{"id":725502,"date":"2024-04-17T03:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T07:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&p=725502"},"modified":"2024-04-17T03:18:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T07:18:09","slug":"theres-already-a-solution-to-the-stem-crisis-its-in-high-schools","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/theres-already-a-solution-to-the-stem-crisis-its-in-high-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s Already a Solution to the STEM Crisis: It\u2019s in High Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As generative artificial intelligence has captured our imaginations and civilians are rocketed into space, the allure of the STEM fields has never been stronger. At the same time, from food insecurity to the existential threat of climate change, almost every challenge facing our world today relies on creative solutions from people trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The generation poised to inherit these crises, and with the most incentive to solve them, is sitting in high schools right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, 41 years after \u201cA Nation At Risk<\/a>\u201d caused widespread panic about our public schools, fewer than half of American students are graduating high school ready for college or career. U.S. teens performed lower on the latest international math test<\/a> than students in many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and Estonia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When young people are discouraged from pursuing a STEM-related career, they get locked out of 15 of the top 20 fastest-growing occupations<\/a>, all of which come with family-sustaining <\/a>salaries. And that means we all lose out \u2014 because the jobs needed to keep our country running go unfilled, and the inventions, treatments and technologies for our rapidly changing society go undiscovered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. <\/em>Sign up for The 74 Newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p> Our two organizations, XQ Institute<\/a> and Beyond100K<\/a>, are deeply committed to ensuring all students have access to joyful and rigorous schools where they know they belong and can succeed. Research shows those three qualities \u2014 joy, rigor, and a sense of belonging \u2014 will prepare them for the future, whether that\u2019s STEM or any other pursuit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n XQ partners with schools and districts to rethink the high school experience by making learning more meaningful and engaging through tools such as our Design Principles<\/a> and Learner Outcomes.<\/a> Beyond100K unites leading STEM organizations to co-develop and implement solutions to end the STEM teacher shortage by 2043, especially for those most excluded from STEM opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guided by stories<\/a> and insight from young people across the country, Beyond100K heard that to help spark the brilliance of millions more young minds, schools need to prioritize a focus on equity, representation, and especially belonging in STEM education. But that\u2019s an increasingly difficult job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on a recent analysis<\/a> conducted by Beyond100K, it\u2019s clear that schools and educators are facing dueling pressures. They\u2019re tasked with reshaping classrooms to foster inclusivity and joy while developing career- and culturally-relevant curricula. Simultaneously, they\u2019re under heightened scrutiny due to residual pandemic learning loss, ongoing declines in math and literacy standardized test scores<\/a>, and challenges to social-emotional learning<\/a> and teen mental health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond100K interviewed educators who expressed concerns about the fear of repercussions for teaching about bias and inequity and the difficulty of creating classrooms of belonging amid pressure to focus solely on raising test scores. Identities of teachers were kept anonymous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One teacher noted that they are\u201cscared to talk about the right thing, doing their own self-work to be able to talk about culture relative to their work\u2026.Regulations in states prevent teachers from having these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet research demonstrates<\/a> a positive correlation between a sense of belonging in STEM classrooms and academic performance, retention, and persistence \u2014 particularly for Black, Latino, and Native American students. Similarly, students engaged in SEL programs improve academic performance<\/a> and social well-being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given that nearly 60% of girls and young women who were interested in STEM careers when they entered high school lost interest<\/a> by the time they entered college, there is no question that developing a sense of belonging in the STEM fields is an essential element in nurturing learning environments that lead to STEM persistence. The rigidity of high school STEM education is preventing too many students from pursuing their dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We see an emerging trend: many teachers and other education leaders view joy, belonging and relevance not in conflict with academic rigor, but as the pathway by which academic success can be achieved. Evidence supports the idea that joy-based learning leads to better academic outcomes<\/a>, particularly for students of color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Beyond100K Foundational Math CoLaboratory, composed of partners from across the STEM learning ecosystem, has developed a repository<\/a> of joyful mathematical resources and activities for educators and families to use in making math joyful for their students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>\n\n\n\nSparking Joy in STEM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n