The Coalition for Science After School Concludes Operations

The Coalition for Science After School concludes operations today, June 30th, 2014. The decision to sunset CSAS reflects the tremendous growth of programming and attention to STEM in out-of-school time opportunities on a national level. CSAS leadership is deeply grateful to the funders, partners, supporters, and constituents that worked together to advance the STEM in out-of-school time movement during our decade of operations and that make up today’s rich STEM in out-of-school time landscape. As this work continues to expand and deepen, the many organizations that have emerged as leaders will continue to lead the critical work that remains to be done.

CSAS history and resources (reports, white papers, conference proceedings, etc.) have been archived as a project on informalscience.org, along with a record of CSAS contributors and leadership. You can access the CSAS archive on informalscience.org here.

After today this blog and our Facebook and Twitter accounts will become inactive, but will be archived such that the information they contain can still be accessed by those interested in the work of CSAS.

The National After School Science Directory (Connectory) will continue to be available after the CSAS sunset of operations. The Directory is in the process of transitioning to a new host organization--Directory members will not experience any disruption during this transition process. Users will continue to be able to update their organization's opportunities via the CSAS website, new organizations will be able to join the database, and parents will still be able to search the system through the Connectory portal.

We at CSAS have greatly appreciated the opportunity to work with many people and organizations over the last decade in building the STEM in out-of-school time movement. We are excited about the great momentum around STEM in out-of-school time, and look forward to the good work ahead!

Report and Call to Action from 2014 CSAS Summit Now Available!

From March 26-28, 2014, the Coalition for Science After School hosted our final summit, Passing the Torch: Advancing Opportunity for Quality Science Learning. The Summit was intended to: (1) celebrate a decade of progress in strengthening and expanding STEM learning opportunities in out-of-school time; (2) call attention to critical issues in ensuring that all young people have opportunities for quality STEM experiences in their local communities; and (3) stimulate ideas, strategies, partnerships and commitments to continue to increase opportunities for quality STEM experiences across settings. The report of the summit proceedings, A Call to Action from the 2014 Coalition for Science After School Summit, focuses on 11 areas to continue to advance the STEM in out-of-school time field after CSAS sunsets its operations on June 30, 2014. The report is available for download here, via informalscience.org!

Honoring and Remembering Dr. Alan J. Friedman

We were very saddened to hear that Dr. Alan J. Friedman, former director of the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) and great contributor to after school science and informal science education, passed away on Sunday May 4^th, 2014.  As a coalition we work through the activities of our members, to which Alan was an active contributor and supporter. In that spirit, below we’ve compiled some of the many remembrances, memorials, and tributes to Alan that have popped up across the country in the last days. The warmth, reverence, depth, and sincerity of these offerings emulate his infectious spirit and convey the incalculable influence he had on the field of informal science education.

Trained as a physicist, Alan served as the director of the NYSCI from 1984-2006, where he transformed the museum from “an empty shell, the old exhibits removed and an inch of water on the floor” to a dynamic institution full of exhibits that ranged from “microscopes to windmills to the ‘world’s first three-dimensional dynamic model of an atom,” according to his obituary in the New York Times and a recent NYSCI blog post on the subject.

Prior to his tenure at NYSCI, Alan worked for twelve years at the Lawrence Hall of Science. As recounted in the Hall’s touching tribute to Alan, he established their planetarium and its interactive format, which served as a model for science centers worldwide. The Hall honored him with an Excellence in Science Education award in 2008.

Alan also served on the board of trustees for the Noyce Foundation, and recently presented on an AAAS panel on science after school with Coalition leaders Carol Tang and Elizabeth Stage.

In honor of Alan’s legacy at NYSCI and in the larger field of informal science education, his NYSCI colleagues created a site, Thinking of Alan , which has served as a powerful sounding board for the many people whose lives Alan touched over the years. Many CSAS leaders, members, and contributors have added remembrances to this site, including Lucy Friedman of TASC, Dennis Bartels of the Exploratorium, Elizabeth Stage of the Lawrence Hall of Science, Anita Krishnamurthi of the Afterschool Alliance, Ron Ottinger of the Noyce Foundation, and Carol Tang, former CSAS director and now program officer at the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, among many others. These leaders’ reflections span Alan’s extraordinary work as an innovator in and champion of science education, and as a mentor to many.

