A Holistic Two-Generation Approach to Improving STEM Education Outcomes in the South Bronx

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project aims to serve the national interest by addressing the immediate needs of student-parents as they complete undergraduate STEM degrees. The project will support student-parents at CUNY Hostos Community College, a two-year Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in the South Bronx. Student-parents comprise nearly one-third of the student body at the institution. Hostos Oasis for Parents' Education (HOPE) is a holistic Two-Generation (2Gen) STEM summer program for college-ready parents and their children. It will provide equitable access to STEM career paths and to two-year degree completion for student-parents while providing a robust summer STEM Academy experience for their preK-8 children. HOPE will incorporate a three-dimensional (3D) holistic support model focused on three distinct areas: family, academic, and social/professional support. The project will use this support model to address the many obstacles encountered by academically proficient student-parents. These obstacles include "time poverty", insufficient time to devote to college, work, and family. While student-parents' motivation for college completion is strong, their role as a parent substantially increases their likelihood of leaving college without a degree. Part-time status often precludes them from existing support programs. By leveraging high quality evidence-based practices like Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs), and evidence-based programs, this transformative project intends to advance the understanding of whether the HOPE model can improve the quality and accessibility of STEM education for community college student-parents and their children. Project outcomes have potential to improve access to high quality STEM education for an often overlooked population. This holistic intervention is a potentially crucial mitigation strategy in the post COVID-19 landscape for a community disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

The goals of the project are to: (i) make systematic improvements to undergraduate community college STEM education through ELOs in STEM and social sciences; (ii) provide high quality STEM experiences for children ages pre-K-8th grade; (iii) create an openly sourced ELO STEM Toolkit with an accompanying professional development sequence; (iv) promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by recruiting Hostos student-parents and their children who are predominantly racial/ethnic minorities with special recruitment efforts aimed at justice-impacted student parents; and (v) provide new knowledge on the effectiveness of HOPE's 3D Model. This comprehensive and holistic 2Gen program will enroll 22 student-parents, and approximately 42 children during the first year and increase capacity each year. Approximately 450 participants over five years, including student parents, children, teachers (preK-8), college faculty, and undergraduate education students, will benefit from the HOPE Program. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated using a mixed methods approach, leveraging both quantitative and qualitative research including pre- and post-program surveys, focus groups, and peer observation among a group of instructors and faculty. A team with expertise in program evaluation, online education, and teaching STEM to middle school students with learning differences, will provide ongoing assessment as part of our process development and evaluation. Research on the HOPE 3D model will be disseminated through a project website, conference workshops and presentations, and peer-reviewed articles. The NSF program description on Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education supports projects that advance STEM education initiatives at two-year colleges. The program description promotes innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. This project is supported by the NSF HSI Program and the NSF IUSE: EHR Program. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.