This presentation was part of a workshop facilitated by Gabrielle Lyon for a convening of representatives from five national youth-serving organizations: YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Girls Inc, 4-H and Boys and Girls Clubs. The organizations are considering a national collective impact project centered on bringing STEM to underrepresented youth and increasing the number of young people they serve.

1. Putting Youth at the Center for
Collective Impact through STEM
Workshop for the YMCA; Girls Inc; 4H;
Big Brothers Big Sisters; and Boys and Girls Clubs
Gabrielle H. Lyon, PhD
Lyon-Strategies.com
Chicago, IL
May 28, 2014

5. About Today
• What is happening with your students
developmentally and what does this have to
do with STEM?
• What matters for YOUR students in STEM?
• What makes a good STEM program at an
organizational level?
• What might student-centered STEM
programming look like from a collective?

6. What is Happening with Your
Students Developmentally?

7. 8-9 Year-Olds
• They are working on how to
relate to peers and play
through elaborately
structured games
• Want to know the reasons
for things; want to develop a
sense of accomplishment;
• Use language to deepen
understanding by talking
about what they’re thinking
and using evidence to
defend what they’re
thinking

8. 10-12 Year-Olds
• Starting to move away from
being little children towards
adulthood and the world they
want (or will be forced to)
join in the near future.
• Thinking about the bigger
picture and how things – and
they – fit in
• Relationships can by
unsettled for girls and
competitive for boys
• They need guidance - but also
independence
• From: Women and Children’s Health Network;
http://www.cyh.com/healthtopics/healthtopicdetails.aspx?p=114&np=122&id=18
65#3

9. 13-16 Year-Olds
• They are focusing on things they can
experience here and now
• Arguing skills improve (and are
demonstrated often and with great
passion)
• Reasoning skills improve:
– apply concepts to specific examples
– use deductive reasoning and make
educated guesses
– reason through problems even in the
absence of concrete events or
examples
– able to construct hypothetical
solutions to a problem and evaluate
which is best
Introduction to Child Development, 5th ed., West Publishing, 1993 By John P.
Dworetzky .

12. Who Are Minorities in STEM?
• Students of color
• Middle and low socio-economic status
• Students who come from under-
resourced schools and communities
• Students who struggle academically: (If
you can’t read well you don’t get to do
STEM)
• Students who believe it’s important but
“Not for Me”

13. Traditional National STEM
Engagement Strategies
• Resources, programs focused
on academic top 10%
• Government funding is “soft”
money; primarily ends up at
universities and research-
based institutions
• High-caliber informal
experiences target
academically elite students,
identified interest in science,
families who can pay for
them.

14. Stuff We Know From Research
• High caliber experiences in school are
necessary but not sufficient
• Interest in science in 8th grade is a
better predictor than test scores
• Students from underrepresented
minority groups face specific obstacles
at different points…

15. 3 Most Effective Strategies
for Minority Students for
Long Term STEM Engagement
• overnight and residential or summer
programs
• one-on-one opportunities
• hands on lab experiences
 Key element across all successful
programs: commitment and effectiveness
of program staff.
* Investigating the Human Potential, AAAS 1983.

16. Stuff We Know from (Project
Exploration’s) Experience
• Someone knows their name
• The program “never ends”
• They learn how to write
• They’re in the news – for something good

17. Science Identities?
• Shy and are able to come out of their shell in
a supportive group that shares their
interests
• Want more science and can’t get it at school
• Discover – to their surprise - that there is a
place for them in science
– they have talents, skills and passions for
something other than science while doing
science

18. What Does it Take to Reach Your
Students with STEM?
• Students at the center
• Relationship-based
• Interest-driven
• Meaningful, high impact
science experiences
– Sequenced; active;
focused; explicit
– Authentic
Not just about
science.

19. STEM Programming
at the Organization Level
Put Science into
the Service of Your Students

20. (Developmental Recap)
Youth need to…
• know how to focus their attention on their work
• keep trying even when they get discouraged or face
setbacks
• work effectively with other students and adults
• be good communicators and problem-solvers
Specific skills :
– recognizing and managing emotions
– developing caring and concern for others
– establishing positive relationships
– making responsible decisions
– handling challenging situations constructively and ethically

21. 1st Question:
What is Worth Knowing & Experiencing?
• What’s worth young people in your programs knowing and
experiencing when it comes to STEM?
• What are our youth looking for in STEM experiences?
• What activities will best serve students’ needs?
• How can we build positive youth development assets through
STEM?

22. Experiencing….
• Students voice and choice
• Voluntary
• Interest-driven learning experiences
• High impact programs in science are
specifically
– Sequenced, active, focused, explicit
• Role models
• Relationships

23. Knowing…
• Science is an approach to the world; science
is process as well as content.
• Meaningful work matters – best of all when
it is based on scientists’ real questions and
authentic work.
• Intentionality: For many students science is
often unfriendly- there is a hidden
curriculum which disenfranchises students
from science.

24. 5-E Model for a Scientist-Led Session
Engagement
Exploration
Explanation
Elaboration
Evaluation
24

25. Approaches That Work
• Cooperative learning
groups
• Hands-on experiences
• Emphasis on practical
applications
• Teaching in a social
context
• Mentors and role
models
• Internships and
career exploration

27. Roles & Relationships

28. STEM Programming
as a Collective

29. State of STEM in
Out-of-SchoolTime in Chicago

30. Pathways Cooperative Leadership

31. Without Collaborative Intervention….
• Chicago student achievement in STEM in school
will remain sub-par;
• African Americans, Latinos and girls will remain
significantly underrepresented in STEM in college
majors and in careers;
• Investment by funders and policy-makers in STEM
education efforts will lack systemic impact;
• Area companies will not have the local talent pool
they need.
• Chicago’s young people will fail to experience the
wonders of discovery or fully explore the world
around them.