As Dennis Bartels noted in his post on the NYSCI site, Alan was a giant in our field. He will be sorely missed, but his legacy continues to be advanced through the many people he inspired and the organizations he guided.

A memorial service for Alan will take place on Saturday, June 14^th 2014 at 11:00 a.m. Please RSVP to Nancy Schenk, nschenk@nysci.org.

Passing the Torch: Advancing Opportunity for Quality Science Learning

After 10 years of work, the Coalition for Science After School will sunset operations at the end of June. To celebrate the accomplishments of the STEM in OST field and (more importantly) to advance the next decade’s work, in March the Coalition held a Summit that brought leaders in the field together for three days of reflection and discussion to envision the next decade of STEM in out-of-school time.

The Summit was a great opportunity for networking and forging connections across the field. Some attendees had been involved in the Coalition since its inception, while for others, the meeting was their first exposure—all were forward-thinking and committed to advancing more opportunities for quality STEM learning in out-of-school time.

Together, we co-created a history of the field over the last 10 years. Lots of great work has happened over the past decade, but a few things came through loud and clear: 1) The expansion and impact of state and regional after school networks is a significant development that has momentum; 2) There is an emerging conceptual framework that describes supportive ecosystems for STEM learning across settings; 3) While great strides have been made in connecting out-of-school STEM learning and science-rich institutions, important work remains to be done.

Diagram that maps conversation at the Summit regarding the last decade of work in the STEM in out-of-school time field. 

Looking toward the future, the meeting also illuminated some important opportunities and challenges facing us moving forward. As a movement, we need to:

• Define and implement quality STEM programming in out-of-school time – to make quality programming a reality in every local community, program staff need effective professional development.

• Ensure that STEM learning experiences are equitably distributed to young people across the country – in order to accomplish this, we need clarity on what equity looks like, responding to local needs in different communities

• Confront the leadership gap – emerging leaders at the program level need professionalization, training and support to achieve quality STEM learning for all young people; leadership at all levels of the field should also be nurtured.

• Produce more research and evaluation to help make the case about the importance of STEM in out-of-school time settings for both cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. Research findings must be communicated to practitioners and funders to advance the field through evidence-based practices.

• Deploy savvy advocates at the state and national level to champion quality STEM learning, and create shared messages and a vision for the future of the movement that will help make the case to the right people at the right time.

• Meaningfully engage important stakeholders like scientists and other STEM content experts as volunteers and mentors for youth and program staff.

• Pursue concerted collaboration with formal education systems, especially in light of the new Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Standards.

• Increase collaboration in online offerings—to ensure they build upon and work in concert with each other

• Invest in capacity building and strategies to sustain successful initiatives

• Keep talking – the field needs sustained communication and connections to encourage deep cross-pollination of ideas.  Periodic gatherings of leaders are needed to illuminate differences in perspective and generate ways in which different part of the field can work together.

Lots of ideas and connections came out of the Summit that may lead to work to address many of these challenges. 

As the Coalition for Science After School passes the torch on advancing the cause of STEM in out-of-school time to the many other organizations engaged in this important work, now is the time for each of us to ask, “How can I chip away at these opportunities in my daily work?” And as a collective movement, how can we contribute to providing access for all young people to quality STEM experiences in their local communities?

The Coalition for Science After School Sunsets After a Decade of Success

The Coalition for Science After School (CSAS) would like to announce that after nearly a decade of helping to lead and organize the after school science movement, it will sunset its operations in 2014. This decision comes after a decade of agenda-setting and cross-sector partnership development.

Established in 2004, the Coalition for Science After School championed the mission to make science, technology, engineering and math integral components of afterschool and summer programming by bringing together the experience and commitment of thousands of individuals and organizations across the country.  By bridging the afterschool and youth development community with science-rich institutions such as museums, science centers, universities and corporations, the Coalition has worked to increase the quality and quantity of science engagement in afterschool and summer learning settings.

Over the last several years, the field has experienced tremendous growth of programming and attention to science-related out-of-school time opportunities on a national level, due to both the work of advocates like CSAS and other social and political factors. The decision to sunset reflects a consensus among CSAS Steering Committee members that given the robust and exciting status of the science OST field, CSAS leadership is no longer needed.

