There is currently a heavy emphasis on career-connected learning for high school students in New York City. ExpandED Schools' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Options (ES Options) program predates the newest of these initiatives. Launched in 2019, ES Options combines a credit-bearing STEM apprenticeship in the spring with a…

In this essay, Mingda Sun, a high school student from Connecticut, recounts her summer research internship opportunity at the Center for Quantitative Medicine of UConn Health. She discusses her learning experiences, the challenges she faced, and the encouragement she received from her mentors and peers and explains how this month-long internship…

Freedom School Partners is a six-week summer program that has served the Charlotte, NC area since 2004. The purpose of this report is to present the external evaluation and findings of the six-week program in the summer of 2022. This evaluation is a joint effort between the Centers for Adolescent Literacies (CAL) and the Center for Educational…

Youth-focused environmental programs develop environmental stewardship and related interest in future career pursuits. However, research is limited on how youth perceive the varied skills and capacities needed in environmental careers, which could impact their ability to contribute to environmental work. We describe findings from a…

While the majority of students that pursue a physics education learn mostly in a classroom setting, hands-on experiences can take their appreciation of physics to the next level. Summer internships offer just that, hands-on learning experiences and a taste of what a career in physics is really like. Many research-oriented institutions offer summer…

First-generation college students without broad support networks are more likely to leave STEM majors. In rural West Virginia, the First2 Network aims to improve STEM persistence by including students in creating solutions to STEM attrition. One solution, a research program for rising first-year students in STEM majors, is discussed here. The…

One-on-one mentoring is effective for helping novices with career development. However, traditional mentoring scales poorly. To address this problem, MentorPal emulates conversations with a panel of virtual mentors based on recordings of real STEM professionals. Students freely ask questions as they might in a career fair, while machine learning…

This report shares practices from a successful Latinx Studies learning community model at an urban research-intensive university in the Midwestern United States. The learning community model offers a tiered developmental curriculum to support the three different stages of a student's journey, from enrollment to graduation. The three distinct…

Native Americans are the least represented population in science fields. In recent years, undergraduate and graduate level summer research programs that aimed to increase the number of Native Americans in science have made some progress. As new programs are designed, key characteristics that address science self-efficacy and science identity and…

This article discusses how mathematics teachers seized the opportunity to keep the mathematics component of STEM camp on track by transforming the camp into a virtual camp themed "Out of this World." Teachers and camp interns encountered technical, social, and instructional challenges in transitioning to a digital platform while…

This study sought to understand how aspiring administrators and supervising mentors contribute to the intern's opportunity to lead authentic administrative tasks during the administrative internship. Using case study methodology, we gathered data from six intern/mentor pairs through in-depth interviews, observations, journals, and logs. Several…

In 2020, STEM training programs across the country were challenged to provide support to students during a nation-wide shutdown of research institutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Five U.S. high school science internship programs funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with a history of collaboration, developed innovative…

In response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a cancer research education program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center designed for Native American middle school, high school and undergraduate students adapted activities to be delivered online. There are considerable challenges to adapting in-person science programming to online delivery that…

This paper provides mentor teacher experiences involved with the planning, preparation, implementation, and reflection of a virtual mathematics and science summer camp in the summer of 2020. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual the summer camp was forced to pivot to a completely online format. Primary concerns discussed by mentor…

This Information Capsule provides an overview of the Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP) for Miami-Dade County Public School students sponsored by Miami-Dade County, The Children's Trust, Career Source of South Florida, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, JPMorgan Chase, and the Foundation for New Education Initiatives. The SYIP is a five-week paid…