STEMpact - STEM Equity Fellowship

The specific problem that this solution seeks to address is providing support to K-12 educators to effectively teach and engage girls in STEM, both in classroom and out-of-school time settings in Baltimore City.  According to a report conducted by the Greater Baltimore Committee, Baltimore is a vibrant city with untapped potential. Nearly a quarter of all jobs in the Baltimore region require a high-level of STEM knowledge . However, the experience of students in Baltimore City STEM classes varies widely.  There continues to be a STEM teacher shortage nationwide and while this problem is not unique to Baltimore City, it is magnified by poverty and economic inequalities. According to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, in 2020 only 45% of young women were enrolled in STEM majors in college; and only 27% of women are employed in STEM careers. Out-of-school time programs are proven to have a significant positive impact on student achievement, especially in reading and math, as well as increasing student attendance (Afterschool Alliance, 2017). This would be accomplished through a series of maker-based Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) training, that introduces the power of technology and career exploration to young women and girls with particular focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. We want to help attract young women and girls of color to STEM and navigate the work world that has excluded them for far too long.  Recent Census data shows that women in STEM are paid less than their male counterparts, and women in STEM only out-earn men in one STEM category (computer network architects).  Yet, computer network architects only comprise 8% of all STEM jobs.  It is known that girls start to develop STEM identity in middle school and strategically expanding their experiences with science across multiple settings during preadolescence positively enhance their self-perception in and with STEM (Science Education, 2018); therefore, the target population that will  benefit from this solution is upper elementary and middle school educators working within the Baltimore City Public Schools and out of school time programs serving low-income communities of color.  In the Journal of STEM Outreach, a study conducted by researchers at Rice University found that female students exposed to STEM in middle school were 5.5% more likely to pursue STEM majors in college; black students were 6.6% more likely, with white students at 5.2% and Hispanic students at 4%.

Our solution is the “STEMpact - Equity-Based Fellowship” will work with a cohort of educators who serve in low-income schools or out-of-school time programs in Baltimore City.  The program will be open to upper elementary and middle school educators, including STEM teachers, art and media specialists.  Participating educators will be provided a series of equity-based STEM learning experiences, materials, and equipment to develop their schools and learning spaces as STEM Equity Hubs in Baltimore; while also receiving ongoing support and mentorship throughout the academic year.  

The series will focus on how to integrate an equity-based approach to design and facilitation of maker-based technology and computer science experiences. Each session will serve as a deep-dive into a STEM topic, and provide exercises and opportunities throughout for participants to practice implementing strategies and approaches to making STEM programs more culturally relevant and accessible. Additionally, participating educators will receive content and tools to implement equity-based STEM workshops in their own school setting, and guidance on how to strengthen programs including marketing, hiring instructors, including guest speakers, and documenting program outcomes. 

Current offerings include: 

• Making for Educators-12 hour workshop focused on skills and tools to create STEM environments that are welcoming for all learners, but in particular to address the specific needs of girls and minority groups.  In addition, educators will learn how to weave content into hands-on design thinking curriculum. 

• Entrepreneurship for Educators-12 hour workshop on entrepreneurial thinking and strategies for including entrepreneurship into a variety of lessons. 

• Textiles for Educators-12 hour workshop exploring how textiles can be used to help youth think creatively while learning about circuits, 2D design, vinyl cutting and screen printing.  Interwoven throughout the workshop are ways to localize and connect content with youth that the educators are teaching. 

Overview of framework and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) approach:

Digital Harbor Foundation’s training will be centered in a programmatic approach that is: 

• Youth-Led: Encourages youth to be active participants in the learning and discovery process. 

• Community Responsive &  Adaptable: Programming is not “one-size-fits-all,” so material is able to be adapted to local context, drawing on participants’ lived experiences and customizable to the needs and interests of the community. 

• Collaborative: Projects are designed to encourage collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. 

• Culturally Informed: Material is infused with cultures, ideas, people and knowledge for a depth of understanding of the world. 

• Approachable: Content is accessible to youth and conscious of barriers. 

• Rigorous: Content and instruction is goal oriented and follows a natural skill progression. 

• Interdisciplinary: Content utilizes several disciplines to convey ideas and concepts, allowing youth to have a deeper understanding of the world. 

