Culture and Equity in Whole-School STEM Reform

• In Event: Informal Science Institutions and Equity: Future-Oriented Historiography of Research and Practice

Abstract

Inclusive STEM schools (ISS), are a type of school focused on STEM education at the whole school level. By definition they are open-enrollment, thus can afford all students, especially those from historically underrepresented groups in STEM college majors and careers, access to a route towards these professions. We have identified four popular national models of STEM ISSs: Models A, B, C and D [names removed for blind review] [Authors, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016]).

In a review of the literature, we found very little research on the impact of these models and even less about the equitable design and implementation of ISSs (LaForce et al., 2016). While equity is not necessary excluded from the models, it is not intentionally called out as a core component in any of the designs. Rather, equity is more often delegated to either supporting one of the other attributes. However, best practices from the field of whole-school reform (not limited to STEM) suggests that culture and equity needs to be at the forefront of reform plans and embedded into the whole design of school itself (Johnson, 2007; Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2014). One reason is that equity has implications for each of these attributes and needs to underpin all systematic school decisions and not be implemented piecemeal (Darling-Hammond, 2015).

There is a growing consensus that effective teaching for historically minoritized groups requires a culturally relevant approach. CRP involves leveraging students’ cultural backgrounds as mediums for a more effective education (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Smith-Maddox, 1998). While we found some studies on whole-school STEM programs and models, and about CRP at the school-level (Colvin & Tobbler, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Asil, 2017), our review shows that there is minimal to no empirical research explicitly centered on the intersection between these bodies of literature. Researchers have sought to understand the impact of ISSs specifically on underrepresented youth—the population that these schools were designed to serve, but there is no explicit attention paid to the role of CRPs in fostering any intended outcomes. So while we find literature that establishes the need to integrate equity into open-enrollment STEM schools, how this should in fact happen remains understudied.

One of the models (Model C), is a 3-year whole school PD program housed in a science museum. This model serves as a case study for how to synthesize CRP frameworks into a whole school STEM reform model. Unique aspects of a museum are explored (resources, audience and even its brand) in terms of how it supported and resisted integration of CRP into whole school STEM reform models. For example, location in a science museum has made the program more accessible to schools who otherwise may be wary of such am ambitious project. The poster explores and synthesizes the literature around known whole school STEM models and integrating equity into whole school reform and describes the case study. Finally, we describe an upcoming NSF-funded conference on the topic of equity in whole school STEM reform models.

Author

• C. Aaron Price, Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago