9550064 McCarthy New Mexico State University will establish and operate a project entitled "Regional Alliance for Science, Engineering, and Mathematics" or RASEM. The RASEM will be a Regional Center that will work with other educational entities and organizations in the three-state region for the purpose of encouraging students with disabilities to pursue science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) careers. The Center will provide leadership, coordination, assistance, evaluation, and dissemination to state departments of education, two- and four-year colleges, secondary schools, national research laboratories, and public and private sponsors. The three-year project will support strategies that remove obstacles that impede students with disabilities from pursuing careers in SEM fields. The Center will also cooperate with the Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP) and the Comprehensive Partnerships for Minority Student Achievement (PMSA) programs in assisting student participants through critical educational transitions. Students with disabilities at the secondary level of education will be encouraged and assisted through strategies that include conceptual videos, student stipends, adaptive technologies, computer networking, SEM summer camps, and supercomputer experiences. Workshops will be offered to precollege teachers and administrators to dispel stereotypes and promote teacher involvement in support of students with disabilities. Strategies to be used on the college level will include financial incentives, removal of impediments to effective learning, and establishment of collaboration with other educational partners. These collaborations will stimulate research opportunities and mentoring relationships. RASEM should assure a steady growth in the number of persons with disabilities who select SEM career paths serving as a model for other centers in the country.
