The overarching goal of this project is to increase the number of underrepresented minority students pursuing careers in health sciences. Our program will have long-term and sustainable impacts on teachers, students and school systems. For teachers and school systems, this project establishes a learning community of teachers and health science researchers committed to implementing curricula aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards1 (NGSS) in a manner that is relevant to the health of the community. Health disparity issues will be the focus of our curricular work, but we anticipate that teachers will acquire additional skills developing inquiry-based materials. For students, this project will help them to think critically about real-life, relevant health issues and to develop interest and skills in science, community health and health care delivery. Our immediate objective is to implement, evaluate and disseminate the S.C.O.R.E. (Students for Community-Oriented Research and Education) project, which will link teachers with the KUMC community of scientists, and help them bring cutting edge health science research into the underserved communities where they teach. By posing questions within the context of students' realities, S.C.O.R.E. teaching fellows will engage students in an inquiry-based process of conscientization,2 thus ensuring students' commitment to tackling the health care problems of the future. Our hypothesis is that empowered teachers will expose students to the full spectrum of health science careers and have a positive impact on student' self-efficacy, knowledge, and interest in STEM careers. By focusing on teachers as the main agents of change, we will have a more powerful and sustained impact on students' knowledge and career choices.
AIM 1 - Development: Increase the capacity of teachers to integrate fully-developed inquiry- based modules focused on health disparities into their standards-based curriculum.
AIM 2 - Implementation: Enable teachers to implement inquiry-based education programs to promote self-efficacy, knowledge, interest, and commitment to health science careers among high school students from ethnic and racially diverse communities.
AIM 3 - Dissemination: Disseminate professional development training materials, curricular modules, student projects, implementation guides, and lessons learned in targeted communities, districts across the state and nationally.
NIH has placed increasing emphasis on recruitment and retention of members of underrepresented groups in the sciences, however, despite these efforts; many of the students who express interest in STEM subsequently switch away. Empowered teachers can be instrumental in developing curricula that reflect everyday experiences of minority students and the health disparities they face, thus, facilitating the translation from bench to bedside, and ultimately to community health.
