part of their course of study. Contact your local institution--the undergraduate or graduate student advisor might be a good place to see if there is an outreach program already in place.
Corporate volunteering. Large companies that do scientific, engineering, or technological research and development are a great resource for contacting professional scientists. Some corporations may have annual corporate volunteer days or offer tours of their facilities to student groups. See if your local company has a corporate responsibility or outreach department, or contact your local volunteering center to find a corporate volunteering partner.

If you're a scientist looking for an afterschool program in your area to work with, try searching in the National After School Science Directory or viewing the Coalition for Science After School members in your area.

For more insight on this topic, check out the discussion on our LinkedIn page.

Manufacturing and STEM

2011-06-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Manufacturing skills--designing and creating the materials, parts, and products that we use every day--are a sometimes-overlooked outcome of a solid STEM background. Last week, President Obama announced the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a coalition of government, universities, and private enterprise to invest in and support manufacturing in the United States. According to Science Insider, such a partnership was a recommendation of a recent PCAST (Presidents' Council of Advisors on Science and Technology) report. A key component of the report included a National Science Foundation solicitation for a National Robotics Initiative to "accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside, or cooperatively with, people."

Manufacturing brings to mind dim factories, assembly lines, and cookie-cutter products. But modern manufacturing can have quite a different definition. Sophisticated technological components have to be designed and assembled with great skill and precision. Creating new materials that make products more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly can involve developing new manufacturing processes. And the development of robotic technology is being increasingly applied to improving the lives of people around the world, from individuals with disabilities to possibly improving agricultural sustainability.

Project-based STEM learning--a strength of afterschool programs--can lead to a promising career in manufacturing, giving students a potential edge in the global economy and the opportunity to be a driving force in the development of new technologies. Robotics programs in particular offer students the opportunity to develop technological as well as creative skills, and there are many opportunities for doing robotics in afterschool--a recent search in the National After School Science Directory found over 200 robotics teams and robotics-related summer camps across the country.

Do you have an opportunity for K-12 or college students to develop their STEM skills in out-of-school time? Share it in the Directory! You can also find opportunities in your area in the the Connectory.

Astronomy in Afterschool

2011-06-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Lots of kids--and adults--are intrigued by what exists beyond our home planet. Astronomy--the study of space and the universe as a whole--is a wide field with many inherent opportunities for doing science outside of the classroom. As yesterday's Solstice and last week's lunar eclipse show, stunning astronomical events are happening all the time. Whether you're watching an astronomy show in a planetarium or working with a group to interpret planet sightings through a telescope, when you're making astronomical observations--you're doing science!

Many local and state astronomy groups are members of the Coalition for Science After School. They offer star parties, group observations, lectures from astronomy professionals, and more. No clear skies in your area? Many science centers and planetariums have regular shows, seasonal camps and afterschool classes, and special astronomy activities. Search for astronomy opportunities by zip code at the Connectory.

Looking for more resources for including astronomy in afterschool programs? Check out these resources:

Coalition member the Astronomical Society of the Pacific offers an array of astronomy-related activities that can be done in informal settings. They also have an upcoming conference that includes a track for formal and informal educators.
NASA's Solar System Exploration Education page has a variety of educator resources for exploring the solar system in out-of-school time, including a professional development program and individual activities that can be done in afterschool settings.
Afterschool Universe from NASA is an out-of-school time program developed for middle school students. In addition to curriculum and activity ideas, there are trainings for educators available.

Math Curriculum Resources

2011-06-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

Math is highly interconnected to science, technology and engineering. Math skills like working through equations are essential to working in a lab, designing a computer program, and designing a bridge. Practicing math also helps learners build up their abstract thinking skills and Not only is working through different equations essential to researching in a lab, creating a computer program, or building a bridge.

What are some math curriculum resources that teach students math skills in an innovative, engaging way? Tell us in the comments or email us at info {at} afterschoolscience {dot} org.

Six Days Left to Honor an Innovative Afterschool Program in Your Community

2011-05-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife have partnered up to honor five outstanding afterschool programs with this year's MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. Only six days are left until the nomination deadline of May 31st, 2011!

In addition to $10,000 furnished by MetLife, chosen programs will be featured in an Afterschool Alliance Issue Brief. It's a great way to be highlighted on a national stage!

Nominated programs should fulfill one or more of the following guidelines (taken from the Afterschool Alliance website):

Providing Opportunities for Service Learning for Middle School Students – For exemplary middle school programs that are offering service learning opportunities to middle school youth by integrating community service with instruction to enrich learning experiences, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen their communities.

Aligning Afterschool with the School Day for Middle School – For afterschool that reinforces and complements the students’ regular academic programming in school and innovatively assists students in meeting state and local academic achievement standards in core academic subjects while also broadening their learning experiences.

Addressing Middle School Bullying - For afterschool programs that address the issue of bullying in a novel and creative way to teach children the dangers of ostracizing their peers and ways to deal with bullies.

Supporting Literacy for Middle School Students – For innovative afterschool programs that are excelling in promoting increased literacy, competent writing skills and a passion for reading among participating youth.

Good luck to all nominated programs! We can't wait to see the results.

Career Pathways in STEM Afterschool Programs

2011-05-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

Out-of-school time STEM programs are often designed to inspire or spark participants' interest in pursuing STEM careers. There are a few reasons why this is important in creating, designing and/or supporting programs. First, the United States--and the world--is in need of a STEM workforce, and few students are prepared to fill that need. Check out the many statistics compiled on the non-partisan, non-profit initiative Change the Equation website citing the low numbers of U.S. students who are ready for college.

Second, despite the market crash in 2008 and the slow recovery since, STEM jobs are in high-demand. According to a recent New York Times article, six of the top ten fastest-growing occupations as outlined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are STEM-related--from biological research scientists to technology specialists to medical professionals to engineers, and many of those jobs require at least a Bachelor's degree and some specialized training.

Finally, in an environment where education programs are increasingly required to justify themselves to avoid budget cuts, tying programs to college- and career-readiness allow more stakeholders to have vested interest in those programs. Companies and corporations that require science, technology, engineering, and math graduates--or students who have skills and technical training in those fields--may seek to partner with programs that promote the development of a future workforce.

If you don't currently incorporate career exploration into your afterschool program, here are some things to consider:

What type of backgrounds do your students have? Students may have STEM skills or an interest in learning more, but depending on their backgrounds, they may not have the tools to put those skills into practice. Do they know about saving for college, the financial resources available to them, what entrance exams to take, and the timeline for applying? Are you equipped to provide that information, and if not, can you partner with a school guidance counselor or other community member?
How old are your students? At what age do you think it is appropriate to start talking about college and careers with your students? Bringing up college and career goals in mid- to late-elementary school may be a way to help encourage goal-setting from an early age.
Do program participants have access to real STEM professionals so they can see how their skills are put into practice? Role models and personal mentoring can be very important in supporting and shaping student interest. Check out this guide from Techbridge developed in partnership with Google for programs and professionals to get started on the mentoring process.

Great afterschool programs certainly have a place in supporting the development of a STEM workforce. To see this principle in practice, see this ten-year evaluation from renowned Chicago program Project Exploration on how high-quality science content and mentoring services can foster higher education in STEM subjects. And for even more information about different programs across the country that support STEM career exploration, see our recent LinkedIn discussion on the subject.

Social Media and Innovative Fundraising

2011-05-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Competition for grants and donations can be fierce, especially as traditional streams of funding dwindle or disappear due to budget cuts. One innovative way to appeal capitalize on new fundraising techniques is through new media and social networking. Here are a few different ways that afterschool programs and nonprofits can tap into new donor networks and gain community support.

Donors Choose, which allows small and/or non-traditional donors to support individual classroom projects. Educators post what they need to support their classroom or individual project, from art supplies to technology to innovative curriculum to support high-quality student learning. Donors can search for projects in their geographical area, subject (including math & science!), highest need, and several other criteria. Choose to donate as little as $10--or fund the entire project! This is a great way for potential donors who want to have an impact on students' lives, but who may not have the time to volunteer or the funds to make a major gift. The direct connection between the classroom and the donor shows that the funds are being put to a specific use.
Chase Community Giving, a project that uses existing social networks to support organizations through social media user engagement. Facebook users vote for charities--including youth development and education organizations--to receive grants from Chase, whose total donations exceed $2.5 million. Voters can share their votes on Facebook or tweet links to vote for charities that they favor. The second round of this year's voting is set to begin May 19th--check it out and see if participating next year is right for you!
The Refresh Everything program from Pepsi, which encourages innovative and/or new projects to make their case and build a network of support. Each month, Pepsi gives away grants to programs and projects that support new ideas in arts & music, education, or communities. They also post a new "Pepsi Challenge" each month, from a fundraising rock concert to honoring soldiers in your hometown. Users can vote for multiple projects per day, and the Pepsi Refresh website offers a guide for promoting projects via social networking, traditional media, and other creative strategies.

How have you used unconventional fundraising techniques to make a different in your community?

Directory Update 2011

2011-05-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

In 2009, the Coalition for Science After School partnered with Time Warner Cable's philanthropic initiative Connect a Million Minds to create the National After School Science Directory. The Directory is a fast, free way for organizations across the country to promote their opportunities for doing science, technology, engineering, and math in out-of-school time. Tens of thousands of students, parents, educators, advocates, and other stakeholders have used the Connectory to find STEM programs & events in their communities.