– Judy Nee, Chair of CSAS Steering Committee

The leadership of CSAS feel that the field has moved into a new phase, one that presents new challenges and opportunities. Though science in OST has grown in prevalence, much work remains to be done to ensure the high quality of opportunities and provide equitable access to youth nationwide. We're confident that this work has taken root, but are concerned about the need to ensure that communities with a high concentration of poverty are not left out of the integration of science and after-school. It is our belief that much of the work necessary to address these challenges will take place at the local level. We strongly believe that the organizations and leaders who have emerged over the past decade in the science OST community are fully capable of addressing these challenges and continuing to propel the field forward.

In addition to fulfilling current commitments to our partners and collaborators, a major component of CSAS work in the next year will be to identify and train new partners who will continue to advance the work that CSAS has historically undertaken, including maintaining and growing a national directory of science-related OST opportunities. This project has been and will continue to be generously supported by our partner, Time Warner Cable, and their Connect a Million Minds initiative.

 Bernadette Chi will lead CSAS through the sunset work in the year ahead. Bernadette brings extensive experience in science program development and evaluation of OST programs and science education. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley and has been recognized as a leader in the out-of-school science research community. Bernadette will take over for Carol Tang, who recently transitioned to a role as program officer at the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

CONTACT: Bernadette Chi at coalitionsas@gmail.com

Midwest After School Academy

I just got back from the Midwest After School Academy in Kansas City, MO.  I had a great time meeting folks from all over the midwest, hearing the latest about equity in STEM after school, and learning about the importance of evaluation in after school settings.  

I presented a workshop on free resources for after school science providers.  Here's a roundup of the sources that the Coalition recommends:

The Coalition for Science After School

Of course we wanted to highlight the benefits of becoming a member of the Coalition, which include receiving our monthly newsletter, being listed on our website, and potentially being featured in our blog.  If you're not already a member, here's where you can join today!

The National After School Science Directory

The Directory is a great way to promote your after school science program.  Because of our partnership with Time Warner Cable's Connect A Million Minds initiative, your program gains national exposure through their Connectory.  

Frontiers in Urban Science Exploration

This report from The After School Corporation (TASC) is one of the many reports the Coalition draws upon to help define what is quality in after school science programming.

National Girls Collaborative Project

If you're fired up about inquity in STEM education, the NGCP is a great place to find like-minded partners to help work towards closing the gender gap.  Almost every state has a collaborative and their vision is to bring together organizations committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM.

FabFems.org

This organization was developed out of the NGCP in response to a national concern over the lack of women in STEM.  Through the NGCPs years of service and outreach we now understand the importance of using role models and mentors to increase girls' engagement in and understanding of STEM.  Use FabFems.org to search for female role models for your girl-serving program.

Techbridgegirls.org

Techbridge is an Oakland, CA based organization dedicated to training STEM role models for girls and under represented students.  They have excellent resources available for free on their website and they also offer an annual summer institute for educators interested in addressing equity in their programs.

SciGirls

SciGirls is an animated series directed at young girls and tweenagers and helps to recast girls as capable, curious, science smart, and action oriented.  The show is based on lots of research about the career readiness of girls and women in STEM, and you can find it on the Educational Philosophy page of their website.

Design Squad Nation
Design Squad Nation is another PBS show, this one starring real life teenagers working on real life engineering problems. Their online activities and guides are designed as companion pieces to the show but they can be used independently to either support a unit that kids are interested in or to get them interested in new topics.  The website also has trainings to help adults get more familiar with leading engineering challenges.

Afterschool Alliance
The Alliance recently came out with a report called "Defining Youth Outcomes for STEM learning in Afterschool."  It was complied by talking to afterschool directors, service providers and stakeholders.  These are the outcomes that afterschool providers reported as being realistic in terms of what they want to see as a result of their STEM after school offerings.  We also recommend the Alliance's toolkit for advocating for STEM afterschool. 