The target population for this solution is educators working in low-income, urban schools within the Baltimore City Public Schools System and out-of-school time programs; additionally, girls in upper elementary and middle school school will be beneficiaries of this solution as well.  The goal is to expand the capacity of educators and institutions to provide STEM equity experiences with a special focus on engaging girls and minority youth.  Institutions providing out-of-school time services to be included in this solution are Baltimore City Parks and Recreation, Pratt Public Library, among others.  Through our free community educator workshops offered throughout the year we maintain an ongoing dialogue with educators  in Baltimore City, keeping abreast of challenges and opportunities. In addition, we have several Baltimore City educators on our Board of Directors and Advisory Board, including Tanisha Swinton Buck who was voted principal of the year at Digital Harbor High School and currently serves as Instructional Leadership Executive Director for Baltimore City Public Schools, as well as Candace Fryer who is CTE lead at Digital Harbor High School.

Founded in Baltimore City 10 years ago, Digital Harbor Foundation is dedicated to creating pathways to opportunity through technology.  In its early years, programming included scholarships, an educator fellowship, and technology-based afterschool programs for community youth.  Grounded in the experiences within the community, Digital Harbor Foundation is committed to marshaling digital equity for everyone, diversifying the tech sector, innovative STEM education, and technology for the public good. To that end, some examples of our work include: Tech Center which has served thousands of Baltimore youth and families with a focus on creating economic opportunities for youth through pathways to high growth tech sector jobs and fostering creativity as a tool to empower youth to make a better life for themselves; Project Waves  has developed and deployed increasingly accessible and free internet solutions to thousands of households who were cut off from this opportunity; Tech Extension is closing the gap between academic research and STEM education and federal, state, and local implementation; and Center of Excellence building the capacity of educator to deliver equity-focused STEM programming by working directly with school districts, communities, and educators to ensure all students have access to transformative learning experiences.  

The Center of Excellence Team who will deliver this solution are experienced in public school and out-of- school time STEM education, having a combined 50+ years background.  They are not only highly skilled, but representative of the group this solution seeks to serve - women of varying ages and ethnicities who have found their paths in STEM despite the varied barriers that exist.  The approach to this solution we will employ is user-centered as we seek to understand the educators who participate in the cohort and consider them as partners.  This is accomplished formally via surveys and informally through conversation and engagement. 

The Center of Excellence has served 162 educators during the current academic year 2022-2023.  We have piloted curriculum for this solution and will be using it with a cohort of 10 educators this year.  Additionally, we will also build an online learning platform and have engaged 44 educators in the design.  Of the 162 educators we have served, they in turn, will be reaching over 28,000 youth in the coming academic year.

Digital Harbor Foundation's Center of Excellence is applying to this Challenge to support the growth of its STEMpact - STEM Equity Fellowship - to gain access to a network of partners from varied industries and sectors; opportunity for learning and development modules to help refine our model, theory of change and plans to scale; opportunities to receiving leadership coaching to maximize our personal and professional potential; and the accessibility of a peer network of practitioners for support. 

Siobhán Hayes, serves as the Director of Digital Harbor Foundation’s Center of Excellence Director. In this capacity, Ms. Hayes oversees community-based programming  and strategic development of the Center of Excellence, which serves educators in Baltimore City and beyond.  Previously, Siobhán served as the Senior Program Officer for Training and Evaluation for the Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace where for more than a decade she developed culturally-specific leadership curricula and training on democratic participation, and conducted peer to peer capacity building for organizations in over forty countries, strengthening local organizations to become self-sustaining and to power women’s movements across the globe. She also has worked in the Baltimore area  to develop civic engagement programming in higher education.

The schools and learning centers that are to be served by this solution lack the adequate resources and staff capacity to properly implement STEM equity programming without the assistance of tech focused organizations like Digital Harbor Foundation.  The solution that we propose has a long-term approach to building the capacity of educators who are committed to STEM equity by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and tools to build their own programs within their school settings. Market change will occur through long-term sustainability, ongoing support and the development of expertise in STEM equity content.

The STEMpact program has three primary goals.  1) We will provide a foundational equity- based framework for participants that will help them focus on best practices for inclusive STEM education for girls and youth of color. Our focus on equity-based pedagogy is that we believe with the right tools we can increase the number of underrepresented groups in the STEM workforce. Evidence indicates that women and minority groups often drop out of STEM fields due to the lack of sense of belonging.  However, those who remain in STEM report a greater sense of belonging.  Much of our equity-based approach is focused on strengthening peer-to-peer and youth-adult relationships. Quality interpersonal relationships are a strong predictor of an overall sense of belonging.  In addition, we will provide educators with a variety of tools to facilitate youth-centered content that connects to their community and life experiences. 2) We will provide a variety of tools and ideas for integrating STEM across a range of subjects.  Integrating STEM across the curriculum is one of the most effective strategies of increasing STEM literacy and enhancing the 21st century skills of collaboration, creativity, problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills. Given the complex interactions of science, technology, engineering and math, we believe that if students see the interconnectedness of these topics to each other and how they are around us in a multitude of ways that they will be better problem-solvers both now and in the future.  3)  We will facilitate opportunities for community engagement and collaboration as well as tips on project documentation and connecting STEM to the full community.  Educators and the youth that they teach  are part of a larger STEM ecosystem.  When youth are able to experience STEM in school, out of school, at home and in their communities they will have an expanded understanding of STEM and stronger STEM identities. Youth that are part of a larger STEM ecosystem are more likely to excel in school and stay on track for college and build careers.  As an established non-profit in Baltimore, we have many connections throughout the city to both STEM education and industry partners.  We will leverage our many connections to help educators forge their own partnerships that will elevate the STEM experience for their youth.

