Professional Development in the field of education has undergone several shifts in focus. Currently, teacher contentknowledge and the ability to disseminate this knowledge is the focus in professional learning communities. Theimportance of creating a thriving STEM workforce in the United States has been promoted for the last decade.Studies have shown that capturing students’ interest must occur before they enter high school, ideally in the middleschool years (Blotnicky, Franz-Odendaal, French, & Phillip, 2018). Teachers are the conduits for encouragingstudents to explore STEM-related career options. Student engagement is piqued when there is a strong real-worldconnection to the content being presented. Students find relevance through actual experience with the concepts andskills incorporated in projects that are community-based. The Curriculum and Community Enterprise for RestorationScience STEM + C Project is the marriage of these two components. The professional development of the New YorkCity middle school teachers involved in the CCERS STEM +C Project furnishes these educators with the tools tostimulate students’ interest by tackling a problem in their local community using STEM-related content andcomputational thinking. The hope is that authenticity of the learning experience will entice all students, especiallythose under-represented populations in the STEM workforce, to consider this as a viable career pathway. Theanalysis of this project is intended to highlight the significant inroads made and the value of self-reflection andre-design in strengthening the work as it continues.
How can we make the STEM workforce more equitable? A new report suggests next steps
