Hi Cathryn- We are developing tools that will address specific barriers to access to STEM education and career for people impacted by incarceration. For example, one area of focus is expanding access to high-quality STEM internship programs for currently or formerly incarcerated since these are important opportunities for learning and professional readiness. A tool that we are developing for this strand could include FAQs on starting a program at your University, access to sample discussions about previous interns’ experiences, and even content for interns coming into programs. 

Our working groups include intended users, and, once the tools are developed and implemented by those users, we will be measuring outcomes specific to that targeted area (for example, increased numbers of STEM interns).

Thanks Iliana- just to build from the response from Terrell (above), we are currently in the period of producing tools and resources. Once these are in the hands of a broader circle of users, we hope to have outcomes to report. We are currently working with our evaluator to clarify measures but expect to be able to report on indicators such as: number of students who are formerly or currently incarcerated placed in STEM research internships, number of people who are formerly or currently incarcerated who successfully complete a STEM mentoring program; increase in STEM lab science programs offered in prisons and students enrolled; increased access to technology and computer science education in prisons. We hope to have more to share in next year's Video Showcase

Hi Emily, please see our replies to Iliana and Cathyrn above. We'd be glad to respond with more if your question isn't answered. 

Stephen, this is a great topic that hits at the heart of our approach- it's worthy of more space than I'll have here. As an NSF INCLUDES alliance, those types of cross-sector partnerships are a key target for our work. We have seen a lot of interest in our work, but the barriers to success are multi-layered and complex, so intentions alone are insufficient. We have multiple efforts intended to seed conditions for change by presenting counter narratives about STEM and people impacted by incarceration (through publications, podcasts, and an annual convening). Another main strategy are topical working groups which are developing the toolkits. The working groups are basically R&D collaboratives and their membership is important- each group includes STEM-OPS core partners, reps of additional organizations and agencies, and also people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. Right now, four of these groups are launched (five soon!) and our intention is that member orgs will directly lead to the use of these products to create and sustain programs. We're not there yet. 

Thank you Christina- yes, this is a crucial group that faces additional barriers to their involvement in STEM education and fields. We have a component of our work that focuses on K-12 push out and the school-to-prison pipeline. A research study has been conducted, led by Drs. Milner and Bennett from the Race Research and Justice initiative at Vanderbilt University. Here is a link to a published study: https://www.tcrecord.org/LIBRARY/abstract.asp?c...

Hi Kenne, As you can imagine from reading these comments of support, we do have quite a bit of support while bringing in new key partners. Our core partners are doing the work every day! Additional partners are usually part of our Working Groups and also have a large amount of support for this program, many of them are directly impacted themselves. With that said, we are careful about using humanizing language and have provided this resource, written by the Underground Scholars Initiative, to help us all center our language around mutual respect and ensuring we are sensitive to all involved.  

That guide is great. It's heartening to hear you've had no trouble getting support, and I'm thrilled to see such a phenomenal resource at the front of your work. Congratulations on continuing this important work!

Thank you Chris- I viewed the video for AI-ALOE and it's exciting to see the future potential of online learning platforms. Work like AI-ALOE could definitely support stronger models of education in prisons- however, there are regulations and restrictions that currently limit access to educational technologies in many prison settings. For example, when COVID hit and many school districts and universities did the difficult work of transitioning to online courses, many prison-based programs simply paused because such platforms were not an option. And, of course, those different responses likely exacerbated existing inequities in student learning. Part of our work is to identify and address barriers like limited access to tech so that more people who are incarcerated can engage in high-quality educational opportunities. We'd love to stay connected with your work- thank you!

In addition, the Massachusetts Adult Education Professional Development team (a.k.a. SABES) has been focusing on providing PD for teachers in systems of incarceration that can show how effectively they can teach math and other subjects within prison walls and outside of internet access. We'd love to talk with you! 

Thank you for your thoughts, Gregory. We agree this work is so important and could be pivotal in providing STEM programs to those who are directly impacted.

Thank you Maisha- I was glad for your reference to the Young People's Project as your post moved me to find your video- it was excellent! We'd be interested in connections too- do you think the YPP model of CS college student instructors could be adapted for adult learners? 

Thank you, Marie! It is work of the heart. 

Heidi, there are efforts, but that is much more complicated as I am sure you can imagine, particularly now. We have a connected planning grant, that grew from the STEM-OPS findings from our affinity groups and system mapping work, that is holding focus groups with currently incarcerated men and currently incarcerated women. This is a luxury though and not the norm. Of course many of the network members also work directly with people inside prisons and the stories, experiences and voices of those inside inform their work and what they bring to STEM-OPS significantly, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a structural barrier that needs torn down. 

Megan, these are great questions. Our system mapping and affinity group projects uncovered these and many other barriers. From these we developed 6 overarching outcome objectives (long range goals) and 14 strategy objectives (shorter range approaches, but we aren't doing all 14 at ones). If you look under community participation on our website, you can see the strategy map with these detailed, as well as get access to the system map (https://stem-ops.org/about-us-community-partici...

In a nutshell however, working groups are the mechanism of addressing these. The working groups are developing toolkits within their focal areas to support the broader community encountering the various challenges. We are also looking for funding for particular issues. For example we have the planning grant around information and communication technology to build a model of prison as a "smart and connected community" which we hope to then pilot and disseminate. The critical element of this though, just as our strategy development was grounded in community participation, the working group toolkits are as well, to ensure they are built and revised to respond to the realities that are being faced in working to realize our vision.