Female and minority students are underrepresented in upper level science, technology, engineering, and math courses in high schools. Data collected from a freshman class survey and subsequent follow up discussions revealed that interventions can positively impact motivation and interest in STEM subjects and postsecondary goals. Online activities such as developing student profiles, completing interest inventories, and career searches foster understanding of personal strengths. Partnering with the local college heightened enthusiasm and helped bridge connections with all students. Through these efforts, students in a low socioeconomic school setting were encouraged to believe in themselves and take steps toward future goals. The intent of this project was to promote gender equity in STEM coursework providing all students enhanced postsecondary opportunities. Working with a predominantly Hispanic, low SES freshman population, inteventions became more all-encompassing and a way to advocate for all students who expressed interest in STEM-related fields. Comprehensive school counseling programs are important components of a school’s closing the gap strategies. Low performing schools such as this small rural junior senior high school that are on state improvement plans are looking for effective and creative ways to promote academic achievement. A rating-scale survey given in February and repeated in April to the same freshmen students provided insight into how freshmen viewed STEM subjects and whether they felt capable of success. It asked questions such as “Do you feel supported by the school in STEM careers?” Results from the survey indicated that interventions such as time spent in Advisory working on academic and career plans ha... ... middle of paper ... ...e then used for instructional purposes, placement, and teacher evaluation. Scores for the winter and spring MAP tests in science showed that female freshmen had made significant gains. In February, 11 female students out of a total of 49 students who took the test scored below the national average. In April, 9 female students out of a total of 50 students who took the test scored below the national average. So, female students scoring below the average went from 22% to 18%. Promoting gender equity in STEM courses in high school is a crucial step in the direction of postsecondary achievement in related careers. But all too often, students Students are often afraid to try something new and of failing in front of others. Students who chronically under-perform in math and science, thinking they are not competent to excel in these subjects, are at risk of giving up.
In her essay, “When Bright Girls Decide That Math is a ‘Waste of Time,’” Jacoby talks about how often times nowadays girls decide that they no longer want to take math and science courses in favor “easier” subjects such as English or art. Jacoby argues that this is because of stereotypes of women that have been instilled in girls by society; they think math and science are too hard or they aren’t as smart as boys so it’s not worth it to take them. Jacoby claims that “The real problem is that so many girls eliminate themselves from any serious possibility of studying science as a result of decisions made during the vulnerable period of midadolescence, when they
In conclusion, the Academic Achievement has been fueled by society's presets, minority students' lack of effort, and the failures of the schooling system in America. There has been some challenging setbacks, but the Gap can be fixed to create a common ground for all prospective members of America's society to excel on equally. By realizing that change can be achieved, there are little to no limits for minority students to create a better mindset towards education. Students, parents, and teachers have to be willing to work together, as well as tackle obstacles upheld by society, and the economic deficiencies that effect schools across America. This will, in turn, take America one step closer to closing the Academic Achievement Gap in America.
“When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer, and enroll in higher level programs.” (Van Roeckel, 2008, p. 1) Deer Valley High School in Glendale, AZ is the first high school built in the Deer Valley Unified Scholl District, and with a population around 1800 students, the high school is one of the bigger schools in the state. It has a tradition of family on its’ campus, where there are still teachers teaching that were there when the school opened in 1980. A number of former students have become new teachers on campus and just about all the teachers’ children have attended and graduated from the campus. With a school like ours, there are many connections to the community around it and it is demonstrated by the programs that bring in parent and community to help with the development of our students. There are numerous booster clubs run on our campus to help support student achievement on the sports fields, a school to work programs to teach the students necessary skills in different areas of either nursing, sports medicine classes, and in the culinary arts classrooms, and funding to our school to help ensure all students graduate on time. There are many programs on our campus, but I will discuss four of the programs: baseball booster club, C2G program, “school-to-work”, and the special education program sponsored by Arrowhead Hospital. These programs are designed to improve the relationships between the campus and the people in the community, and give all students on campus every opportunity to succeed in their future.
A qualitative study of minority students in their last year and teacher-education majors (Hobson-Horton & Owens, 2004) indicated the need for providing support to students. This support was in the form of advising, providing monetary support,or exchanging educational materials necessary for instruction. In a longitudinal, qualitative study conducted by Chang, et. al (2014), factors influencing the persistence of underrepresented racial minority (URM) students in STEM majors were evaluated. Results supported the need for early activities that facilitated competence. Those activities had greater and more sustained effects when they were reinforced with interventions in higher education that guaranteed student achievement. Likewise increased guidance for successful achievement on assessments in relation to content and exam preparation were expected to decrease the racial gap in science achievement ( Chang, et
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
In the 17th and 18th centuries women in science emerged that regarded themselves correct in doing so. Also there were those who announced their opinions to the world that women should not practice science and some who believed the women can and should practice science.
