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Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings (2015) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

What Is Known and Recommendations for Action
Pages 41-48

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From page 41...
... develop an understanding of STEM concepts and skills through an iterative process across a wide array of learning experiences that take place in both out-of-school programs and in school.123 The iterative process of learning STEM requires policy makers to create funding streams and policies that encourage productive out-of-school STEM experiences and how to link them in order to create sets of coherent learning opportunities. Policy makers at the local, state, and national levels have different mechanisms available to them for achieving these goals, and they can each play a role in supporting such education reform.
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From page 42...
... Together, the criteria represent the ways in which youth development, STEM learning in informal envi ronments, and learning across settings intertwine to support productive STEM out-of-school pro grams that successfully engage young people in STEM learning and actively support inclusion and broaden participation by young people in STEM learning.
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From page 43...
... Some of this work has begun: for example, there are efforts to develop common metrics and instruments to compare individual outcomes across a large number of programs, and there are efforts under way to develop innovative, unobtrusive approaches that are culturally responsive and honor the multiplicity of out-of-school program goals. Next Steps Policy makers, funders, and program leaders need to work together to sustain and expand a robust and iterative ecosystem of learning opportunities in schools and in out-of-school programs.
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From page 44...
... Funders and policy makers should encourage program leaders to develop or review existing STEM learning maps to increase the potential for return on their investments and identify opportunities for partnerships. Connect Young People with Opportunities to Learn To support equitable access and participation in out-of-school oppor tunities to learn STEM, there is a need to identify and train brokers or develop brokering mechanisms that can help families and young people, especially from groups historically underrepresented in STEM, to iden tify and access settings and programs that help young people "take the next step" in their STEM learning.
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From page 45...
... To better understand this ecosystem, education leaders, funders, and policy makers should support the development of innovative evaluation approaches that are valid in out-of-school STEM environments, are locally and culturally responsive, and honor the multiplicity of program goals. From an ecosystem perspective, measures need to take into account how young people learn over time; thus, longitudinal studies and innovations in assessment that account for development over time are essential.
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From page 46...
... Policy makers and funders should invest in efforts to create entry-level and ongoing professional development mechanisms for staff of out-of-school programs. Build an Infrastructure That Will Last To develop an effective, sustainable infrastructure of STEM in out-of school programs for all young people, funders, community leaders, and program leaders need to work together to identify areas for investment, expansion, or redirection.
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From page 47...
... The work that is needed includes longitudinal studies of youth trajectories in STEM learning, studies that relate program strategies to learner experiences and outcomes, studies of how brokering local STEM learning opportunities can broaden participation in STEM, and studies that examine how formal and informal STEM learning program designs can reinforce and enrich one another. Also needed is comparative research into questions of how the strategies of different out-of-school STEM program affect participants' experiences and outcomes and how community or regional contexts influence program implementation and quality.
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From page 48...
... Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings 48
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Key Terms

  • stem programs
  • program leaders
  • learning opportunities
  • support stem
  • learning experiences

  • productive programs
  • learning ecosystem
  • professional development
  • culturally responsive
  • robust stem

  • evaluation approaches
  • innovative evaluation
  • existing stem
  • stem experiences
  • productive stem

  • learning programs
  • learning ecosystems
  • support programs
  • programs engage
  • support innovative

  • iterative process
  • ecosystems work
  • learning stem
  • stem program
  • local stem

  • community stem
  • stem relevant
  • informal stem
  • connect stem
  • stem environments


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