Y4Y.ed.gov
You For Youth recently redesigned their website and it’s all geared towards providing PD and technical assistance to 21st Century Community Learning Centers.  Even if you’re not a 21st CCLC you can use all of the resources on their website for free.  They have an entire section devoted to STEM training including PowerPoint trainings to go, Training starters that help you develop your own trainings on different topics, and customizable tools for goal setting and program planning.


Informal Commons
The Informal Commons is a powerful search engine that allows ISE professionals to search for digital resources across ISE web sites. Access it through the Center for advancement of informal science education.

Assessment Tools in Informal Science
If you’re looking to take on some evaluation of your program you can find lots of free evaluation tools on the ATIS website. At MASA I heard a lot of excitement about involving students in evaluating the programs that serve them, and there are lots of evaluation tools on this site that will help you get at how much kids enjoy science, or how much they identify themselves as scientists or science-capable. 
 
Science After School Consumers Guide
The Coalition presents The Science After School Consumers Guide as an online collection of after school science programs that we have identified as exceptionally high quality.  It includes curricula, kits, guides and websites with content for after school science programs.  The guide is searchable by subject, grade and cost.

4-H
4-H has tons of great science curriculum, and it’s not just about cows and cooking.  If you search their directory you’ll find activities about ecology, wind power, native animals and habitats, chemistry and more.

HowToSmile.org
Howtosmile.org is a warehouse for science activities that are perfect for after school settings.  Leading institutions like the Exploratorium, the New York Hall of Science and the Science Museum of Minnesota got the ball rolling by entering science activities into the database and now there are thousands of searchable entries.  

AfterSchool KidzScience Videos

The Lawrence Hall of Science helped develop the curriculum AfterSchool KidsScience and a bunch of great videos that are perfect to supplement professional development trainings. Sometimes a video is the only way to really get across what high quality instruction looks like in after school settings. 

Do you use these resources?  What do you think?  Any more free resources for after school science programs that you'd like to recommend?

Alan Friedman on Science and After School Programs

Recently, Coalition Director Carol Tang organized a double session at the AAAS conference in Boston about scientists in after school settings. Among the many notable speakers on the panel was Alan Friedman, an independent education consultant. Alan was CEO and Director of the New York Hall of Science from 1984 to 2006, and has been frequently recognized for his work in informal science education.  

Click here to watch Alan's presentation on the importance of after school science learning on the AAAS website.

Coalition Steering Committee Members Make Headlines!

The Coalition is lucky to have a terrific team of Steering Committee members from youth development organizations and science-rich institutions.  These tremendous leaders help the Coalition in our mission to be a bridge between the science and youth development communities.  This week two of our Steering Committee members made headlines for their work in after school science!  

Gabrielle Lyon, cofounder of Project Exploration of Chicago, was recently asked to join the Mayor's Technology Industry Diversity Council.  As co-chair of the council, Gabe will work with a team of leaders in Chicago's technology community to increase the percentage of minority employees in tech firms, increase the number of minority-owned and operated tech firms, and help create new ways for public school students to enter the field of technology.

In other news, Dennis Bartels, executive director of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, wrote a provocative article for Scientific American entitled, "Critical Thinking is Best Taught Outside the Classroom."  Bartels credits museums and other informal learning settings as being better suited to teach kids how to ask questions than elementary and secondary schools.

"Formal education, which is driven by test taking, is increasingly failing to require students to ask the kind of questions that lead to informed decisions," Bartels writes.  He goes on to describe research conducted at the Exploratorium that found that teaching museum-goers to ask "What if?" questions leads them to explore more deeply and engage in better inquiry.  Not only that, but participants even learned how to ask better questions as they continued to explore.  

We are thrilled that our Steering Committee members continue to lead the way in high quality science experiences in after school settings.  Stay tuned for more news from the Coalition coming soon!

The White House Focuses on STEM Education

We are thrilled that President Obama has continued to speak out about the importance of STEM education.  Recently, in his State of the Union address, the President issued a call to educators and employers to partner in order to better prepare students in STEM subjects.  He recognized science, technology, engineering and math as subjects that will help students be innovative leaders in the future.

The White House also recently honored leading scientists and innovators the National Medal of Science  and the National Medal of Technology Innovation.  We love this video of the event, which features the diverse group of leaders honored at the ceremony.

In their blog today, the White House also provided several resources for educators, parents, community members and employers.  We were thrilled to see our partner Connect a Million Minds highlighted as a resource for finding STEM activities across the country!

Make sure your after school science programs are listed in the Connect a Million Minds Connectory - log in to the Coalition's Directory and update your listings today!

AAAS Session: Scientists in After School

A growing body of research suggests the importance of out-of-school time experiences in engaging, preparing, inspiring and creating lifelong interest in science. However, most scientists who engage in public education and outreach still largely focus on experiences within the context of the classroom. The Lawrence Hall of Science Director Elizabeth Stage and Coalition for Science After School Director Carol Tang, along with other leaders in informal science education, will present a double session to address this at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting this month in Boston, MA.

Sunday, February 17, 2013: 8:30AM-11:30AM

Hynes Convention Center, Room 311

Boston, MA

Tomorrow's session will highlight case studies of professional scientists and engineers partnering with after school organizations to provide high-quality activities and act as role models for youth. They will also present resources for scientists interested in working with youth in out-of-school time.

Get more information about the AAAS session.

Additional speakers and presenters:
Alan Friedman, Independent Consultant

Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief, Scientific American

Rebecca L. Smith, Co-Director, UCSF Science Health Education Partnership, University of California

Connie Chow, Executive Director, Science Club for Girls

Meghan Groome, Executive Director, Education and Public Programs, New York Academy of Sciences

Dennis Schatz, Program Director, National Science Foundation Division of Research in Learning in Formal and Informal Settings

Kathryn Scheckel, Project Coordinator, Arizona State University Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development

All AAAS Annual Meeting sessions will be recorded and will be available to AAAS members through their archive in the Spring of 2013.

What is Inquiry?

Yesterday I helped facilitate a local workshop about inquiry-based learning as part of the California After School Network's  The Power of Discovery: STEM2 initiative.  The Alameda County Office of Education and Gateways East Bay STEM Learning Network are the Regional Support Providers that are implementing The Power of Discovery at the regional and local levels.  Their vision is to create, empower and guide cross-sector partnerships among diverse stakeholders to build professional capacity of out-of-school time programs to offer high-quality STEM learning opportunities.

The focus of the workshop was inquiry based learning and the presentation was by Kourrney Andrada of Girls Inc. of Alameda County.  Her presentation was chock full of helpful links, which I'll recap below.  Some of her resources were videos from the Lawrence Hall of Science's' Afterschool KidzScience program.

Here is my favorite video from the list - it covers elements of questioning, guiding exploration and encouraging collaboration.  

This would be a great video to show after school science leaders as a starting off point for a conversation about facilitation techniques.  

Here are the links to resources from yesterday's training:

4-H's Science in Urban Communities

“Asking Questions”

This link is from Developmental Studies Center, creators with Lawrence Hall of Science of KidzScience, Kidzmath, KidzLit, etc. 

Lawrence Hall of Science Educator Tools and Resources 

How Do People Learn? - video

Leading Curiosity - video

Leading Exploration - video

www.Y4Y.ed.gov     

"Sparking Curiosity" coachingsegment

The Y4Y links use the following definition from the Exploratorium:

Inquiry is an approach to learning that involves a process of exploring the natural or material world that leads to asking questions and making discoveries in the search for new understandings.

Inquiry, as it relates to science education, should mirror as closely as possible the enterprise of doing real science.

Encourage your students to discuss and question openly, to gain a better understanding of what they’re thinking. It’ll help you uncover misunderstandings you can challenge and identify places to introduce concepts and explanations for what they’re experiencing.

STEM Outcomes for Youth in Afterschool Programs

The Afterschool Alliance recently concluded a 10-month study, "Defining Youth Outcomes for STEM Learning in Afterschool." In the study, a panel of expert afterschool providers and supporters were asked to identify appropriate and feasible outcomes for STEM education in afterschool settings.

Coalition Director Carol Tang and Steering Committee member Gabe Lyon of Project Exploration served on the advisory board for this report.

Watch Anita Krishnamurthi, director of STEM policy for the Afterschool Alliance discuss the report, joined by Ron Ottinger, executive director of the Noyce Foundation, and Mark Greenlaw, VP for sustainability and education affairs at Cognizant.