Next five years: 

Over the next five years, COE will continue to build our educator community- deepening and expanding the experiences we offer. We will realize a sustainable earned revenue model that will allow us  to have a significant impact on low income communities in Baltimore City, specifically for girls and youth of color. Outcomes will include increased confidence, skills and opportunities for girls, including job opportunities and community leadership roles.

For all of our programs we look at a variety of indicators to measure the impact and success of our program.  Prior to the start of the program we ask educators to complete a survey self rating their own confidence in STEM and understanding of equity based pedagogy.  At the end of each workshop we ask the same questions and ask educators to estimate both how many youth they plan to reach with the content as well as when they plan to implement the content.  In addition to surveys directly after the workshop we follow up with focus groups with select educators to find out more informally about how they have used the content and if they have plans to continue or to expand on it in the future. We also reach out to all educators three months and six months at the conclusion of the program.  In our follow-up survey, we ask more specific questions about how exactly educators have used the content and how many youth have been impacted.  We also ask educators to estimate the demographic breakdown of the youth they are reaching and to provide an indication on how the program has informed and/or changed their teaching practice. One of our goals is to help our educators to think about how they can also measure the impact of their own program.  To this end, we encourage them to implement pre and post surveys with youth and when possible to share their student data with us. In the current academic year, educators who have  attended our workshops estimated reaching over 28,000 students and 97%  plan to implement the content within the year. After our Textiles workshop, one of our cohort members was really excited about how she could implement the content and said:

I think these concepts [sewing, e-textiles, and screenprinting] broaden the reach of how we can introduce students to STEM and STEM skills. These types of activities find new entry points for students to try new techniques and explore what being a "science person" or "math person" is like for them on a personal level. My immediate idea is to explore if we could use this activity to have students design their own lab coats for our programming. Personalizing a lab coat would make them "feel like a scientist" and also get the chance to represent their creativity and individual personalities when they go to team competitions.”

The Center of Excellence at Digital Harbor Foundation focuses on building the skills and capacity of educators in Baltimore City and beyond.  Teachers have the greatest impact on student achievement  and by building the capacity of educators, we believe this will have a ripple effect in Baltimore and beyond.  By upskilling educators with innovative STEM content that focuses on equity and inclusion we can help close the STEM career gap of women and minority groups. Our equity-based STEM approach helps educators to understand the importance of an inclusive STEM environment that brings in a variety of voices and perspectives. The research on belonging and STEM underscores the importance of interpersonal relationships and relevance of content to create a robust and persistent STEM identity. After completing our foundational “Making for educators” workshop our participants reported an average of a 9% increase in their confidence leading technology and STEM programs for youth and a 16% increase in how confident they felt in their understanding of equity-based STEM programs.  Sixty six percent of our participants after just one workshop felt more knowledgeable about structuring programs to recruit and retain girls in STEM.  After completing the third workshop in the series, 100% of our participants felt like they had a much deeper understanding of equity based pedagogy and 83% felt more prepared to recruit and retain girls in their STEM programs. 

The Center of Excellence aims to build the capacity of educators and organizations to provide innovative equity based STEM learning for youth. 

The Center of Excellence employs the following program strategies towards this goal: 

• Community educator workshops: in-person and virtual workshop series expand access and exposure to STEM content, inspiring educators to engage with the content. 

• In-depth professional development workshops: deepen knowledge, skills and allow educator to sustainability replicate programs in their own learning environments: 

• Online learning hub: allows for sharing of knowledge and resources among educators and expands access across geographical barriers. 

• Communities of practice: fuel connectivity and knowledge sharing among like-minded educators seeking to expand opportunities for youth. Focus areas include:

  • STEM Equity

  • Makerspace 

  • Career and Technical Education (CTE) 

  • Global learning community

• Partnership-building: allows for us to exponentially increase the impact of our program and content through expanding our audience and reach. 