This month, we are working to include the many STEM opportunities that have been initiated since 2009 into the Directory, as well as updating past opportunities that have new dates. If your organization has not yet shared their opportunities in the Directory, we invite you to take advantage of this resource and share your activities on a national scale. If you have opportunities that have expired, please take a moment to log in and update those dates so that users can continue to have access to your great work. Remember, only active opportunities with current dates show up in public searches!

If you need assistance updating your entries, or have questions about the Directory, feel free to contact us at directory {at} afterschoolscience {dot} org.

Thank you for your continuing support of afterschool science. We look forward to reading more about your great work in the Directory!

Share your STEM opportunities in the National After School Science Directory!

2011-04-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Coalition's Directory and Time Warner Cable's Connectory are a free, easy-to-use tool to share your opportunities for doing STEM in out-of-school time on a national scale. List your programs and events in the Directory to share them with parents, students, educators, policy-makers, and advocates in your community and beyond.

If you are already a part of the Directory, now is a great time to update your opportunities. Simply log in, click on "programs & events," and update your entries. Create new opportunities by clicking on the "create program or event" button. Remember, only active opportunities--those with dates that have not passed--show up in public searches, so keep your programs and events current!

If you're new, signing up only creates a couple of minutes at www.afterschoolscience.org/directory. For assistance or questions, feel free to email us directly at directory (at) afterschoolscience.org.

Thank you for supporting science in out-of-school time!

Webinar: Learning Science Outside the Classroom

2011-04-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

As part of their recent special report on informal science education, Education Week will be hosting a webinar tomorrow (4/19) on science learning outside of the classroom. The webinar will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST and will feature John Falk, Professor of Free Choice learning at Oregon State University, and Dr. Alan Friedman, former Director and CEO of the New York Hall of Science and current member of the National Assessment Government Board. Both are highly regarded experts working at the cutting edge of informal science learning research, and they should have a lot to say about this ever-evolving field.

Dr. Friedman also gave a talk at the 2010 National Conference on Science & Technology in Out of School Time on the importance of program evaluation. Download a free podcast of his talk on the Coalition for Science After School iTunes U page.

Check out our updated iTunes U page!

2011-04-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

iTunes U recently upgraded their interface, and the Coalition for Science After School page is cleaner and more easy-to-use than ever. Visit the page (link will open iTunes) to download recorded sessions from the 2010 National Conference on Science & Technology in Out-of-School Time! Learn about:

-Creating and sustaining community partnerships
-What funders are looking for from OST STEM programs
-Research trends and recent findings in the OST STEM field

-How technology is being used by OST programs

There's a lot to learn from these leaders and experts. What surprised you? What would you like to know more about? And please feel free to share these podcasts with your networks!

Summertime Directory Updates

2011-04-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

The weather is warming up, which means that now is a great time to enter your summer programs into the Directory! It's free and takes just a few minutes. Go to www.afterschoolscience.org/directory, log in, and enter or update your programs!

Bring Science & Literacy Program to Your Afterschool Site

2011-03-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

The Franklin Institute has teamed up with the Free Library of Philadelphia to offer an exciting and innovative program that combines hands-on science and literacy skill-building. According to their website, LEAP into Science aims to:

Increase the capacity of influential adults for science teaching and learning;
Increase the capacity of libraries for science teaching and learning;
Understand the ways in which science and literacy can be connected in order to promote children's and families' engagement in both of these areas.

The program is currently looking for ten new museums, afterschool sites, libraries, and all other organizations who may be interested in bringing the LEAP into Science to their communities. Programs who are accepted will convene in Philadelphia, PA this July with sites where the program is currently happening to discuss findings and be trained in program resources and evaluation techniques.

Interested in applying? Check out their website for more information and application details.

Check out the Science After School Consumers Guide!

2011-03-21T16:39:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the Science After School Consumers Guide? The Guide grew out of early discussions amongst Coalition founding members about the need to have a guide to the high-quality, hands-on science content that is available for use in out-of-school time settings. The Lawrence Hall of Science spearheaded a project to find those resources, and conducted a review with the support of the SEDL National Center for Quality Afterschool.

After an open-nomination period, submissions were reviewed for various indications of quality and categorized by grade, target audience, cost, and subject. Users can search for curricula, activity kits, instructor guides, and web sites that offer appropriate content for learning science on out-of-school time. Real educators from across the country rate and review the resources, and can submit new resources that they think are missing from the Guide.

In addition, the Science After School Consumers Guide partnered with the folks at the Science and Math Informal Learning Educators (SMILE) Pathway (which we profiled here last October) to feature free sample projects and activities from many of the resources listed in the Guide. Check out the bar on the right side of each resource's page to see the activities featured on howtosmile.org (such as here, on the Fetch! page).

For more information on high-quality science curriculum, check out the Coalition's Afterschool Science Activities and Curricula page.

Evaluation and Afterschool

2011-03-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Evaluation and assessment are important components of ensuring your program's long-term success. As stated on the Coalition website:

"Program assessment and evaluation provide critical feedback for ensuring that a program is making the most of this opportunity. Additionally, these reviews can prove useful in securing funding."

Two Coalition members have recently completed major evaluation studies. Destination ImagiNation, a national non-profit afterschool program, underwent an evaluation by the University of Virginia. They found that Destination ImagiNation participants outperformed their non-participant peers on creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving--all stated goals of the program.

Project Exploration, located in Chicago, found that they have had a major impact in participants' decisions to stick with STEM education and career goals. The study was done by the Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment (REA) at the Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley and looked at ten years' of data collected by Project Exploration as well as surveys of more than 30% of Project Exploration participants. They also found that their youth-centered model was effective in encouraging positive youth development outcomes. You can read the full report, or listen to a podcast about the study at the National Conference on Science and Technology in Out-of-School Time presented by Project Exploration co-founder and director Gabrielle Lyon and REA Research Specialist Bernadette Chi.

The Coalition website also has a list of tools available for program evaluation, as well as a list of independent evaluators from across the country. Looking for even more evidence of why evaluation is so important? Download this podcast from our conference in September, presented by Dr. Alan Friedman of The Museum Group. The podcast, called Three Reasons to be Eager to Do Evaluation: Your Funders, Your Organization and Your Students, presents compelling reasons why evaluation and assessment should be made a regular part of program design and implementation.

Out-of-School In the Outdoors

2011-03-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

After a wet and snowy winter, the world is beginning to bloom again (at least in some parts of the country). All of the sprouting trees and flowers inspired me to look in the Directory to see what kinds of opportunities for afterschool science there are in botanical gardens and outdoor schools.

At the Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, high schoolers have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of horticulture and then participate in an urban agriculture project with their peers. The program is structured so that outstanding participants have the potential to work their way up and eventually become paid Senior Apprentices. This innovative program has been around since 2004 and requires a ten-month commitment with extensive training. See the GAP website for more details as well as some great pictures!

In Mississippi, the Plymouth Bluff Center offers environmental programs in an unaltered outdoor setting that includes a river, a pond, woodlands, a cypress slough, nature trails, an outdoor teaching facility, and outdoor laboratories. The Bluff is the site of an ancient Cretaceous sea and contains fossil sites used for paleontology and geology labs. Nature trails and abundant wildlife present opportunities for unstructured learning time. There is also an outdoor Math Lab and Environmental Discovery Lab perfect for field trip visits from afterschool programs as well as classrooms!

And on the west coast, 5th grade students in rural Lassen County in northern California can explore their surrounding environment at 5th Grade Day in the Forest. Hosted by the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC), the event encourages participants to explore a variety of science concepts that correlate to California's science standards.

Let us know in the comments what you're doing to celebrate science in the outdoors!

P.S. Read about member activities, upcoming conferences, the Afterschool for All Challenge, and more in the Coalition's March newsletter!

Summer Learning Opportunities

2011-02-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

Organizations from across the country are beginning to plan their summer programs, and youth participants are already starting to sign up! Summer learning is an important component of OST learning time, and the warm weather and freedom to roam outdoors means that it's a great time to do science.

Below are some summer learning opportunities that have already been entered into the Directory. Get your opportunities in soon for a free way to let your community know about your program!

COSMOS (The California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science) at the University of California, San Diego

Talented and motivated high school students are invited to work side-by-side with university faculty and researchers. In addition to the program at UC San Diego, which offers a focus in technology and engineering, COSMOS is offered at UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Cruz.

Summer Camp at the Chicago Academy of Science Notebaert Nature Museum

A variety of camps offered all summer long connect children to the wonders of nature through art, music, movement, hands-on science activities, and live animal encounters. Family open house nights each Thursday get parents and siblings involved as well.

Mathematics Summer Camp for High School Girls at the University of Nebraska

This all-girls, all-math, week-long camp at the University of Nebraska has been offered since 1997. High school aged girls are invited to this stimulating and supportive environment to develop their mathematical ability and interest.

For more information on why summer learning is essential to every child's education, check out the research and resources at the National Summer Learning Association.

National Engineers Week: February 20th-26th

2011-02-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

This week is the 60th annual National Engineers Week, hosted by the National Engineers Week Foundation. Programs across the country will cultivate and celebrate the profession, and inspire students to become future engineers.

National events include Introduce a Girl to Engineering on February 24th, when business and engineering leaders from across the country will sponsor talks and activities at local schools and programs. In addition, girls are encouraged to explore engineering through the website Engineer Your Life, where they can learn about how to become an engineer and hear from inspiring women who have already done it! The Foundation also hosted the Future City competition; winners were invited on Feb. 17th to join President Obama and Congressional leaders on their video call to astronauts currently working on the space shuttle Endeavour.

