Massachusetts Rural Schools Coalition Inc

1. PREPARED GRANT APPLICATION TO NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR ALL GRANT. SUMMARY: THE FUTURE READY: CS+BIO PROJECT, A MEDIUM HIGH-SCHOOL STRAND PROPOSAL, WILL BRING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND BIOLOGY, BIOTECHNOLOGY, LIFE SCIENCE, OR MEDICINE INTO RURAL MASSACHUSETTS AP BIOLOGY AND AP COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES (CSP) CLASSROOMS TO PARTICIPATE IN EDUCATOR LED, WORKFORCE-INFUSED, PROJECT-BASED EXERCISES. THIS CROSS-SECTOR RESEARCH-PRACTITIONER PARTNERSHIP (RPP) BUILDS UPON EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS TO INCLUDE CS AND EDUCATION RESEARCHERS, BIOLOGY AND CS HIGH SCHOOL PRACTITIONERS IN RURAL MA, AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS. THE PROJECT'S GOAL IS TO BUILD A PIPELINE OF STUDENTS IN AP BIOLOGY CLASSES (MAJORITY 63% FEMALE) TO AP CSP CLASSES (MINORITY FEMALE 34% NATIONALLY, 18% IN RURAL MA), CONNECTING THEIR INTERESTS IN BIOLOGY TO CS AND INCREASING THEIR MOTIVATION TO ENROLL IN AP CSP AND PURSUE CS+BIO POST-SECONDARY LEARNING. THIS RPP WILL UTILIZE AN ITERATIVE DESIGN-BASED IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH (DBIR) RPP MODEL TO DEVELOP CROSS-DISCIPLINARY AP CSP CURRICULUM MATERIALS TO RECRUIT, ENGAGE, AND RETAIN FEMALE STUDENTS INTERESTED IN BIOLOGY RELATED CAREERS TAKING AP CSP. THE RPP WILL ALSO DESIGN AND OFFER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO PRACTITIONERS, BRINGING TOGETHER AP BIOLOGY AND AP CSP TEACHERS IN RURAL MA TO RAISE AWARENESS OF REGIONAL CS+BIO CAREERS, INTRODUCE REAL WORLD CS+BIO APPLICATIONS AND TOOLS, AND PROVIDE SUPPORTING CS+BIO CURRICULUM AND RESOURCES. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A DIGITAL PLATFORM THAT WILL HOST A SEARCHABLE DATABASE OF CURRICULUM MATERIALS INCLUDING A VIDEO REPOSITORY OF INDUSTRY WORK-FORCE INFUSED PROBLEM PRESENTATIONS AND FACILITATE NETWORKED COMMUNITIES TO ENABLE LOCAL TEACHER-INDUSTRY MATCHING. THIS PLATFORM WILL HELP TO SUSTAIN FUTURE CROSS-SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS AND TO SCALE OUR WORK NATIONWIDE. GRANT AWARD RANGES FROM $300K-$1 MILLION AND WOULD BENEFIT 15,000+ SECONDARY STUDENTS IN 13 RURAL DISTRICTS. 2. CONDUCTED BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY IN THE CLASSROOM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND MASSACHUSETTS BIOTECHNOLOGY EDUCATION FOUNDATION. BENEFITTED 300+ STUDENTS IN 7 RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS. DURING THE FALL OF 2020, THIS INITIATIVE HAS CONDUCTED LIVE VIRTUAL SESSIONS CONNECTING SECONDARY STUDENTS TO INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS AROUND CAREER PATHWAYS AND PROJECT-BASED-LEARNING EXPERIENCES. PARTICIPATION VASTLY EXCEEDED THE ORIGINAL PILOT GOAL OF 2-3 DISTRICTS, 2-3 TEACHERS AND 15-20 STUDENTS. INSTEAD, PARTICIPATION BLOSSOMED TO 7 DISTRICTS, 10 TEACHERS AND APPROXIMATELY 330 STUDENTS. THE SUCCESS OF THIS PILOT PROJECT HAS ENCOURAGED THE PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS TO BEGIN PREPARING A SUBMISSION OF AN APPLICATION FOR A MUCH MORE ROBUST COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR ALL GRANT FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF). THE MRSC'S UNIQUE ACCESS TO RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS IS VIEWED BY HGSE AND MASSBIOED AS A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE IN THIS POTENTIAL NSF APPLICATION.