32. Impact of STEM in Out of School
Time
• STEM knowledge and skills
• Higher likelihood of graduation and
pursuing a STEM career
• Problem solving, cooperation,
communication skills
• Project management, critical thinking

33. Criterion
• Out-of-school time (weekends, afternoons and
evenings, summer, school holidays).
• Youth in grades K-16.
• Chicago Public School students, though not
necessarily exclusively.
• STEM programming as the primary purpose.
• Meet at least once for at least two hours or meet
for multiple sessions.
• Run between January 1st and December 31st
2011.

34. What Are “STEM Pathways?”
The collection of STEM experiences a young
person has between Kindergarten and 12th
grade.

35. Survey Questions
• What content is being offered? Are
programs providing progressive learning
opportunities?
• How many opportunities are available?
Where and when are programs being
offered?
• Who are programs targeting? What are the
eligibility requirements? How do students
get to programs?
• How sustainable are programs?

36. Data Sources
• Survey: 314 programs from 111
organizations
• Existing Data: 1,718 programs
• Total : 2,032 programs
36

37. Program Characteristics
38.0%
28.5%
0.9%
33.7%
7.7%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Percent of STEM Programs by
Content Category
26%
5%
69%
Percent of STEM Programs by
Program Type
Academic/Tutoring Events/Outreach
"Structured" STEM
37

38. 77%
7%
10%
4%
1% 1%
Percent of STEM Programs by
Site Type
School-based Park-based
CBO/Other-based Library-based
Museum-based University-based
94.8%
42.7%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
School-year Summer
Percent of STEM Programs by
Time of Year Available
Program Availability
38

39. 56%
44%
Percent of STEM Participants
by Gender
Female Male
46.4%
57.8%
32.6%
6.1%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Percent of STEM Programs by
Grade Level Served
Participant Characteristics
39

40. 42%
0%
3%
9%
44%
1% 1%
Percent of 2011-2012 CPS
Students by Race Ethnicity
African American American Indian
Asian American White
Latino Multi-racial
Other race/ethnicity
44%
1%
4%
21%
28%
2% 0%
Percent of STEM Participants
by Race/Ethnicity
African American American Indian
Asian American White
Latino Multi-racial
Other race/ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
40

41. Where Programs Are Available
41

42. Where & When
42

43. Structured Content: Goals & Activities
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Science (111) Tech (25) Engineering (12) Math (73) 3 or more (131)
Demonstration (79.1%) Field trip (87.3%) Lecture (65.8%)
Group project (91.3%) Other hands on (93.5%) Competition (34.5%)
Fieldwork (20.0%) Labwork (54.2%) Individual project (41.8%)
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Science (111) Tech (25) Engineering (12) Math (73) 3 or more (131)
Exposure (88.4%) Skills (60.4%) Knowledge (84.0%)
Interest (58.9%) Mentor (36.4%) Career (63.3%)
43

44. Program Age by Type of Funder
44
55.6%
87.0%
50.0%
11.1%
53.1%
73.3%
86.7%
53.3%
40.0%
56.7%
61.8%
96.1%
85.5%
82.9%
85.5%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Government (60.4%) Foundation (89.8%) Corporate Foundation
(61.5%)
Corporate Sponsorship
(36.4%)
General Operations
(63.6%)
One-five years (162) Six-ten years (30) 10 or more years (76)

45. Findings & Observations
• Program providers are highly engaged but
unorganized.
• Data is hard to access and sometimes
doesn’t exist.
• Networks of like-minded agencies already
exist.

46. Convening: December 2012

47. Now that we have some data…
• How should we organize ourselves?
• What skills matter for young people to
develop across their STEM program
experiences?
• What will the mechanisms be for involving
underrepresented and disenfranchised
students?
• What measures matter?
• How do we ensure programs are high
quality and accessible?

48. STEM Pathways Vision:
Chicago as a Ecosystem
An ecosystem of opportunities accessed
easily by a “self-guided” student or a
“guided” experience supported by a
counselor/adult.

49. Recommendations: Access
• Create a citywide STEM OST clearinghouse
• Reduce barriers:
– multi‐lingual programs
– reduced‐fare public transportation
– increase free & low‐cost programs in public venues
• Invest in networks of parents, teachers and
program providers
• Focus on the most vulnerable students, and
engage the most economically disadvantaged
parents.

50. Recommendation: Coordination
• Prioritize funding that enables organizations to
collaborate and coordinate services and learning
• Establish mechanisms that ensure structured
communication between Chicago Public Schools central
office, individual schools and STEM OST providers.

51. Recommendations: Data
• Establish a common language for goals; facilitate
collection of longitudinal data and analysis of youth
participation.
• Use data to set priorities within organizations and
across networks.
• Provide enhanced professional development.

52. Cooperative Outcomes

53. Potential of a Cooperative Approach
to STEM for Youth
• Purpose:
From Competitiveness  Access and Equity
• Measure:
From “Testing” Students  “Knowing”
Students
• Metaphor:
From a Pipeline  Pathway

54. Your Collective Question Moving for
the Future
What do WE mean
when WE say
STEM in service to youth?

55. Thank you.
www.Lyon-Strategies.com