Coalition members are highly involved in engineering as well:

Exploring Engineering with the Women in Engineering Program at the University of Maryland

Exploring Engineering at the University of Maryland (E2@UMD) is a one-week summer program for high school women (rising juniors and seniors) who are considering engineering as a possible major and career. Students live on campus for one week and explore the world of engineering through fun, hands-on activities, laboratory experiments, informative workshops, team challenges and seminars with professional engineers.

Engineering Projects at the University of Utah

Engineering students bring demos, hands-on projects, and engineering fairs to local schools and community centers.

Creating GLEE (Girls Learning Electrical Engineering) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

A week-long camp that introduces girls to engineering concepts.

What did you do for National Engineers Week? Let us know at info (at) afterschoolscience (dot) org.

Biology in Afterschool

2011-02-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

All of the heart-shaped decorations, candy, and cards on Valentine's Day means that I have anatomy on the brain (no pun intended!). Biology concepts are essential to know for careers in health and medicine, and out-of-school time learning can result in quality lab and research experiences for budding biologists.

Here are some biology-, anatomy-, and medicine-themed programs from the Directory.

Sesame Street Presents: The Body from Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California

Sesame Street Presents: The Body is Discovery Science Center's most exciting exhibit all about you! This unique exhibit offers a learning experience set in the familiar and reassuring world of Sesame Street. The exhibit is an exciting collection of hands-on, interactive and multimedia experiences that allow children to explore the human body.

Homeschool Happenings: Focus on Biology from The Health Adventure in Asheville, North Carolina

From the simplest cells to the most complicated organisms, join us at The Health Adventure for "Focus on Biology", a six week look at the astounding life that supports, surrounds, and includes us. Students will become familiar with microscopes and video-scopes as they explore life at the microscopic level. Making their way up through the Kingdoms of Life, students will take part in a number of hands-on lessons involving DNA, botany, taxonomy, zoology, as well as activities that compare the rest of life on planet Earth to humans! Explore a world without opposable thumbs, assemble a human skeleton and role-play a red blood cell's journey through the body. In this inclusive program, students will discover which area of biology most captures their imagination and interest.

Virtual Hip Surgery from Edheads

Free online activity! Assume the role of the Surgeon through a hip replacement surgery! Explore careers while learning the anatomy of a hip. Edheads has other virtual biology simulations, including the brain, hip resurfacing, and knee surgery.

Amazing Brain from the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California

Students examine real brains from animals such as birds, reptiles, small mammals, and even a human. They learn which parts of the brain are responsible for processing sensory information, enabling thought, and controlling bodily functions. The students observe sensory behavior of live animals and design experiments to test which sense an animal relies on most. All brain specimens are preserved and nontoxic. Respect for animals is emphasized.

Science Museums and Centers

2011-02-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

Did you know that over 75 science museums and public science centers from across the country count themselves as members of the Coalition for Science After School? In addition to hosting field trips and workshops for visiting P-12 classrooms, museums and public science centers offer a wide range of camps, classes, clubs, interactive exhibits, and programs. And more research is showing that informal learning spaces like museums give essential contributions to Americans' science knowledge.

Here are some museum and science center highlights from the Directory:

Overnight Adventure at the ETSU Natural History Museum and Gray Fossil Site Patch in Gray, TN

Spend a night a the museum with your class, church, scout, or family group! The focus of this camp-in will correspond with the Museum's newest Temporary Exhibit. Activities begin early Saturday evening after the Museum closes and resume again the following morning. A typical camp-in begins at 5:30pm and includes activity stations, a film/video in the classroom, science demos and workshops, snacks and breakfast. Natural History Museum and Gray Fossil Site Patch will be awarded upon completion of program. Award ceremony following breakfast. Program ends at 8:30am.

BioDECIDE at the Miami Science Museum Center for Interactive Learning in Miami, FL

Biomedicine Deliberative Citizens Debate (BioDECIDE) engages underserved high school students in discussion, debate and on-line research related to some of the most cutting-edge, controversial, and personally relevant topics in biomedicine today. The project annually serves over fifty low-income, first-generation college-bound youth participating in the Miami Science Museum's ongoing Upward Bound (UB) program. BioDECIDE supplements content delivered through the regular UB program, involving students in the development and testing of activities themed around current health issues related to infectious diseases/HIV, mental health, cancer, environmental health, and physical fitness.

Cave Overnight at the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, OH

This popular overnight program is designed to provide visitors with an in-depth study of the longest man made caves. All of CMCs limestone and ice caves will be explored, animals will be introduced, games will be played, and art will be made. You will enjoy the OMNIMAX film, Journey into Amazing Caves, the next morning. The cost is $28 per camper and per chaperone.

EVOLUTIONS After School Program at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, CT

What Is EVOLUTIONS? It's a club for students interested in science, serious about school and headed to college. It's a place where you'll learn how to make yourself competitive for college, explore what you want to do with your life and make a bunch of great friends from other schools -- students as serious as you are. It's an opportunity to get paid as an intern in a Yale professor's lab and work at the Peabody Museum teaching exhibits to visitors.

2011 Summer Camp from the Chicago Academy of Science Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, IL

Fun-filled camps connect children to the wonders of nature through a unique combination of art, music, movement, hands-on science activities, and live animal encounters led by Nature Museum staff. Camps include family open houses the last Thursday evening of each session. Camp fees include a camp t-shirt and healthy daily snack(s). More t-shirts can be purchased prior to camp for $10 each. Campers must turn minimum age of camp before start of session.

STEM Teaching and Professional Development

2011-01-31T15:19:00.000-08:00

As more educators recognize the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math education, many opportunities for professional development have sprung up around the country. Universities, schools and districts, and corporations have all begun to recognize the critical role that educators play in providing high-quality STEM education both in- and out-of-school time. Likewise, many emerging or mid-career educators are looking to increase their knowledge of effective teaching techniques for communicating STEM subjects as well as background in the subjects themselves.

Below are some opportunities for further learning from across the country that I found in a couple of quick web searches. This collection of fellowships and certifications are not necessarily degrees in STEM teaching. If you know of any more programs, please share them in the comments!

Siemens STEM Academy

Who: Classroom teachers; no out-of-school time focus specified. STEM content webinars would be helpful for out-of-school time providers as well.

What: online resource with webinars, blog, and other resources for educators who want to bring STEM into their programs. Also hosts two in-person summer institutes focusing on 1) increasing knowledge of STEM content and teaching techniques and 2) participating in STEM education research at Discovery's world headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Where: Online with summer institutes in Washington, D.C.

Math for America Teaching Fellowship

Who: Early Career Fellows, college graduates who have completed coursework in mathematics and who are new to teaching; and Master Teachers, who have at least four years of math teaching experience and who spend at least 75% of their teaching time focused on math

What: Multi-year fellowship that focuses on improving content and quality of
mathematics instruction at US secondary schools.

Where: Berkeley, CA; Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Utah

Mickelson Exxonmobil Teachers Academy

Who: Third- through fifth-grade teachers

What: Intensive week-long training on how to create and effectively teach math and science curricula.

Where: Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey (also a member of the Coalition!).

Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) Teaching Fellowships

Who: Teaching Fellowships are awarded to science and/or math educators, focusing on emerging professionals

What: Five-year program that provides ongoing training and mentorship in teaching techniques and trends; provides financial support of up to $150,000 over five-year length of fellowship

Where: Nationwide

Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) Fellows Program

Who: Informal science educators from underrepresented groups and regions across the US

What: Ongoing mentoring and professional development; participation in CAISE Inquiry Groups; travel stipends to attend Informal Science Education summit

Where: Fellows work across the informal science education spectrum across the country. View a list of current fellows and read about their work here.

NASA Endeavor Science Teaching Certificate Project

Who: Current or prospective educators

What: Graduate-level online courses teaching research-based pedagogical strategies and cutting-edge STEM content; leads to a certificate as well as credit to affiliated graduate institutions

Where: Nationwide--courses are all online

St. Catherine University STEM Graduate Certificates

Who: Elementary-school educators

What: Teacher training that focuses on technology and engineering content and teaching
strategies; university offers training and materials to start graduate certificate programs at schools and districts across the country
Where: St. Catherine University in St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota

In addition, check out the many professional development opportunities available through the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

"At the Science Fair"

2011-01-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Science fairs are a big part of both in-school and out-of-school time science learning, and the idea has gotten a lot of high-profile publicity over the last few months, from the White House to Google's Global Science Fair to gyms and auditoriums across the country.

We were recently contacted by a parent whose son, a high-school student named Kevin, created a video to teach middle school students about science fairs. Kevin did this as part of a project for his IB program, combing his tech skills with science outreach in an engaging way. Check it out!

Now Accepting Newsletter Submissions

2011-01-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

We are currently accepting submissions from Coalition members for our monthly newsletter. Possible submissions include:

Major awards, recognitions, or grants received by your program
Initiatives, contests, festivals, or events of a national scope hosted by your program or organization
Upcoming conferences, webinars, or other professional development activities related to STEM in out of school time
Requests for partnerships, case studies, advice for building program capacity, or other communication needs

Check out the January newsletter to see what a typical month looks like.

Not a member of the Coalition? Join for free as an organization or individual!

Submit your newsletter ideas to info (at) afterschoolscience.org.