The big picture consensus among panel experts interviewed is that afterschool programs support young people to:

• enjoy STEM learning
• feel capable learning STEM
• want to do more STEM learning

There are a number of more concrete indicators that afterschool professionals can look for to see if young people demonstrate progress towards those outcomes.  Panel experts ranked these in order of what they felt afterschool programs are best positioned to accomplish.  They reported that afterschool is best positioned to support young people's:

1. Active participation in STEM learning opportunities
2. Curiosity about STEM topics, concepts or practices
3. Ability to productively engage in STEM processes of investigation
4. Awareness of STEM professions
5. Ability to exercise STEM-relevant life and career skills
6. Understanding the value of STEM in society
   

One of the implications of the report is that afterschool is well positioned to support the 'doing' science and STEM.  Another implication of the study is that afterschool is well positioned to support realistic scenarios of how science is actually performed in the field, as afterschool is a learning environment suited for collaborative group work and other 21st century skills.

Panelists were also asked if they believed there are assessment tools to document the kinds of impacts they felt confident delivering.  While the funder group reported that yes, assessment tools are available, the practitioner group reported no, they don't have access to assessment tools.  In the video above, Anita offers a possible explanation of this result which is that practitioners may be aware of assessment tools for STEM in afterschool, but those tools may not be effective for one reason or another.

This report offers a great foundation for further conversation about outcomes of STEM learning in afterschool and we look forward to hearing what you think!

ASTC Recognizes Coalition Director Carol Tang

This month the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) recognized Coalition Director Carol Tang for being chosen as a role model for California women and girls in STEM.  

This article originally appeared in Dimensions magazine, January/February 2013. Reposted with permission from the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, www.astc.org.

50 Resources to Advance Women in STEM

The Coalition for Science After School is thrilled to top the National Girls Collaborative Project's 50 Resources to Advance Women in STEM list!  The NGCP distributed their list via Twitter throughout the last few days of 2012.  Here's a great opportunity to make sure you are following these organizations, which strive for gender equity in science learning and the STEM fields!

The Coalition would like to thank the NGCP for including us - we are in very good company on this terrific list!  

#1 Afterschool Alliance @afterschool4all 
#2 The Coalition for Science After School @sciafterschool 
#3 Girl Scouts @girlscouts 
#4 Blacks in Technology @blkintechnology 
#5 Black Girls Code @blackgirlscode 
#6 FabFems @Fabfems 
#7 Techbridge @Techbridgegirls 
#8 GirlTech 
#9 Girls RISEnet 
#10 Carnegie Mellon Project on Gender and Computer Science  
#11 National Society of Black Engineers @NSBE
#12 Harvard Fam Research Project @HFRP 
#13 !Excelencia! in Education @EdExcelencia 
#14 Culturally Situated Design Tools 
#15 CompuGirls 
#16 Coalition to Diversify Computing 
#17 The American Indian Science and Engineering Society @AISES 
#18 Alaska Native Knowledge Network 
#19 SciGirls @SciGirls
#20 Binary Girl 
#21 The Work4Women Project
#22 Women@NASA 
#23 National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science @IWITTS 
#24 Diversity/Careers Magazine @divcar
#25 Women in Cable & Telcommunications @WICT 
#26 Women in Aviation International @WomenInAviation 
#27 Women Chemists Throughout History
#28 Women Chemists Committee 
#29 New Scientist 
#30 Association for Women in Computing 
#31 Association for Women in Science @AWISNational 
#32 Association for Women in Mathematics
#33 Engineer Your Life
#34 Women in Engineering ProActive Network 
#35 Society of Women Engineers @SWETalk 
#36 Engineer Girl  
#37 Women in Engineering
#38 American Society of Mechanical Engineers @ASME 
#39 Women Tech World 
#40 Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology @anita_borg
#41 Women in Visual Arts/#Tech 
#42 Women in Technology International @WITI  
#43 Webgrrls @Webgrrls  
#44 TechDivas 
#45 National Center for Women and Information Technology @NCWIT 
#46 IGNITE: Inspiring Girls Now in Technology Evolution  
#47 GirlGeeks 
#48 Cisco Learning Institute Gender Initiative
#49 Center for Women and Information Technology 
#50 ACM's Committee on Women in Computing