NSF Awards: 1764404
ACCEYSS (Association of Collaborative Communities Equipping Youth for STEM Success) is an NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot at Texas State University (TXST) that is building a sustainable ACCEYSS Network and culturally-responsive and evidenced-based Model to prepare underrepresented and underserved youth to pursue undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees and career pathways in the Greater San Marcos region of Texas. In partnership with The P2P Movement, Inc., the ACCEYSS Network is structured as a researcher-practitioner partnership between academic researchers (ACCEYSS Research Team), faith leaders and other community partners (ACCEYSS Network) to implement the innovative ACCEYSS Model in communities of color across Central Texas and beyond. Many historic advancements have been made through the efforts and activities of faith and community leaders uniquely poised to motivate and galvanize community-based action. A collaboration among these academic institutions, social/cultural organizations, and faith partners to work with the families and youth of underrepresented/underserved populations will be an essential asset for generating new perspectives and ideas for improving STEM academic and career outcomes related to broadening participation in the scientific enterprise.
Joni Falk
Interesting video about developing a network using collective network and culturally responsive, evidence based model for increasing the number of historically under-represented youth who attain STEM degrees in Texas. You explain that you are 1) creating and sustaining a community access network, 2) designing and developing the access model, and 3)promoting and disseminating the model. Yet, I still have no idea what the interventions actually are? Are they one time interventions, sustained interventions and with whom? What age students, or parents are you serving and what are the benefits that they report from participation? Getting a better sense of the details of what you provide would help others to see the value of such a network. Hoping to hear more! Thanks!
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dana García
Professor
Thank you for your kind comments and questions. We were awarded a DDLP, and are definitely in the design phase of our intervention. We will be piloting our model this summer. We had a workshop yesterday to guide some of our community activators in helping us help them by mapping their planned activities to our model, which in turn is aligned and linked with national standards. Our hope is to serve a student base that will enter into the programs (summer and after school) at a relatively young age (as young as kindergarten) and then will potentially get involved repeatedly in programs as they mature. We hope to gather longitudinal data. So to date, we don't have data from the interventions to report. Please stay tuned!
Noah Feinstein
Associate Professor
I've been hearing so many great things about TSU these days! Thanks for the amazing work you're doing. In the video, Dr. Garcia talked about success in terms of pursuing and completing degrees in the STEM disciplines. So many of my favorite STEM education projects have an impact beyond baccalaureate major and degrees! I often wish that we could do more, as a field to capture those outcomes as well. What other educational, professional, and community outcomes do you might be worth tracking?
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dana García
Professor
What an interesting question! I think in the context of INCLUDES, the goal is to increase participation by people who have historically been less engaged in the sciences. And I guess entry into STEM majors and graduation with STEM degrees are rather low hanging fruit from the perspective data collection. Other important, but more nuanced (and more difficult to acquire data about) outcomes could be people getting turned on to science and sharing their enthusiasm with their offspring or students, regardless of whether they actually complete a STEM degree (or any degree at all). I'm not sure that addresses your question, and I'm interested to hear your thoughts on other outcomes you would recommend tracking.
Noah Feinstein
Noah Feinstein
Associate Professor
I'd be really curious about degree and certificate pathways other than the 4 year bachelor's degree, particularly with the expansion of technical/professional associates degrees and certifications. This could include anything from med tech to solar installer.
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dana García
Noah Feinstein
Associate Professor
regarding community outcomes, that's more challenging, and I'm not sure that good measures exist - but I'd love to know about science-community partnerships of the sort exemplifed by AGU's Thriving Earth Exchange.
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Assistant Professor / Principal Investigator, ACCEYSS
Thank you for your feedback. We will certainly consider this in future iterations of our work.
Rabiah Mayas
Associate Director
Thank you for sharing this project! Building and sustaining collaborative networks between universities and communities is challenging work and I'm excited to learn more about ACCEYSS and its goals. I'm curious about the nature of model itself - what have you found so far to be critical components to the network model? Is it too early to have recommendations for those who may be looking to establish a similar community in their region?
I'd also love to better understand what the network looks like in practice, in particular to the youth participants. I was envisioning a seamless, transparent set of on-ramps, access paths, and mentored support in STEM, but it's not clear to me from the video how the concept plays out for learners?
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dana García
Professor
We are excited, too, about the prospects, and I like your vision for what a successful network might look like. At this point, we are early in the development, so the actualization of the vision is mostly in our future. I hope we will have some exciting news to report at the end of the summer.
Rabiah Mayas
Associate Director
Thanks for clarifying! I'll definitely plan to check your website in the next year to see how this project evolves!
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Assistant Professor / Principal Investigator, ACCEYSS
Thank you, Rabiah.
Anne Kern
Associate Professor
The ACCEYSS model sounds intriguing but I a not really sure what it is! I know what the goals are, but what is it: is it a PD model for STEM educators, an informal or formal STEM education opportunity for youth or maybe adults, or maybe something entirely different. Can you help explain?
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Assistant Professor / Principal Investigator, ACCEYSS
Thank you for your message! The ACCEYSS model is a K-12 informal STEM education framework for informal STEM education providers. We are currently piloting the model with a group of faith-based and community organizations in the Greater San Marcos area.
Cara Duncan
Seems like you've taken a measured and effective start to important work in (and with) the community. I appreciate all the comments, clarifications and suggestions I've read, and was glad to learn that you plan to engage with students as early as possible in schools and also by fostering community awareness and support. I can also imagine that working with diverse communities requires flexibility, creativity and perhaps a roadmap that is community based and co-developed. It's motivating to learn of community-focused approach to STEM engagement!
Dana García
Further posting is closed as the showcase has ended.