Science Education in the New Year

2011-01-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Early January is a great time to reflect on success of the past year and to create goals for the year to come. Here are some things to do to re-commit yourself to introducing young minds to science in out of school time:

Visit the our partners at Connect a Million Minds and take the pledge to connect young minds to science!
Grant deadlines will sneak up faster than you think! Take some time to create or update your grant and fellowship deadline calendar. Check out places like Grantmakers for Education and The Foundation Center to search for foundations and funders relevant to your projects.
This new year also brings a new Congress at the federal level, as well as many new representatives at the state level. Become familiar with your local and state representatives, the 112th Congress, and the changes to the federal Afterschool Caucus so that you can be a strong advocate for afterschool programs in the next two years.
Update your Directory listings to reflect any new calendar dates and/or times!
Check out the conferences and events that you may be interested in attending.

Do you have any STEM or education-related New Year's Resolutions or goals? What are you going to do differently in 2011?

Podcasts from the National Conference on Science and Technology in Out of School Time Now Available!

2010-12-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

Did you miss our conference in September? Were you unable to attend a particular session? Or do you want to share something you learned with your colleagues? Podcasts from many of the sessions, including the Keynote, plenary sessions, and breakout sessions are now available for FREE download on iTunes!

To access the podcasts, follow this link: http://tiny.cc/a3zwr

The link will open iTunes. To download iTunes for free, go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/.

Many thanks to our speakers, the staff of Swank AV at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, and the volunteers who assisted with recording!

Program Evaluation and Teaching Effectiveness

2010-12-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

The New York Times today published an article about a new study showing that student rankings of teacher effectiveness correlate with how much students learn in a school year, as measured by an increase in test scores. The study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is part of a larger effort by the Foundation to work with several districts to improve their teaching effectiveness.

Students filled out confidential surveys about their teachers, and researchers found that teachers who received positive reviews also tended to have students whose test scores improved over the school year. However, teachers who had their classes spend "a lot of time... practicing for the state test" consistently had lower rankings by students as well as lower test scores. This interesting finding has a lot of implications for education reform, and raises some questions about teaching effectiveness in out-of-school time as well.

Many afterschool STEM programs--including museum exhibits and programs, summer camps, and other opportunities for learning in out-of-school time--undergo evaluation to find out how well they are fulfilling their organization's mission or program's goals. This process, though often time-consuming, can be very important for keeping the program up-to-date with current educational standards and expectations as well as essential for proving success to current or potential funders. But how often does that evaluation process include input from students or participants?

Since afterschool program effectiveness many not be measured against test scores, another metric must be used to gather data or feedback on the program's teaching effectiveness. Participant feedback--from students or adults--provides meaningful data on how well the program is doing, and what it could do to improve. Though this study specifically addressed in-school time teaching, hopefully it will provide afterschool programs with an impetus to have themselves evaluated and make an even greater case for out-of-school time education.

Computer Science Education Week: December 5th-11th, 2010

2010-12-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

This week is Computer Science Education Week, a national initiative designed to raise awareness of the importance of computer science education in the US and share activities and other resources for teaching computer science. It is also the birthday week of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneering computer scientist who wrote two programming languages and made numerous other contributions to the emerging field during the 1940s through the 1970s.

Why is computer science important? According to CSEdWeek's website, the current number of students studying computer science will only fill 52 percent of the projected 1.4 million new computing jobs by 2018. Contributions in computer science shape other aspects of the economy, and are necessary to drive technological innovation. Studying computer science at any age helps kids build critical skills like creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and computer literacy in a digital age. And yet computer science programs are often overlooked and underfunded, leading to insufficient curricula, a lack of teacher training in computer science, and decreased gender and ethnic diversity in computer science programs and careers.

The CSEdWeek website has lots of resources to help advocates build a case for computer science education in and out of school time, including key facts, career guides, and activities for your classroom or program. They have also compiled a guide to events happening across the country promoting computer science. Plus, they're asking advocates to share their thoughts on Twitter (hashtag #CSEdWeek), Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Members of the Coalition for Science After School are working hard to promote computer science in out-of-school time in their communities. Here are just a few:

The Department of Computer Science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana
The College of Engineering and Computer Science at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio
Computers for Children, Inc., in Buffalo, New York
Computer Explorers in Tampa, Florida

And there are lots of opportunities for participating in computer science-related programs in the Directory:

Bits, Bytes, & Bots Computer Adventures, a national program with opportunities for learning about robotics, game creation and other computer-based technology skills

Computer Summer Science Camp at the University of Cincinnati, where high-schoolers learn to write programs in a real computer science lab

Girl TECH CORPS from TECH CORPS Ohio, a program that brings together girls interested in technology and mentors to learn age-appropriate technological skills

If your program offers computer science activities, please share it in the Directory!

Science Books for Kids

2010-11-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

While it's true that doing hands-on science activities is a great way to learn, every child needs a little down time to relax and let their busy minds process their experiences. Science books can be a great way for younger children to learn before bed, after working and playing hard at school, or on a rainy weekend. Plus, reading lets kids build their science, reading, and critical thinking skills all at the same time. Booklist just released their Top 10 Science and Technology books for 2010. The books cover a wide variety of science subjects--from archaeology, biology, engineering, ecology, and much more.

If you're an educator looking for books to use in your program, the National Science Teachers Association has a huge, annually-released compilation of the best science trade books for K-12 students stretching back to 1996. Again, the books cover a wide range of science subjects and are organized by subject or purpose (such as "Science as Inquiry" and "Unifying Concepts and Processes in Science").

Do you use science books in your afterschool program? What are some of your favorites?

How should schools tackle extended learning time?

2010-11-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

Last week, in an article on the Washington Post's education blog, Class Struggle, columnist Jay Mathews attempted to reconcile two competing perspectives on extended learning time: advocating for afterschool programs vs. extending school hours. These two ideas are tied up in the wider debate on education reform in the United States and must compete for funding, staff, and public support.

The whole article is definitely worth reading--especially the comments, where Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant jumps in and interacts with Jay, classroom teachers, parents, and advocates on both sides of the issue.

Certainly, students spending more time learning during the day--whether in a classroom or outside of it--has been shown to improve learning overall using test scores (see the article and comments for more specifics). But longer classroom hours and the increased learning effectiveness also correlate with better teaching skills and strategies overall--and it would be hard to argue that simply increasing school hours leads to better teachers. Rather, it would seem that teachers who are good at what they do tend to work at schools with longer hours overall.

And I would venture a guess that many of us know of teachers from our own educational experience who put in the extra effort outside of school hours to ensure that their students were truly learning--through informal chats, extra tutoring time, or running an afterschool program. The key to effective learning seems to be making learning engaging, through creative curriculum and good teaching--something that happens in informal educational settings, which take place in out-of-school time.

There's no doubt that extending learning time is essential to increasing learning effectiveness. Mounds of data--both international and domestic--help to support that case. And it's likely that education reform in the US will include increasing learning time during the school year and summer. It's up to advocates for out-of-school time to develop successful programs with meaningful learning outcomes and to influence the tone of the extended learning time debate.

How early should we start teaching STEM?

2010-11-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

A recent study funded by the NSF found that how much time new parents spend talking about numbers affects how well their children learn basic math later in life. Researchers listened to recordings of caregivers interacting with their children during everyday tasks and noted the incidences of number-related talk; some parents mentioned as few as four number words during the study, while others mentioned number words over 250 times. Children whose parents mentioned number words more often were more likely to understand the "cardinal number principle," which says that "the size of a set of objects is determined by the last number reached when counting the set (e.g., a set of 10 items is larger than a set of seven items)."

Research into early childhood development in the past few decades has increasingly shown that very young children are constantly absorbing new information around them and that even the smallest interaction with adults or other children can be loaded with meaning. I can't help but wonder if the principle discovered in this study also applies to science--if parents who talk more about science affect their children's interest in science later in life. And most kids like to build structures with blocks and do puzzles--both of which use engineering concepts. Perhaps one way to increase interest in STEM subjects is to make them a part of the lives of young children.

The Importance of Engineering

2010-11-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Engineering is not only the vowel that leads to the convenient (if controversial) acronym for STEM, it's also the discipline that glues the consonants together. At the same time, it's not something that students--and adults--typically engage with in their everyday life. This means that though professional engineers often have high-paying, interesting jobs, educators need to make an extra effort to expose students to opportunities in engineering.

The National Academy of Sciences recently published a study on the uncertainty of K-12 engineering standards in the United States. It is true that engineering has long been taught and learned exclusively or primarily in higher education, with introductory science and math classes in K-12 providing the basic skills necessary for professional engineers to complete their college degrees. But basic engineering skills can be necessary or useful for other professions that don't require advanced degrees--like work in manufacturing and construction.

Thankfully, many afterschool programs include engineering as part of their activities. Programs from the Directory -- like the Elementary Engineering with Legos in Ohio, Focus on the Possibilities career exploration program in Wisconsin, the Come Fly With Me program in Michigan, and the FIRST Robotics teams across the country, just to name a few. Here's hoping that the out-of-school world is able to keep students creating, innovating, and engaged in engineering.

Don't forget to vote!

2010-11-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard it a lot lately, but it bears repeating today: voting is the easiest way to make your opinions known and your voice heard. The Coalition is not a political organization, and we endorse no particular party or candidate. But we still believe that voting is an important way for individuals to influence national policy. No matter what your political views are, making them known by voting is one of the greatest rights enjoyed by citizens in the United States!

For some last-minute information on the candidates and initiatives in your area, check out the Afterschool Alliance's Election Guide. Google maps has a great polling place finder too!

Happy Voting!

Have you learned How to SMILE?

2010-10-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

There's a great new way to find fun science and math activities--and to share your own! Howtosmile.org has just launched as a place where educators in non-school settings--like zoos, museums, and afterschool programs--can communicate and share their STEM activities. As of this writing, there's already over 1000 different science and math activities posted!

Here's how it works. Once users create an account, they can post guides to their favorite projects. This includes a description, time, materials cost, and subjects addressed, among other things. Other users can post comments on their experience with the activity and even try to tweak it. Activities can be added to user-generated lists to create collections of similar activities, and users can earn badges and points based on their participation.

"SMILE" stands for Science and Math Informal Learning Educators, but howtosmile.org can be used as a resource in lots of settings by non-educators too. Many of the activities are simple enough to be done by parents and kids at home, or by non-scientists in community groups, like Girl Scout troop leaders. The interface is simple enough to use that kids could search for interesting activities on their own. It's free to join, and if you get started soon, you'll have a chance to win an iPad!

Howtosmile is a joint project of science educators and researchers from across the country, including the Lawrence Hall of Science, The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), the Children's Museum of Houston, the Exploratorium, the New York Hall of Science, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).

The Coalition for Science After School is proud to be a national partner!

Science Fairs: From the School Gym to the White House

2010-10-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

When I think of traditional science fairs, the image that comes to mind is of rows of colorful trifold posters with maybe a baking soda and vinegar volcano or two. But science fairs in the 21st century are a lot more sophisticated than what took place in my elementary school gymnasium! With projects ranging from solar cars to cancer cures, student scientists from across the country are doing interesting projects of great value to the larger scientific community. And the students are benefiting too. As Elizabeth Marincola, the President of the Society for Science & the Public, put it last week, "Research has shown that science competitions benefit students by helping them gain self confidence; explore career opportunities; learn to take risks, and be rewarded for their ingenuity."

That idea got a boost today when President Obama hosted the White House Science Fair, which honored winning science fair entries from across the country. President Obama stressed the importance of science education in his administrative agenda: "If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too."

The projects that were honored truly are achievements that deserve national attention. Teams of high school students built a carbon-fiber solar car from scratch, developed a therapy using light energy to beat cancer, and invented a water purifier to ensure water quality in remote rural areas. Middle schoolers were represented too, including a team that designed a model city for earthquake refugees, eighth-graders who used nanotechnology to create a recyclable printer ink, and seventh graders that experimented with different materials to create a safer helmet for kids. You can see the full list of projects at the White House blog.

As an afterschool science institution, science fairs encourage kids to work in teams to create their own ideas and projects. The social aspect of science fairs gives kids an important support group that can help social and emotional development too. The nature of science fairs also links kids up with mentors in their communities, which is important for encouraging a long-lasting interest in science. And giving recognition to science projects, as President Obama did, goes a long way in encouraging other kids to participate in science too. Let's hope that the White House Science Fair becomes a tradition!

What do we mean when we say "STEM"?

2010-10-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

A recent article in the New York Times Science section has been bouncing around the science education blogosphere, and the topic just so happens to be something very close to our hearts. In "STEM Education Has Little to Do With Flowers", Natalie Angier touches on something that science education advocates struggle with constantly: the "branding" of STEM to students, parents, educators, legislators, and funders. Angier argues that the term is "opaque and confusing" to the public, which makes it harder to emphasize its importance to people outside of the field

So what's the problem with "STEM"? On the one hand, it could be seen as overly inclusive--despite stereotypes, not every student interested in science is also fascinated by math, and vice versa. But the term might a little exclusive too--does it leave out specialized but important disciplines like computer science, medicine and health science, media studies, or archaeology? Some advocates argue for the inclusion of art--to make STEM into STEAM--because no science or technology innovation has ever been done without a little creativity.

And while STEM might be a handy acronym for those of us who work in the field, it might mystify those who need access to science and technology education the most. If you're not involved in the science education field in some way, you might not know what STEM means, and it's rarely explained in the media. The Coalition advocates for afterschool science for all, and it's hard to convince someone that STEM is important when you're not even speaking the same language as them!

We don't necessarily need to scrap the term altogether, though. As Dr. Elizabeth Stage--Coalition Steering Committee member and Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science--it's a "false distinction" to "silo out" the different disciplines, because they use the same type of analytical and critical thinking. But as the field of science education advocacy grows and changes, there's no doubt that criticisms such as Angier's will continue to be published.

What are your thoughts on the term "STEM"? Let us know in the discussion page at the Coalition for Science After School LinkedIn page.

Exciting and Unique Job Opening at the Coalition for Science After School and Lawrence Hall of Science!

2010-09-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Do you or does someone you know have a passion for promoting science in after school? Are you looking to be a leader in this emerging and exciting field? The Coalition for Science After School and the Lawrence Hall of Science is looking for a Director to lead the new Center for Quality Science Learning Afterschool and the Coalition. Read on, and pass along the news to your colleagues and associates. We look forward to hearing from you!

Job Number: 10-104
Job Type: Coordinator of Public Programs VI-VIII
Job Area: Lawrence Hall of Science
Job Notes:
Title: Director, Center for Quality Science Learning Afterschool (Coordinator of Public Programs VI-VIII)
Location: Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley
Salary Range: $76,800-98,900 annually

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) is seeking a visionary leader to envision, plan and build a new Center for Quality Science Learning Afterschool (QSLA). As Center Director he or she will be responsible for creating an agenda that enables quality educational programs and innovative practices to flourish in afterschool. This senior academic appointee will play a visible role nationally in the field by serving as a spokesperson, advocate, and coalition builder to raise the profile of the Hall. The director will supervise staff as well as serve on the nine member LHS leadership team to promote institution-wide collaboration and excellence. The QSLA Center Director will be responsible for facilitating mutually beneficial relationships with outside agencies as well as build collaboration within the Hall's current efforts in afterschool science education. The QSLA Center Director will serve as author and project director on grants and fundraising documents to raise support for the work of the center. Through leveraging the Hall's existing excellence in research and evaluation, materials development, direct service, and technology innovation, the QSLA Director will be expected to build a strong and coherent program that make a measurable impact on the diversity of afterschool audiences.
The QSLA Center Director will concurrently serve (30-40%) as the Executive Director of the Coalition for Science After School (CSAS), a national network of over 1500 organizations, experts and committed individuals, dedicated to advancing after school science education. CSAS plays a national role in collecting and disseminating knowledge about best and promising practices in the field, serves as platform for advocacy, and a convener of communities of practice. The Executive Director, working together and guided by the CSAS Steering Committee, will enact the bold vision to make science a routine part of after school, such that CSAS will no longer need to exist in ten years.

Qualifications:
" Masters in science or mathematics, science or mathematics education, youth development, or the equivalent required; Ph. D. desirable.
" A minimum of ten years of experience in science and/or mathematics education, in formal, informal, and/or afterschool settings; working with policymakers, diverse learners and stakeholders.
" Experience designing, implementing, leading, and managing complex projects; including building teams and raising funds
" Knowledge of science education and afterschool trends and policies required; knowledge of UC system policies and practices desirable.
" Excellent written and oral communications skills, computer skills, service-oriented with a strong customer service background required; bilingual and/or experienced with second language learning issues desirable.
" Self-starter with ability to work independently with minimal supervision, to set priorities, take initiative, exercise authority, and execute tasks while maintaining confidentiality, exercising judgment.

QSLA Center Description:
http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/qsla/QSLA_Description.pdf

CSAS Strategic Plan:
http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/csas/CSAS_Biz_Plan.pdf

Approximate Starting Date: February 1, 2011
Total Duration of Appointment: 1 year, renewable upon successful performance and the availability of funds.
Application Deadline: November 1, 2010

Please submit your CV and cover letter by e-mail to:
Sherry Hsi & Michael Radke, Selection Committee Co-Chairs
QSLADirectorSearch@afterschoolscience.org

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER.

You can also view this posting at the UC Berkeley Academic Employment site.

Conference Update: Keynote Presentation, Funding Plenary, and our Breakout Sessions!

2010-09-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you not in LA with us, we just wrapped up our first full day of the 2010 National Conference on Science and Technology in Out of School Time! We started off the morning with an excellent Keynote Presentation from Dr. Pedro Noguera, who spoke eloquently and engagingly about the need for innovative education in STEM. After two rounds of breakout sessions and lunch, we heard from major funders of STEM programs, who spoke about what they look for in potential fundees and funding trends in the field. There are exciting collaborations and partnerships being made all around!

The folks at Project Exploration have been blogging all day over at http://www.projectexploration.org/blog/ and tweeting at #scienceafterschool. Lots of big updates over there, so take a look!

Not in LA? You can still follow the National Conference on Science and Technology in Out-of-School Time!

2010-09-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

The 2010 National Conference on Science and Technology in Out of School Time starts today! We're kicking off the event with a pre-conference symposium focusing on Putting Youth at the Center of Pathways and Systems. Later tonight, an opening reception at the LA Zoo will feature Nick Dragotta of Howtoons, a comic series that incorporates STEM and inspires kids to build things. Most of our attendees will come to the conference tomorrow morning, when we'll hear from our Keynote Speaker Dr. Pedro Noguera.

If you're unable to make it to LA, we have a lot of ways for you to follow the conference from afar! On Twitter, you can follow the conference proceedings at the #scienceafterschool hashtag. Our co-host Project Exploration will be liveblogging many of the conference events and proceedings--check out their blog at http://www.projectexploration.org/blog/. We'll try and post here and on our Facebook page too!