Ultimately the goal is for educators to be inspiring, engage, implement, inspire others and lead communities of educators to expand knowledge and capacity for innovative STEM learning, so that youth will have access to the opportunities and skills needed to build a more equitable and just future. 

The solution team for this program includes five team members: Siobhan Hayes Program Director; Kelley Schultheis Instructional Specialist; Cara Mawson, Maker; Dina Edmonds, Coach; and Aidan Ferro, Community Outreach Associate.

For the past nine years, Digital Harbor Foundation’s Center of Excellence has been building the capacity of educators and organizations to provide innovative STEM learning experiences. Digital Harbor Foundation’s Center of Excellence has developed experience with STEM equity through its Rec-to-Tech Projects and a pilot program STEMbassdors focused on engaging girls in STEM 2002-20232. This opportunity would allow the Center of Excellence to expand and broaden the reach to serve Baltimore City educators.

The following is an overview of  our framework and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) approach: Digital Harbor Foundation’s training is centered in a programmatic approach that is youth-led by encouraging youth to be active participants in the learning and discovery process; community responsive and adaptable as not being a “one-size-fits-all,” with material that is adapted to local context, drawing on participants’ lived experiences and customizable to the needs and interests of the community; collaborative with a design to encourage collaboration and peer-to-peer learning; culturally informed to infuse with cultures, ideas, people and knowledge for a depth of understanding of the world; approachable with accessibility to youth and conscious of barriers.; rigorous content and instruction that is goal oriented and follows a natural skill progression; and Interdisciplinary to convey ideas and concepts for deeper understanding.

The business model that has been developed for the Center of Excellence is based on providing technology/STEM based professional development workshops, curriculum and content development, and consultation services to educators within the public school system and institutions providing out-of-school time programming. Center of Excellence yields earned revenue through partnerships with these institutions. We also provide free educator community workshops to engage more educators, expand our network and increase access to our work. Through our workshops and resources educators gain confidence, skills and inspiration to implement dynamic and innovative learning experiences, along with a supportive network and community of practice. 

During the 2022-2023 school year Center of Excellence served 162 educators and 103 organizations from the following states: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington D.C. and from the countries of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Nigeria .  Educators estimated reaching a total of  28,247 youth. 

We developed seventeen new courses, including Make Nights, several  virtual series, and crash courses. Our course topics included: Scratch coding, microcontrollers, Paper circuits, e-textiles, vinyl cutting, screen printing, 3D printing, Project-based learning, entrepreneurship, and equity in STEM education. 

Global Impact: Additionally during the 2022-2023 academic year,  we launched a Global Learning Community engaging educators from STEM organizations in Nigeria (Marben Foundation, CEADER and Digital Talent Foundation) in our virtual series as well as Four Corners in Azerbaijan.  In June 2023 COE will be co-convening two training-of-trainers workshops in Gabon for 50+ educators from Libreville and Port Gentil. Following this training the educators will be building their own STEM centers in their schools and organizations with ongoing virtual support from COE and our partners, Gabtrotters. In August 2023, COE will be hosting a Madela Fellow from South Africa who is a school principal and advocate for STEM education.

Center of Excellence yields revenue through a combination of earned income, grants, and individual donations. While our work is supplemented by grants, our goal is to sustain operations through an earned income model. We have steadily built partnerships with a host of STEM organizations and school systems. In addition to our partnership with Baltimore City Schools we plan to expand our work to surrounding school systems  in Maryland over the next six months including the following counties - Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Carroll, and Montgomery.

The following is a list of established and forthcoming earned revenue and/or funding partners the Center of Excellence has initiated work with over the past year. Many of these partnerships will be sustained sources of income, potentially for years to come. For example The Maryland Center for Computing Education has asked the Center of Excellence to lead their middle school professional development work for Maryland on an ongoing basis.  We have an ongoing relationship with Baltimore City Public Schools Office of Summer Enrichment to convene maker camps for youth and now professional development for educators. We piloted the curriculum for this project with the Maryland Out of School Time Network (MOST) this past year and will be working with a new cohort of STEMbassadors (cohort of STEM out of school time professionals from across the state of Maryland) again this coming year. 

• Maryland Center for Computing Education (MCCE)

• University of Maryland - Baltimore County - Community Engagement Center

• MIT Lemelson 

• Baltimore City Public Schools, Office of Summer Enrichment 

• Maryland Art Education Association

• University of Maryland Extension

• Maryland Out of School Time Network

• Association of Independent MD and DC Schools

• International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX)