CLEVELAND, OH. Sept 17, 2019 – A University of Pittsburgh multidisciplinary research team, which includes the STEM Learning Ecosystem Community of Practice (SLECoP), have been chosen to create a network of precollege programs with accreditation standards to boost college enrollment for underrepresented students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math.

The National Science Foundation awarded a $10 million INCLUDES Alliance grant to the team that makes up Pitt’s Broadening Equity in STEM (BE STEM) Center and SLECoP, a global movement of science, technology, engineering and math programs and partners in 84 communities across the globe. “With the new NSF INCLUDES Alliance awards we continue to expand our national network of partners who are helping us build a more diverse, inclusive, innovative, and well-prepared STEM workforce,” said Karen Marrongelle, head of NSF’s Education and Human Resources Directorate.

“Ultimately, this work will decrease the distance between STEM precollege programs and college admissions offices and forge a new, more equitable pathway for racially and ethnically underrepresented students to access higher education in STEM,” said Alison Slinskey Legg, principal investigator, co-director of Pitt’s BE STEM Center and director of outreach programs in the University’s Department of Biological Sciences in the Kenneth B. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

The effort kicks off with STEM education programs that are part of SLECoP network in Pittsburgh New York, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. Those programs will come together to create a vibrant, collaborative learning network designed to strengthen and leverage standards that are known to support strong student outcomes.

The ecosystems chosen for the pilot sites are: Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative; Remake Learning – Pittsburgh Regional STEM Ecosystem; NYSCI Neighbors – Queens, NY; NYC STEM Education Network; and Bay Area STEM Ecosystem in California.