Partnerships and Experience in Building STEM Pipelines

Abstract

The creation of a robust K–12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline has been widely identified as critical to the future of American global competitiveness. The J. B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville in Kentucky started a K–12 outreach program with the specific goal of increasing the number of students interested in, and capable of, studying STEM fields in college. To achieve this, Speed School developed and implemented a plan to create STEM pipelines in the local Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) system. The pipelines are currently comprised of selected elementary and middle schools that feed students to high schools with Project Lead the Way (PLTW) preengineering curricula. Elementary schools in the pipeline use the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) curriculum developed by the Boston Museum of Science (BMOS). Middle schools in the pipeline use the In the Middle of Engineering (IME) program, developed in collaboration with middle school science teachers. After four years, programs are in place at fifteen participating schools with over 2,000 students involved.