The Scientific Revolution marked a major shift in Western thought between the 1500s and 1700s. Modern science emerged as a way of gaining true knowledge about the natural world. During the time, science was a field dominated by men. Women were believed to be incapable of anything outside their domestic sphere. There was a social stigma regarding women in science. Society had varying reactions toward women working in the sciences, the majority of which were negative. However, some were accepting of women and their contributions to science. The Scientific Revolution had little impact on the way society viewed women. Women continued to be subject to restrictive gender roles.
Mr. Grover has spent the last two decades with PCS working in the field of education designing, developing, and creating learning programs and services intended to facilitate student-centered, experiential learning. PCS programs are now deployed in over 7,000 sites in all 50 United States and 13 countries, bringing hands-on, engaging activities to students in public and private schools, science centers, and after-school programs. Mr. Grover has extensive experience in STEM education and has worked closely with a variety of organizations to design, implement, and study successful, hands-on STEM programs including the United States Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the YMCA, the US
Sadker, Myra, David Sadker, and Susan Klein. "The Issue of Gender in Elementary and Secondary Education." Review of Research in Education 17 (1991): 269. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
In my paper, I will be discussing feminism in the field of science and critiquing Godfrey-Smith for not covering the topic as well as he should have. Since this is a serious issue, I believe Godfrey-Smith should have argued his side efficiently instead of not stating his opinions clearly. I feel that his use of questions, in place of his opinions, are mainly excuses to avoid critiques from feminist and other social groups. He could have done a lot with this chapter to teach us about feminist issues in the field of science and I feel he did not do it justice based on the small amount of material provided.
National Center for Learning Disabilities. Minority Students Special Education. Retrieved April 18, 2003, from http://www.ncld.org/advocacy/MinorityStudents.pdf
The “Politics” section, from the UN’s 2008 report of the progress of the world’s women, discusses in detail how women’s roles in government and politics in general have expanded and can continue to expand. Moreover, it also explores different challenges and obstacles women may encounter when it comes to politics, and how these obstacles can be overcome. In discussing these issues, the author describes a “cycle of political accountability”. This so called cycle is a process by which women’s engagement in politics results in a positive “feedback loop” whereby a more gender-balanced political system may arise. According to the report, there are five stages: mobilization, representation, legislation & policy, implementation, and transforming politics. Of course, the cycle can also go backwards leading to the loss of rights for women.
Well for the past four years I have gone to a STEM+M high school, which was trying to make the world rethink the way it did education. Instead of focusing on the books, memorization, and standardized testing, the school decided to focus on preparing kids for college and real-world application. I think this gave me a unique way of looking at things, especially with all of the different style of classes I took, which included multiple years of engineering, integrated math, sciences, and humanities classes, and lots of PLB activities or Problem Based Learning Workshops. This all helped me learn to apply my skills in real life situations, so I could actually use the engineering, science, math, social studies, and so on to real problems, quickly,
Girls are seen as caring, nurturing, quiet, and helpful. They place other’s needs above their own. Girls get ahead by hard work, not by being naturally gifted. Boys are seen as lazy, but girls are seen as not capable. In class, teacher will call on boys more than they call on girls. Boys are seen as better at math and science; while girls are better at reading and art. This bias is still at work even out of the classroom. There are more males employed at computer firms than women. The ratio of male to female workers in STEM fields is 3-1. In college, more women major in the humanities than in the sciences. In education, women are often seen as lesser than; even though 65% of all college degrees are earned by women. Women are still often seen as needing to be more decorative than intellectual, as represented by the Barbie who included the phrase, “Math is hard!” and the shirt that JC Penneys sold that said, “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.” While there was a backlash on both items, it points out that there is a great deal of work to do on the educational gender bias to be
This class has opened my mind to the incredible impact that STEM Education can have on our society. I do not work in an institution that has a STEM program. I work at a preschool; this makes my practice of any type of STEM program extremely limited. However, it is a private school. All my students come from households where one or both of their parents are professionals. These professionals want their children to be academically prepared for school. This means we must academically, mentally, and emotionally prepare them for their future schooling. I teach my students how to be a functioning participant in a classroom while exploring mathematics, science, art, history, literature and pre-writing. Puzzles, counting, shapes, measuring, etc. are on the daily agenda. Science is a huge part of our curriculum. Science in the