Are you in the LA area? Attend our upcoming conference for free!

2010-09-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Volunteer with the Coalition for Science After School at the National Conference on Science and Technology in Out-of-School Time in Universal City, CA on September 24th!

The 2010 National Conference on Science and Technology in Out of School Time brings together stakeholders in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, including policymakers, researchers, funders, scientists, program directors, and advocates. Attendees will learn about the latest developments in STEM education policy, funding trends, and professional development.

Volunteers will be operating simple audio recording equipment and recording breakout sessions at the conference. As a thank you from the Coalition for Science After School, you will receive lunch, compensated parking, and free admission to the plenary sessions during the rest of the day.

Volunteers will need to come to a short training to learn how to operate the equipment. Training will take place on Friday, September 24th, at 8:00 a.m.

Sessions take place during the following time slots. You can volunteer for one session in each time slot:

Friday, September 24th, 10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Friday, September 24th, 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m.

Preference will be given to volunteers who can attend multiple time slots.

Full details about the conference, our great speakers, and session descriptions are available at www.scienceafterschoolconference.org under “schedule”. For more information about the Coalition for Science After School, visit our website at www.afterschoolscience.org.

E-mail Kalie at the Coalition for Science After School at kaliesacco (@) berkeley.edu with your availability, and you will receive a confirmation email with more details. We are also happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you and we hope to see you on Friday!

Descriptions for conference sessions are now available!

2010-09-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

We're getting really excited for the 2010 National Conference on Science and Technology in Out-of-School Time, coming up in just ten days! We're co-hosting the conference with Project Exploration and in partnership with Connect a Million Minds, and organizations from across the country will be coming to learn about and share their experiences in afterschool STEM education. Last week the session descriptions went LIVE on the conference website. We'll be having a total of 25 breakout sessions, plus two plenary sessions and a keynote address from Dr. Pedro Noguera, a leading urban sociologist interested in how social and economic conditions affect education.

We'll also have lots of opportunities for networking with funders, researchers, and providers, and a fun program showcase where you can learn more about programs from across the country.

You can visit the official conference website here to learn more details about our speakers, presenters, and sessions. For now, I wanted to share a snapshot of the breakout sessions. Here are some of the titles and presenters:

How National Youth Organizations are Approaching STEM

Veronica Escobedo, Girls Inc.; Pam Garza, 4-H; Mary Grybeck, Boys and Girls Clubs of America; Sharon Junge, 4-H; Stephanie Lingwood, Girl Scouts of Western Washington; Kate Pickle, Girl Scouts of America

Pathways into Science – A Longitudinal Perspective

Robert Tai, University of Virginia

The Coalition for Science After School: Making High Quality Science as Integral to the
After School Experience as Snack and Basketball

Mike Radke, The Coalition for Science After School

Digital Youth Network: Using 21st Century Tools to Enhance Impact of Out-of-School Learning Experiences

Nichole Pinkard, DePaul University/Digital Youth Network

Supporting Exploration of Identity in Youth Programs

Diane Miller, St. Louis Science Center; Holly Hughes, Sam Noble Museum

Building Capacity for Science and Youth Development in OST: Findings from a Ten Year Alumni Study

Gabrielle Lyon, Project Exploration; Bernadette Chi, Lawrence Hall of Science

The Common Core Initiative and National Standards for STEM

Jason Zimba, Bennington College

What Research and Practice Say About the Impacts of Out of School Time STEM Experiences

Lynn Dierking, Oregon State University; Dale McCreedy, The Franklin Institute Science Museum

After School Staff Development – 4-H Tools of the Trade II…Inspiring Young Minds to be SET Ready for Life!

Sharon Junge and Sue Mangalallan, 4-H

Inquiry and Curriculum Through an Equity Lens

Maryann Stimmer, Educational Equity Center at AED; Heather Gibbons, St. Louis Science Center

There are still a few spots available if you would like to register online, or if you're in the LA area, you can register at the door. The conference will take place from September 23rd-24th, with a special pre-conference symposium on the 22nd, in Universal City (LA), CA. I'll see you there!

Beat the Back-to-School Blues with Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day

2010-09-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

With Labor Day weekend just a few hours away as of this writing, the summer is officially coming to a close. Many museums and science centers experience low visitation during these early school months, since teachers rarely plan field trips so early in the school year.

During the summer, museums and science centers provide lots of services (not to mention air-conditioning) to vacationing families, summer campers, and parents and students who want to beat the summer "brain drain." But in September, the focus switches to classroom and homework time.

Low visitation means less crowds and more time spent with exciting exhibits, making September a great time to visit museums after school and on the weekends. Maybe that's why Smithsonian Magazine is having Museum Day on September 25th! Print out the admission ticket on their website and visit a participating museum near you (we love science museums, of course, but there are lots of art museums, natural history museums, and children's museums participating).

Check it out at the Smithsonian Magazine website !

Member Survey for the Coalition for Science After School

2010-08-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Coalition is always looking for new and better ways to serve our members. If you're a member of the Coalition, please take a moment to fill out our member survey so that we can better present the case for STEM education in out of school time. You can take the survey online here. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete.

If you're not a member, it only takes a minute to sign up. Membership is free, and is a great opportunity for networking, learning about new afterschool science resources, and making your voice heard in the national conversation on STEM in Afterschool! Join at the Coalition's website.

Afterschool Programs for Underserved Youth

2010-08-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

Equity and access issues are big concerns for afterschool programs across the country. In a recent survey by Bayer, a "lack of quality science and math education programs in poorer school districts" was cited as the top reason for minority underrepresentation in STEM careers. This puts extra impetus on afterschool providers to make space in their programs for underrepresented youth.

Afterschool stakeholders from across the country will be coming together to share their ideas about equity and access issues at our upcoming Conference in September. In the meantime, check out these great programs from our Directory:

Flandreau Indian School Success Academy at South Dakota State University: this program helps students pursue careers, including in STEM, identified by tribal leaders as being of particular need in their communities.

Junior Paleontologists at Project Exploration: Our good friends (and conference co-hosts) at Project Exploration take minority students on real paleontological excavations in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Camp GOAL at the Intrepid Museum Foundation Inc.: a four-week summer science program for underrepresented middle-school girls in NYC.

Multiethnic Introduction to Engineering (MITE) at Purdue University: qualified students interested about engineering learn about how to pursue an engineering at the Purdue campus.

Latinos in Forestry at Oregon State University: a pre-college recruitment program for students interested in natural resource management.

Funding Your Afterschool Science Program Part II: Monitoring and Applying for Grants

2010-08-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is a special two part blog post on finding grants for your afterschool science program. Check out last week's post for where to find grants for afterschool programs.

One of the most challenging aspects of managing an afterschool program is securing adequate funding. Even if the program charges a participation or admission fee, it is rarely enough to cover the total costs of operation. Keeping track of grant opportunities ensures that programs will have adequate time to prepare successful grant applications.

Some organizations use professional grant management software that not only alerts users to upcoming grant deadlines, but also more easily keeps track of how grants are being spent. One of the best known is Grantstracker. Another excellent resource is The Foundation Center Online, which allows users to search for ideal funders and easily keep track of upcoming deadlines.

Free resources are also available. The US Government's Grants page is a massive, if somewhat bulky, grants resource for a huge variety of education programs. GrantsAlert is less extensive but easier to use.

An easy way to keep track of grant application deadlines is to create a Google account devoted to grants only. Google Alerts allows you to get daily or weekly updates on keywords relevant to your interests (such as "robotics afterschool program grants" , "Education grants Omaha NE" , or "STEM grants K-5"). A Google Calendar allows you to categorize the grants that you are interested in, and will send you alerts for when grant applications are coming up. Even if you find out about a grant deadline that has passed, keep track of its due date so you can check back next year.

Our upcoming Conference will have many more opportunities for learning about funding trends. Sign up today!

Funding Your Afterschool Science Program Part I: Finding Grants for Afterschool Science

2010-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is a special two part blog post on finding grants for your afterschool science program. Check back next week for a post on how to keep track of grant opportunities.

Though the economy is still recovering from the recent recession, funding is still available for education programs across the country. Government resources as well as corporate and private foundations continue to provide grants for a variety of educational purposes, including for administering and attending afterschool science programs.

The Coalition's website lists funders who have demonstrated a commitment to funding science, technology, engineering, and math education in informal and afterschool settings. The list includes government-funded entities like the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. Private foundations listed include the Motorola Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and Time Warner Cable (through their Connect a Million Minds Initiative).

Professional associations often offer grants or prizes to their members or participants. The NSTA (National Science Teacher's Association) and AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) offer prizes for accomplishments in the field of informal education (as well as other areas).

If you're looking for even more granting opportunities—such as small grants to fund just portions of your program—consider joining or using one of the many grant databases that exist online. Here are some that are easy to use and extensive:

The Foundation Center lists thousands of grants that can be used for special projects, general operating funds, professional development, and more.

Grantwrangler is a searchable grant database devoted to education, and even has a specific STEM database.

The National Education Association (NEA) has a very extensive grant database. While many of the grants are for classrooms, there are many that can be applied to professional educational development as well as out-of-class time programs.

And don't forget that “funding trends” is one of the strands in our upcoming conference. Attending the conference will let you know about the latest developments in out-of-school time funding.

America COMPETES Act under debate in Senate Committees

2010-07-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

A major piece of science education legislation is winding its way through the halls of Congress. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act funds various National Science Foundation (NSF) programs for the next three years.

