Reference no: EM133736146

Question: At the end of the Advanced STEM Methods course, you created an advocacy message/call to action related to enhancing equitable access to STEM learning experiences within your context. As a culminating project for this course, you will create an action plan proposal for a specific audience and context convincing them that funding, time, human, and/or other resources are necessary to provide equitable access to STEM education and will support high achievement for all students within your context. Your action plan proposal will include both a written paper and a presentation. Your chosen project should provide specific arguments and supporting evidence that support the use of resources to promote equitable access to high-quality STEM education and opportunities for all learners.

As you have learned in this course and your Advanced STEM Methods course last semester, graduation and employment data indicate the U.S. currently has an education pipeline issue when it comes to preparing individuals for 21st-century careers in STEM. This is especially true for some minoritized groups of individuals. Through readings, projects, and activities you have strengthened your repertoire of strategies for strengthening STEM teaching and providing high-quality STEM learning opportunities for all students and help them envision themselves as empowered and capable STEM learners. In this final project, you will create an action plan proposal advocating for increased efforts and resources or changed policies related to promoting effective STEM learning opportunities for diverse learners in a specific context. When you are developing this project, consider your professional context or a context that you may be part of in the future.

Step 1: choose an entry point

Choose an entry point for your action plan proposal. Using your contextual assessments (particularly, Reflections #2 and 3), think about the current state of STEM education efforts in your context with specific attention to both current opportunities for students and the district/school structural supports that are supporting or impeding equitable access. Specifically, consider some of the following questions:

What are the strengths of your current program/efforts?

What are the biggest needs/gaps?

What would it take to move toward a more effective and equitable approach that would empower all students in STEM learning?

What would it take to provide more effective support for educators in your context as they work to improve their STEM teaching?

With these considerations in mind, determine at what level your entry point should be: a stand-alone program, a collaborative or cross disciplinary effort, or a systemwide shift (Myers & Berkowicz, 2015).