It is the responsibility of today's scientists, engineers, and educators to inspire and encourage our youth into technical careers that benefit our society. Too often, however, this responsibility is buried beneath daily job demands and the routines of teaching. Space Public Outreach Team (SPOT) programs leverage a train-the-trainer model to…

The journey to achieve gender diversity in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math] subjects appears to be a slow one. According to UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service) data provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, just 35 per cent of STEM students in higher education in the UK [United Kingdom] are women (STEM…

This article focuses on the role of access to music education as an agent of social change and as an important way of empowering previously disadvantaged learners, putting this forward as an argument against the proposed downscaling of music in schools as advocated by the government. This narrative inquiry shed light on the perceptions of…

As of 2014, four percent of all 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States had left high school without graduating for a total of 690,000 youth. The current rate of youth leaving schools represents a decline from a high of approximately fourteen percent 40 years ago. The possible reasons for improvement include improved academic measurement and…

This brief is based on an econometric study conducted in 2016 by Thomas Malone and Dr. Jonathan Zaff. The nation's high school graduation rate has been rising over the past decade and is now at a historic high. As of 2014, however, four percent of all 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States--a total of 690,000 young people--had left high school…

This dissertation explores the impact of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, an academic intervention and mentoring program for African-American males, on 30 African-American high school graduates. The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project has a fifteen year history. What makes the project unique is that it is--unlike many such…

Background: Escalation of youth violence within a large geographic school-complex area in southeastern rural Hawaii became a major problem in 2006. How cultural forces impact the problem was an impetus to examine youth violence from perspectives of adults and children in rural communities. Gathering these data was an essential first step toward…

If we are to attract more women and minorities to computing we must engage students at an early age. As part of its mission to increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in computing, the Increasing Student Participation in Research Development Program (INSPIRED) conducts computing academies for high school students. The…

This study conducted telephone interviews with 26 randomly selected English Language Coordinators from 26 Arizona school districts with enrollment patterns that were representative of the state as whole. Three primary questions were posed to the respondents: (a) How is the 4-hour ELD block being implemented?; (b) What are the benefits of the…

This document summarizes evaluation reports from afterschool science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs across the United States and identifies common trends and strengths that afterschool learning brings to STEM education. Like many programs nationwide, several of the programs highlighted in this paper were designed specifically to…

The most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data (2003-2004) revealed that approximately 18% of children 6-to-19 years old are overweight. The Beacon Street Girls brand was specifically designed to entertain while providing healthy role models and positive messages. This article presents a study that tested whether an…

Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) is an independent, non-profit organization with a vision for schools that work for all children. It partnered with Coca-Cola in 1984 and began a dropout prevention program just as it was conducting the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas. Its annual studies since then have…