STEM Scale-Up Program expects to impact nearly 100,000 Iowa students in 2016-2017
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Today, the Iowa Governor’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisory Council builds on four years of delivering top STEM programs by awarding a couple thousand educators across the state with STEM units and lessons through the STEM Council’s STEM Scale-Up Program that expects to impact close to 100,000 youth during the 2016-2017 academic year.
Just as 14 current STEM programs draw to a close for the 2015-2016 school year, the STEM Council selected 11 more high-quality STEM programs from a pool of dozens in January to “scale up” across PreK-12 in Iowa’s schools, afterschool programs and other educational settings for 2016-2017. Interested educators applied to receive these programs, ranging from building robots and coding programs to conducting agricultural field experiences and learning about STEM careers.
“It’s incredible to know we will inspire another 100,000 young learners in this fifth round of the STEM Scale-Up Program,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, STEM Council co-chair. “The credit for the continued growth and outreach of this program in the last four years goes to our regional STEM managers and their regional advisory boards, who keep the STEM Council’s priorities on the forefront and deliver these programs to the areas of Iowa with the highest need.”
All six regional STEM managers, guided by their regional STEM advisory boards, awarded these programs with vital funding from the Iowa Legislature, leveraging $3.1 million spread evenly across the six STEM regions of the state. The demand from this year’s applicants equated to nearly $6 million with interest from 256 cities in Iowa and the highest application rate from elementary educators.
“The evidence of effect for this program has been remarkable,” said Kemin Industries President and CEO Dr. Chris Nelson, STEM Council co-chair. “Independent evaluators provide us with data that shows strong gains on both aspects of the STEM Council’s overarching goal to improve performance and increase interest in STEM among young Iowans.”
Results from the 2014-2015 Iowa STEM evaluation report show all grade levels of students who participated in the STEM Scale-Up Program scored an average of six percentage points higher in National Percentile Rank on the Iowa Assessments in both mathematics and science compared to students statewide.
For a complete list of 2016-2017 STEM Scale-Up Program awardees, please visit http://www.iowastem.gov/sites/
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About the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council
Established in July 2011 via Governor’s Executive Order, the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council is a public-private partnership of educators, companies and Iowa students and families addressing policies and programs designed to improve Iowa’s educational system focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The STEM Council works to engage and prepare students for a career-ready workforce path, regain our State’s historic leadership position in education, and provide a vital competitive economic advantage now, and for the future, to ensure that every Iowa student has access to world-class STEM education opportunities. The 47-member STEM Council is chaired by Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and Kemin Industries President and CEO Dr. Chris Nelson. For more information, visit www.IowaSTEM.gov.
