“Building on Success: Indigenous
Alliance Expansion Project”
University of Alaska Anchorage School of Engineering
Herb (Ilisaurri) Schroeder
NSF Award #IIP- 0836986
3 Year Award
Brief Project Overview:
This project replicates at 6 higher education institutions in 6
states, a successful Pre-College academic enrichment
model aimed at motivating middle and high school students
to successfully complete college preparatory STEM
coursework.
Program Activities:
The Pre-College component is the spark that illuminates a
vision of a career in engineering or science for our high
school students. The Alliance University in each state works
with high schools and industrial partners. Each participating
student assembles a top-end computer and earns the right
to keep it by successfully completing prior to graduation
trigonometry, physics, and chemistry. Pre-College students
are academically ready for university-level engineering and
science coursework when they arrive at the university, and
they are now arriving in unprecedented numbers. We have
assembled over 1,000 computers with High School students
so far and of those that have graduated more than 60% have
completed all three classes successfully. This compares to
what the National Action Council for Minorities in
Engineering (NACME) calls the “4 percent problem,” which
is that only 4 percent of underrepresented minorities
nationwide who graduate high school are “engineering
eligible.”
Start Date: 25 July 2008
Top Contributions:
Key Attributes of our
Innovation Ecosystem:
1. We have developed a national model that
can be easily replicated and yields similar
results with differing populations.
Participating middle and high school
students are motivated and successfully
complete college preparatory STEM
coursework prior to graduation from high
school.
Questioning & Curiosity:
Can we successfully replicate the Pre-College model we have
developed in Alaska with Indigenous groups in the lower 48?
Are the barriers to success similar?
2. Inspiration, guidance and opportunity are
necessary components in effecting
change in the attitudes prevalent in K-12.
Risk Taking:
3. Many high school administrators and
teachers who did not think engineering
and science careers were a possibility for
their Native students now encourage their
students to participate
High schools rely upon legacy models to motivate students to
enroll in and successfully complete college preparatory math
and science. These models are not working. We believe there
is enough money within the current system to fund this new
approach but administrators are reluctant to make a financial
commitment despite acknowledging that what they are doing is
not working. The tendency is to blame the students. Schools
are happy to pay for failure and uncomfortable doing anything
new.
Openness:
All high school students are encouraged to participate
provided they are on track to complete chemistry, physics, and
trigonometry prior to graduation. Those students in schools
that do not offer the courses are provided with connections to
other options for completing the coursework.
Collaboration Across Fields:
Partners:
• University schools of engineering and science
•Siemens
•Microsoft
•and 40+ other industrial firms, philanthropic
organizations, and federal and state agencies
•Partners have provided approximately $30 million since
2001
•University of Alaska Anchorage
•University of Arizona
•University of Colorado Boulder
•University of North Dakota
•University of Montana
•University of Idaho
•South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
•University of Washington
•University of Hawaii Manoa
•Kapiolani Community College
•University of Alaska Fairbanks
•University of Alaska Southeast
•Kuskokwim Community College
• K-12 education
• construction, engineering, oil and gas industry
• Federal agencies within the Department of Agriculture and the
Department of Interior
Leading/Inspiring for Surprising or
Unexpected Results
Students are very empowered after the build the computer. They
are determined to complete coursework that they never would
have considered beforehand. The various organizations that
contribute to our effort provide the cash, internships, and
advocacy necessary to maintain momentum and make steps
toward institutionalization.
Indigenous Alliance staff work with 8th
graders and high school students during
computer builds
Placing Partners in “New
Environments” & “Playgrounds”:
Many high school administrators and teachers who did not think
engineering and science careers were a possibility for their
Native students now encourage their students to participate. High
school students are successfully completing college preparatory
courses in greater numbers than before implementation. In some
cases, high school administrators are adding courses that were
previously not taught in their schools. Other schools are adding
sections to accommodate higher enrollments. Administrators and
teachers are adjusting to accommodate.
Top Challenges:
1. Many K-12 administrators and teachers do not believe minority
students can do college preparatory math and science
2. Many minority schools do not have college preparatory math
and science classes
3. Developing a financial base to support the effort beyond the
grant term
PFI
.
National Science Foundation Partnerships For Innovation
Grantee’s Meeting April 25-27, 2010
Arlington, VA
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