Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2011) / Chapter Skim
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8 Recommendations and Implementation Actions
8 Recommendations and Implementation Actions
Pages 171-188
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PREPARATION Recommendation 1: Preschool Through Grade 3 Prepare America's children for school through preschool and early education programs that develop reading readiness, provide early mathematics skills, and introduce concepts of creativity and discovery. Federal Government • The federal government should fully fund Head Start and prekindergarten school-readiness programs.
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From page 172... ...
Local School Districts • Local school districts should offer guidance on how to align preschool curricula with learning expectations in kindergarten.2 Experts suggest aligning preschool curricula with expectations through 3rd grade. • Local school districts should target resources to perpetuate gains obtained through preschool programs once students are enrolled in elementary school by adopting promising practices and proven interventions.
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From page 173... ...
and by school. As minority students are overrepresented among such families, this will help to narrow the academic achievement gaps overall.3 • The federal government should reform the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
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• States should support the establishment of magnet high schools for science and mathematics in each major jurisdiction within a state and insist that these schools make inclusivity a requirement. Local School Districts • School districts should develop programs that identify and encourage minority students to more fully develop their knowledge base and potential in mathematics and science.
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From page 175... ...
Federal Government • The federal government should provide incentives for the annual recruitment, retention, and professional development of science and mathematics teachers who teach minority students. Rising Above the Gathering Storm recommended that the federal government "annually recruit 10,000 science and mathematics teachers by awarding 4-year scholarships." As minority students comprise 36.6 percent of K-12 students in the United States (as of 2006)
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POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS Recommendation 4: Access and Motivation Improve access to all postsecondary education and technical training and increase underrepresented minority student awareness of and motivation for STEM education and careers through improved information, counseling, and outreach.
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States and School Districts • As a standard, states must require middle and high schools to have at least one counselor for every 250 students and charge these counselors with providing students with a "robust college counseling program." 6 Within this counseling program, counselors should follow the lead of mathematics and science teachers to encourage interested and motivated students to pursue STEM education and careers and provide them with information about the course prerequisites for success in STEM education in college. • States and school districts should introduce students to STEM careers, starting in preschool, through awareness activities and informal education programs that would include speakers (role models)
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From page 178... ...
Federal Government • In addition to supporting underrepresented minorities through need-based college financial aid programs (e.g., Pell Grants) , the federal government should provide financial support to underrepresented minorities for participation in undergraduate STEM programs across institution types: community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and majorityserving institutions.
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We recommend that the federal government make a strong effort to encourage underrepresented minorities to apply for and participate in this program as, at a minimum, at least 40 percent of these scholarships will need to be attained by underrepresented minority students for the nation to make any progress toward increased underrepresented minority retention and completion in undergraduate STEM programs. • Rising Above the Gathering Storm recommended that the federal government "Increase the number of U.S.
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Philanthropy • With relative freedom to explore new program approaches, foundations should develop and/or fund programs that employ innovative strategies or target particular niches in undergraduate and graduate STEM education for underrepresented minorities. For example, the Gates Millennium Scholars program, funded by a $1 billion grant to UNCF from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1999, seeks to promote academic excellence and provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students, with significant financial need in education, engineering, library science mathematics, public health, and the sciences to reach their highest potential by reducing financial barriers and providing seamless support from undergraduate through doctoral programs.
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From page 181... ...
Sloan Foundation provides scholarships for minority students who are beginning their doctoral work in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering and connects students to faculty and departments with demonstrated success in sending their students to doctoral programs. A special program enables American Indian master's and doctoral mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering students to apply for scholarships to attend one of five universities.
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From page 182... ...
asks potential grantees to explain both the intellectual merit of the proposed research as well as its broader impact. Under this evaluation criterion, the NSF should continue to emphasize the importance of broadening participation of underrepresented minorities as one critical way that research projects can achieve important broader impact goals.
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They can support this by also providing professional development opportunities for faculty in areas such as mentoring diverse students. • Higher education institutions should continue to remove systemic barriers to the participation of underrepresented minorities in college by developing, implementing, and enforcing undergraduate and graduate admissions and financial aid policies that reinforce diversity within the legal parameters of the Michigan decisions in order to ensure a significant and sufficient overall level of minority participation on campus.
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• Undergraduate and graduate STEM education programs should incorporate social inclusion strategies that include peer-to-peer support, study groups, program activities fostering social integration, and tutoring and mentoring programs. These strategies should be implemented as complements to summer programs, enriching research experiences, bridging programs, and professional development activities.12 • Higher education institutions should encourage genuinely high expectations on the part of faculty toward minority students and follow through on activities and programs that help students meet those expectations.
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From page 185... ...
• Industry and federal laboratories should expand their partnerships with institutions that enroll large numbers of underrepresented minorities in STEM in order to increase the articulations between universities and industry/federal laboratories and expand the population of role models to interact with an increasingly diverse student population that will become the future workforce. • Industry and federal laboratories can be pivotal in enhancing the research capacity of minority-serving institutions, stimulating innovation in undergraduate and graduate education, and facilitating interdisciplinary training by providing much needed laboratory equipment.
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From page 186... ...
And the increase in overall numbers will increase the pool of underrepresented minorities who may consider graduate education and careers in STEM. The goal is to increase participation at all types of higher education institutions, including research universities, where underrepresented minorities can contribute to research, become more prominent leaders, and serve as role models.
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From page 187... ...
As shown in Table 8-1, if the cost of the program were $15,000 per student per year for an institutional program plus financial support to students, the component that would support 10,000 undergraduate underrepresented minority students in STEM would cost $150 million in fiscal year 2012 for the first cohort, increasing to $600 million in 2015 and thereafter, supporting four cohorts. Priority 2: Teacher Preparation, College Preparatory Programs, and Transition to Graduate Study We propose also an emphasis on teacher preparation, secondary school programs that support preparation for college STEM education, and programs that support the transition from undergraduate to graduate work.
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From page 188... ...
This report resonates with the emphasis on STEM education and workforce development throughout the policy arena, including recent reports and initiatives of the Obama administration and National Science Board. It extends the previous knowledge about these issues by presenting guidance specific to the underrepresentation of minorities in STEM disciplines and careers.
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