Evaluation
STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice case study that focus on the development and evolution of the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance (TRSA)—the lead entity of the Tulsa, Oklahoma (OK) ecosystem—and its partners. As part of the study, we collected educational data, exit surveys, indicator tools, and conducted interviews, focus groups, document review, observations, and extensive online research.
On behalf of the STEM Learning Ecosystem Initiative (SLE), TIES, staff and consultants, and most importantly, the initial cohort of 27 STEM ecosystem communities, we want to share the first AnnualReport of the Initiative. SLE Annual Report Year 1
Researchers at the PEAR Institute: Partnerships in Education and Resilience presented findings from a survey of STEM Learning Ecosystems’ thoughts about collaboration on evaluation and assessment STEM Learning Ecosystems: Evaluation and Assessment Findings. Results revealed that half of the ecosystems are using at least one data collection tool to evaluate STEM learning, and the level of evaluation progress can be […]
Researchers at the University of San Diego’s Institute for Entrepreneurship in Education asked the question, “How do partners building and running a STEM learning ecosystem define the parameters of an “effective” ecosystem?” The findings from the year-one study can be found in the recent report: Design for Success: Developing a STEM Ecosystem. The findings explore dimensions of eight critical factors identified and […]
A few months ago, Expand ED Schools – a partner in the New York City STEM Education Network, released a new research brief reporting on the promising findings of the STEM Educators Academy, an ExpandED Schools initiative where classroom teachers and after-school educators engage in joint professional development at premiere science institutions and then work together back at their schools to […]
Ecosystem cultivators understand that it’s not enough to come up with an innovative new program or practice; their goal is to catalyze change in the way communities approach STEM learning. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Vanessa Kirsch, Jim Bildner and Jeff Walker explain how social entrepreneurs need “a set of tools and a framework designed to address the complexity […]
This summer, the National Research Council (NRC) released Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings, identifying three criteria for programs to result in strong outcomes for students: 1) engage young people intellectually, academically, socially and emotionally, 2) respond to young people’s interests, experiences and cultural practices, and 3) connect STEM learning in out-of-school, school, home and other settings. The report, authored […]
The National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) released a new report about its work with five expanded-time schools, each paired with a science-focused community-based organization, to embed new, imaginative STEM programming in a redesigned and expanded school day. Each of the schools, which received a modest planning grant and technical assistance coaching from NCTL, have created their own program […]
This evaluation is among the first at a large scale to measure the impact of afterschool programs on students’ STEM-related attitudes and social-emotional/21st-century skills. The evaluation was a collaboration between The PEAR Institute: Partnerships in Education and Resilience at Harvard University and McLean Hospital IMMAP: Institute for Measurement, Methodology, Analysis & Policy at Texas Tech University.
