Individuals are at an increased risk to drop out of the STEM pipeline if they are female or Latino, and during certain periods including high school. Families are a potential untapped resource of support for high school students. Based on the expectancy-value model, we examined if a variety of parental behaviors predicted students’ ability self-concepts in and value they placed on biology, chemistry, and physics. Self-report surveys were collected from 988 9th grade Latino boys, Latina girls, Caucasian boys, and Caucasian girls. The findings suggest that, as early as the beginning of high
The AAAS Black Church Health Connection Project, with funding from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), has developed and field tested a guidebook/manual of hands-on and participatory life science activities and a training/orientation program for use in non-religious education programs in churches that serve the African-American community. The current dissemination efforts of the project have led to increased demands for the activity manual and subsequent training for persons seeking to implement the program. AAAS was awarded additional funding to: (1) Continue dissemination of the project in the African-American community; (2) Expand the project to the Hispanic American community; and (3) Identify and connect biomedical/behavioral scientists to churches and community-based organizations seeking to improve health awareness among African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Products of this dissemination effort include a Spanish version of the Health Connection Activities Guidebook/Manual, a video training kit in both English and Spanish to assist communities in implementing the project, and a database of scientist volunteers who are interested in working with churches and community-based organizations to impact the quality of health science education in the aforementioned communities.
To improve science education for culturally and linguistically diverse students, schools and communities can create “mutual benefit partnerships” to identify and address local problems. Through the example of the Chicago River Project, Bouillion and Gomez illustrate how such partnerships can connect formal learning contexts with the rich ways communities experience science outside of school.