The House version of the bill (H.R. 5116) sponsored by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) passed after three separate votes in May. Now, the bill is under review and modification in the Senate. The Senate version (S.3605) sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) differs slightly in the scope of departments funded and, in an effort to win bipartisan support in a highly partisan Congress, limits the funding to just three years and contains few new initiatives. In fact, the only new initiative was proposed by the ranking Republican in the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) wants to designate $10 million to help universities train science and engineering majors to be K-12 teachers, a model that has been successfully employed in her home state by the UTeach program at the University of Texas, Austin.

In the Senate, the bill must win support in three separate committees: Commerce, Science, and Transportation (headed by Sen. Rockefeller); Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (led by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-IA); and Energy and Natural Resources (chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM).

Last week, the bill was approved by a key science panel yesterday in Sen. Rockefeller's committee, bringing it one step closer to committee approval and finally to the Senate floor for debate and voting. While changes to the bill could happen at any time during the debate process, you can still voice your support for the proposal by contacting the Senators on each committee. To see if your Senator is a member of any of the above committees, click on the links below:

US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

US Senate Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation

You can read the text of the House of Representatives version of the bill (H.R. 5116) by visiting the bill summary and status page.

Share your ideas for new science education standards with the Board on Science Education

2010-07-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

The Board of Science Education (BOSE), part of the National Academies, has just completed a conceptual framework draft for new science education standards for K-12 students across the country. This framework will provide the basis for a project to be conducted by Achieve, an independent, bipartisan, and non-profit organization dedicated to raising school standards, improve school assessments, and increase accountability. According to the project's website, Achieve hopes to develop new K-12 educational science standards as well as influence the direction of science education across the nation. The project was conducted with the help of Achieve, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Science Teachers Association.

The first draft of the conceptual framework is available online, and BOSE is offering the general public the chance to provide feedback with the aim of creating a final draft by winter of this year. You can read the full draft and provide your feedback by going here and clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Education standards often guide the development of new out-of-school programs, so your contribution to the report could help shape the way that afterschool science is taught in the future!

Careers in STEM

2010-07-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

NASA recently launched Learning Technologies, a program designed to increase interest in space science through gaming. Learning Technologies just released their first game—Moonbase Alpha, in which a team of players works together to save a Lunar base that has been damaged by a meteor strike.

It may seem strange for a government organization to devote time to creating computer games for children. But Moonbase Alpha is more than just entertainment—it’s a part of a strategy by NASA to increase support for STEM education across the US.

Profiled on the website Ars Technica, the project manager for Learning Technologies, Daniel Laughlin, said that the project was developed as a direct response to the decline in STEM education in the US. Laughlin pointed out that “there are not enough students studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to fill our national needs in those areas” and that “NASA literally cannot function without STEM graduates.” (Read the full article here .)

This got us thinking about what kinds of other opportunities there are for students to engage in STEM education and learn the practical skills necessary to be competitive in the workforce today. A quick search of the Directory brought up several programs designed to prepare students for careers in research, advocacy, and education in a variety of STEM fields. Below are some standouts:

Bright Students Training as Research Scientists (Bright STaRS) at the American Geophysical Union. At this conference, high school students have the opportunity to present original research and learn more about how to become professionals in the geosciences.

Discover the Possibilities at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). This weeklong program exposes potential engineering students to all of the different opportunities in the field, giving them the tools to pursue their ideal engineering career.

Student Science Training Program (SSTP) at the Center for Precollegiate Education and Training. This prestigious research seminar teaches students the practical skills needed to conduct science research and to attain a career in science.

Pasadena Technology Camp at the CA Space Education and Workforce Institute. This weekend program provides computer literacy training to disadvantaged student populations, teaching them an essential skill needed in the workforce today.

Leadership Intern Field Training (LIFT) at Sustainable South Bronx. This internship gives high school students hands-on organizing experience in the growing field of environmental justice and gain advocacy skills that are applicable to many STEM fields

Do you know of a program that provides practical STEM career skills to high school students or young adults? Join the Coalition and add your opportunity to the Directory.

Showing Your Support

2010-06-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, we posted a story on our facebook/twitter pages about a group of middle-school youth who protested funding cuts to afterschool programs in New York City. After discovering that Mayor Michael Bloomburg had proposed cuts to afterschool programs in his preliminary budget, the youth took to the streets and marched on City Hall to advocate for themselves—an impressive and admirable reaction.

While not everyone can find time to hit the pavement in support of their favorite causes, there are other ways to show your support. In particular, sending a letter—even a form letter—to your congress -men and -women is an effective and relatively convenient way to have an impact.

In preparation for an important vote on afterschool funding, Afterschool Alliance recently put together an excellent example of an advocacy letter addressed to members of congress. If you would like to show your support for afterschool STEM, consider using/adapting the AA letter (attached below).

View the letter

Looking to Learn this Summer?

2010-06-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

School may be out for the summer, but that doesn't mean that learning has to end. In fact, summer learning helps students maintain the essential skills that they gained during the school year. Research collected by the National Summer Learning Association at Johns Hopkins University found that young people experience learning losses when they do not participate in educational activities over the summer. Another study found that “parents consistently cite summer as the most difficult time to ensure that their children have productive things to do” (Duffett et al, 2004).

Summer presents a great opportunity for students to engage in informal learning through fun activities that take place outside of the classroom. By participating in fun and informal activities that combine science, art and sports, students keep their minds and bodies active and engaged. Many summer activities come in the form of camps and classes, which offer some structure and scheduling benefits for working parents, and allow students to participate in many kinds of activities during the summer.

Not a parent or guardian of a school-age child? You can still help encourage long-term learning by spreading the word about summer programs in your community. Consider volunteering your time or donating materials to an art or science camp.

A quick search of the National After School Science Directory found science-themed camps and summer classes all across the country for all ages and interests. Some highlights include:

The 2010 Summer Archaeology Camp at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology in El Paso, TX, where students will learn “about the science of archaeology, its tools, and the prehistory of the Americas” (http://afterschoolscience.org/directory/opportunity/3169)
All Girls All Math camp at the University of Nebraska, where high-school girls will learn about Chaos and Codes mathematics and work with female professionals in the field (http://afterschoolscience.org/directory/opportunity/714)
The Caribbean Conservation Corporation Barrier Island Center Summer Camp in Melbourne Beach, FL, where 2nd-8^th grade students will learn all about island ecology and even get to adopt their own sea turtle (http://afterschoolscience.org/directory/opportunity/1459)

Still looking for a summer program for your child? Here are some tips for making the most of your summer:

Look at informal learning spaces for unique summer programs. Museums, zoos, and aquariums often have summer camps and classes; teenagers and older students may be able to volunteer and work with younger students.
Check out your local university or community college. College students and professors can act as mentors to your children by inspiring them with real science work.
Don't be afraid to have your children experience something outside of their ordinary level of interest. Encourage them to try new things!
You can encourage long-term learning by engaging with your child before and after their summer camp experience. Ask them what they learned and to share with you any projects that they bring home. Some camp instructors let adults come to portions of camp, especially at the end of the day. You might even learn something too!

Directory News!

2010-05-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

With Categories, Your Opportunities Are Easier Than Ever to Find!

We've launched a new 'Category' feature that makes it easier for parents and professionals to locate your opportunities in the National After School Science Directory. Now, you can classify your opportunities as:

* Camps
* Competitions
* Exhibits
* Fairs and Festivals
* Overnights
* Professional Development
* Tours

Opportunities that are categorized will be better-optimized for search, and thus, more quickly found by users.

AND don't forget to login soon to add your summer opportunities before it's too late!

Afterschool Universe Announcement

2010-05-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Become a certified trainer for NASA's Afterschool Universe program and bring the universe down to Earth for your colleagues and their students.

Afterschool Universe is a 12-session out-of-school-time astronomy curriculum for middle-school students. It explores astronomy concepts through engaging hands-on activities and takes participants on a journey through the universe beyond the solar system. The goal of the program is to introduce program leaders and students to astronomy and the universe we live in.

The program was developed in partnership with the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corp, and it is an approved resource for Great Science for Girls. General information is available at: http://universe.nasa.gov/au/. An independent review of the program is available on the Science After School Consumers Guide: http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/science.cgi?resource=61

Applications are currently being soliciting from trainers in out-of-school-time networks to attend a train-the-trainer workshop in December 2010. You will attend a special, all-expenses-paid three-day training workshop at NASA Goddard (in Greenbelt, MD) that will prepare you to run training workshops in your own communities.

In order to participate, your network must commit to recruiting at least 10 middle school sites, offering the training, and ensuring that the sites implement the program. The commitment also includes participation in the project evaluation – we assure you that this program has already been rigorously evaluated and this train-the-trainer effort will also be studied for effectiveness. There is more information about the required commitment in the application: http://universe.nasa.gov/au/trainer_training.html

Because the Summer is Fast Approaching...

2010-05-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

This week we are featuring the timely message heralded by the National Summer Learning Association: When the school doors close for the summer, too many children lack access to quality educational and developmental opportunities as well as basic needs like healthy meals and safe places to be with adult supervision.

NSLA strives to connect and equip out-of-school time providers, like schools and community organizations, to deliver high quality summer learning programs to all of America's youth. The NSLA mission is complementary to the mission of the Coalition, and it is especially important this time of year-- In just a few short weeks, schools will let out for summer, and children will have hundreds of hours of free time lavished upon them. This time lends an exceptional opportunity for kids to explore and discover freely in informal learning environments.

We are working to get the message out about the importance of summer learning opportunities and make them accessible to more of the nation's youth. As part of the Connect a Million Minds initiative, the Coalition maintains the National After School Science Directory to help kids and families identify high quality science learning out-of-school time.

Help us by updating your organization's listings: directory.scienceafterschool.org

Also, locate opportunities for afterschool (and summer) science in your area: http://afterschoolscience.org/directory/

2010 Conference on Science and Technology in Out-of-School Time

2010-05-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

September 22-24, 2010 Los Angeles, California
Hosted by the Coalition for Science After School and Project Exploration
Presented Sponsor: Time Warner Cable

About the Conference:
This conference convenes a national cross-section of 400+ stakeholders involved in the growing movement for science and technology out-of-school. Sessions highlight key developments in the field – with a particular focus on access and equity issues affecting populations historically underrepresented in science - including: research-based best practices, professional development for program providers, program and curriculum development, evaluation, systemic approaches to aligning science education in – and out – of school time, and funding trends.

Who is the Conference for?
This conference targets national and local leaders involved with science education out-of-school: youth development and out-of-school program directors; executive directors and CEOs of informal science institutions; leaders of community-based organizations; representatives from K-12, community colleges and higher education; researchers and policymakers tracking regional and national trends in innovation, science and workforce development; foundation and corporate funders involved with youth development and science education reform.

Conference Agenda:
• Raise awareness about ways out-of-school time science and technology efforts positively impact students’ lives, enhance 21st-century skill-building, and expand the science and technology career workforce;
• Build capacity in the field by facilitating and strengthening the development of partnerships, networks and models that exemplify what works for engaging and retaining students to science;
• Outline an agenda for regional, state-wide and national efforts to support students’ involvement with science and technology.

For more information visit www.afterschoolscience.org or contact: Gabrielle Lyon at glyon@projectexploration.org or 773.834.7620.

Director, Center for Quality Science Learning Afterschool (Coordinator of Public Programs VI-VIII) Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California,

2010-05-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Director, Center for Quality Science Learning Afterschool (Coordinator of Public Programs VI-VIII) Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley

Salary Range: $76,800-98,900 annually

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) is establishing a new center, the Center for Quality Science in Learning Afterschool (QSLA), to build on the work of existing LHS centers, programs, and partners and to assume leadership of the Coalition for Science After School (CSAS). The founding director will have the opportunity to establish the agenda for the LHS work in afterschool—research, development of materials and programs for afterschool settings, professional development for the afterschool instructional workforce, and creation of practical approaches to use technology to support of science in afterschool settings. He or she will also be the Director of CSAS, a network of national organizations, experts, and committed individuals who are working to bring together the fields of science education, afterschool education, and youth development so that the mutual benefits, of the afterschool setting for achieving science education goals and of science education for achieving the youth development goals, are recognized, understood, and implemented. As a center leader at LHS, the Director will serve on the leadership team, play a senior role in promoting the excellence of the institution, and report to the LHS Director.

Qualifications:

• Masters in science or mathematics, science or mathematics education, youth development, or the equivalent required; Ph. D. desirable.

• A minimum of ten years of experience in science and/or mathematics education, in formal, informal, and/or afterschool settings; working with policymakers, diverse learners and stakeholders.

• Experience designing, implementing, leading, and managing complex projects; including building teams and raising funds;

• Knowledge of science education and afterschool trends and policies required; knowledge of UC system policies and practices desirable.

• Excellent written and oral communications skills, computer skills, service-oriented with a strong customer service background required; bilingual and/or experienced with second language learning issues desirable.

• Self-starter with ability to work independently with minimal supervision, to set priorities, take initiative, exercise authority, and execute tasks while maintaining confidentiality, exercising judgment.

Approximate Starting Date: September 1, 2010

Total Duration of Appointment: 1 year, renewable upon successful performance and the availability of funds.

Application Deadline: May 27, 2010

Please submit your CV and Cover Letter to Jami Rousseaux, jami_rousseaux@berkeley.edu, or by postal mail to her at Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-5200

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER

Engaging Kids in Science

2010-04-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday, Coalition Steering Committee Chair Dennis Bartels was one of the guests featured on KQED's Forum with Michael Krasny (NPR). Broadcasting from San Francisco's Exploratorium, where Dennis is the Executive Director, the program spotlighted innovative programs going on in the Bay Area, particularly those working to bring science to communities with limited resources and under represented demographics.

Congratulations, Dennis. The message about engaging kids in science is getting out!

Listen to the audio: http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201004220900

New Study on Afterschool STEM (part 2)

2010-04-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

We previously published a post on a recent Lemelson-MIT survey (January 2010), and we wanted to revisit it today.

The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index is an annual survey that gauges Americans' perceptions about invention and innovation. As we mentioned in our last post, the results of this year's survey were impressive-- the index reported that 77% of teens are interested in pursuing STEM careers. According to the Index, hands-on activities outside the classroom are an effective way to engage teenage youth. Specifically, it reports, "Teens listed activities such as field trips to places where they can learn about STEM (66 percent) and access to places outside the classroom where they can build things and conduct experiments (53 percent) as the best ways to get them interested in these subjects." Another insight of the survey was the power of mentors in STEM education to increase youth interest. Students would like to know more about STEM in order to create and invent, and afterschool settings are ideal place to let youth explore and discover on their own. In informal environments, students can engage in STEM learning and meet active STEM professionals.

We are excited about these results and reinvigorated in our mission to make high-quality STEM learning opportunities available to all youth.

Youth Exploring Science—A Model for Youth Success

2010-04-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

In case you missed the article on our current featured member, the Saint Louis Science Center, in this month's newsletter, we are re-posting it here for your enjoyment.

Youth Exploring Science—A Model for Youth Success

by Rachel D. Mahan

On Saturdays when most teenagers are still in bed, up to 200 teens facing multiple risks can be found growing plants hydroponically, fashioning star-shaped violins, and tracking climate change using frog calls. Most of these teenagers are minority students, often from neighborhoods where poverty and violence prevail. They are a part of the Youth Exploring Science (YES) program at the Saint Louis Science Center in Missouri.

Now a national model, YES is a four-year program that weaves together science concepts, inquiry-based learning, workplace skills, and college preparation. On Saturdays during the school year and daily during the summer, staff members train teens in science concepts and workplace and college skills. In turn, the teens teach these science concepts to visitors and community members.

“Today in SAS [Science After School, a YES component] we did our presentation. In my group we did an activity called bubble art, and we had to make art with paint, soap, water, and paper. It was very fun and I want to teach kids how to do it. I really think they will like it,” wrote* William, a YES teen.

The benefits go beyond the crucial hands-on science education experience. While the graduation rate for African American students in St. Louis was close to 50% in 2008, 100% of YES seniors graduated from high school. That same year, 32 of the 34 YES seniors went on to post-secondary education. These numbers remain consistent from year to year. Further, the Science Center employs several former YES teens as educators in the program.

YES was begun with 15 teens facing multiple risks in 1998 by Diane Miller, currently Senior Vice President of Schools and Community Partnerships at the Saint Louis Science Center. To be admitted, underserved youth are nominated by community-based organizations, such as community centers, at age 14.

Through their senior year in high school, the teens work and learn in one of six components. For example, Environmental Health Advocate teens are testing the effects of different growing methods on plants, Design It teens are learning to make violins from a professional violin craftsman, and Communicating Climate Change teens monitor the mating calls of frogs to help scientists understand climate change.

In addition, YES teens routinely take field trips to local, world-renowned institutions, such as the Missouri Botanical Garden, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, and the Missouri History Museum. YES also attracts internationally known presenters, such as S. James Gates, Jr., an African American physicist who is one of the President’s science advisors.

After Gates and other physicists visited, a YES teen named Justin wrote*: “But the last guy we met had told me he saw something in me because I was in honors physics and whatnot (no big deal or anything). But what he did for a living sounded cool and made me question myself on what do I really want to do for the rest of my life.”

The Youth Exploring Science program is not a place where future Professor Gateses are made; it is where future Professor Ariels (who is planning to major in biochemistry next year) and future Dr. KiOnteys (who will be pre-med next year) are made. Read more of their words at youthexploringscience.com.

*Author’s note: Teen blog entries have been edited for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

White House Egg Roll Celebrates Science

2010-04-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

At the White House egg roll this Monday, guests were invited to participate in a collection of spring-themed science activities. Part of the administration's ongoing Educate to Innovate campaign, activities for the event were suggested by science providers from across the country. Of the selected activities, two were offered by Coalition members. The Lawrence Hall of Science ran a kite-making activity, giving a chance to learn about wind energy and flight, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) offered a “Science of Spring” activity section, allowing parents and children to dissect green been seeds, look at them under a microscope, take beans home to plant, and document their progress online. Congratulations to our members for their involvement in this great event!

Young Voices on Climate Change

2010-04-05T12:05:00.001-07:00

Over the past week, we have shared some really great videos with you via facebook (Coalition for Science After School) and Twitter (SciAfterSchool), and we thought we would take the chance to give a little bit more information about them here.

The videos/movies are brought to us by Young Voices on Climate Change, a project inspired by the children's book, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming, written by founder Lynne Cherry. The movies give children a voice in the global conversation on climate change. By urging them: "Say Yes to Action! Say No to Fear," they inspire widespread youth involvement in this most important international action area.

Visit the website to watch the videos and learn more about the project: http://www.youngvoicesonclimatechange.com/