Funded projects include a variety of student and teacher-centered STEM activities.
In August 2016, the Baker-Polito Administration announced over $250,000 in grant awards to support the Commonwealth’s Regional STEM Networks. The fiscal year (FY) 2017 grant for the Regional STEM Networks included incentives for collaboration across regions as well as for aligning focus areas with STEM Advisory Council priorities, listed above.
Berkshire County & Pioneer Valley | $65,000
MA College of Liberal Arts will serve as the host of the Regional STEM Network, and will collaborate with education, community and industry partners across the Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley, including Holyoke Community College.
Boston & Metro North | $65,000
The Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) will join with the Metro North Regional Employment Board as the lead institutions to coordinate and promote STEM activities among education, community, and industry leaders in Boston and in the communities in Metro North, including Revere, Everett, Chelsea, and Lynn.
Central Massachusetts & Metrowest | $50,000
Worcester Polytechnic Institute will serve as the lead institution to promote STEM education in Central Massachusetts while also collaborating with Framingham State University, community partners and employers in Metrowest to expand the reach of that Regional Network.
Southeast Massachusetts & Cape Cod | $80,000
Bridgewater State University and Cape Cod Community College will collaborate to build a coordinated Regional STEM Network.
The STEM Advisory Council created the @Scale program in 2010 in order to focus public and private resources on a set of high quality STEM pipeline projects that are aligned with the goals outlined in the Commonwealth’s STEM Plan. In 2015, the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council continued to endorse eleven projects for continued @Scale funding.
| Project | Lead Partner | Award | Numbers Served |
|---|---|---|---|
Advanced Placement Full Project Description |
Mass Insight | $50,000 | 9,227 Students 804 Teachers |
| Advanced Robotics Initiative Full Project Description |
Quinsigamond Community College | $50,000 | Information on communities served coming soon |
| Big Data Full Project Description |
BATEC | $89,280 | 20,541 Students 298 Faculty |
| BioTeach Full Project Description |
MassBioEd Foundation | $50,000 | 10,000 Students 100 Teachers |
| Future City Full Project Description |
Metro North Regional Employment Board | $75,000 | 248 Students 55 Teachers |
| Gateway Project Full Project Description |
Museum of Science | $50,000 | 50,195 Students 103 Teachers |
| Increasing Accessibility to Algebra & Geometry for All Students (IAAG) Full Project Description |
UMass Medical School's Regional Science Resource Center | $33,549 | 2,200 Students 22 Teachers |
| Science from Scientists: during School In-Class STEM Enrichment Program Full Project Description |
Science from Scientists | $50,000 | 6,200 Students 137 Teachers |
| STEM Pathways Full Project Description |
MCLA | $75,000 | Information on communities served coming soon |
| Strengthening Pre-K Mathematics Teach and Learning Full Project Description |
Boston Public Schools | $58,695 | 225 Students 30 Teachers |
| Western Regional Partnership for Advanced Manufacturing Full Project Description |
McCann Vo-Tech | $62,000 | Information on communities served coming soon |
| Network | Lead Partner | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Berkshire | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | $40,000 |
| Boston | Boston Private Industry Council | $40,000 |
| Central | UMass Medical School | $40,000 |
| Metro North | Metro North Regional Employment Board | $40,000 |
| Metro West | Framingham State University | $40,000 |
| Northeast | UMass Lowell | $40,000 |
| Pioneer Valley | UMass Amherst | $40,000 |
| Southeast | Bridgewater State University | $60,000 |
The Governor’s STEM Advisory Council selected five projects under Phase III and IV of @Scale for endorsement and funding. Phase III and IV were the last two phases of a four phase process to create a portfolio of projects aligned to the state STEM goals and which cover the spectrum of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects across learning levels. Phase III specifically addressed STEM goals 2 and 3 of STEM Plan 2.0 (student achievement and skilled educators) in elementary and middle grades and Phase IV addressed STEM goals 1 and 3 (student interest and skilled educators) in pre-k education programs. The STEM Council awarded a total of $292,244 among the five projects. The five selected projects are shown in the grid below:
| Project | Lead Partner | Award | Private Match | Numbers served per semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strengthening Pre-K Mathematics Teaching and Learning | Boston Public Schools | $58,695 | $938,000 | 1,000 children ages 3 to 4 |
| During School In-Class STEM Enrichment Program | Science from Scientists | $50,000 | $150,000 | 475 students, 16 teachers |
| Zero Robotics | Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (MAP) | $75,000 | $350,000 | 9 teachers |
| Future City | Metro North Regional Employment Board | $75,000 | $436,900 | 10 teachers, 10 mentors, 250 students |
| Increasing Accessibility to Algebra & Geometry for all students (IAAG) | UMass Medical School's Regional Science Resource Ctr. | $33,549 | $33,595 | 30 teachers |
| TOTAL | $292,244 | $1,908,495 |
Strengthening Pre-K Mathematics Teaching and Learning
The Boston Public Schools (BPS) received an award of $58,695 to support its proposal to scale up a successful pre-K mathematics program, Building Blocks. The project, “Strengthening Pre-K Mathematics Teaching and Learning: A Boston K1DS Collaboration between the Boston Public Schools and Boston Community-Based Organizations”, expands from the 2,300 pre-K students in BPS to eventually serve over 6,500 low-income at risk 3 and 4 year-olds in over 200 community-based organizations (CBO).
This grant begins the process with 14 CBO instructors, their assistants, and their directors in 10 CBOs to create the foundation for a city-wide expansion by providing a program of professional development. Seven BPS pre-K teacher leaders supply coaching support consisting of co-planning, co-teaching and debriefing mathematics lessons. All professional development, including classroom-based coaching support, is carefully documented to ensure that this effort can be scaled up into the remaining CBOs in Boston and into other pre-K settings across the state. The project is also carefully evaluated in order to document its design features, its impact on pre-K student engagement and educator effectiveness, and its sustainability over time, thus contributing to the existence of transformative, system-wide, and sustainable improvements that are consistent with the goals described in the Massachusetts STEM plan.
During School In-Class STEM Enrichment Program
Science from Scientists (SfS) received an award of $50,000 to expand its successful “During School In-Class STEM Enrichment Program” to two first-time partner schools in new locations, Winthrop and Plainville. The funding enables SfS to provide in-class enrichment to 475 new students and allow as many as 16 classroom teachers to enroll in their Professional Development Program. Student goals include improving students’ attitudes in STEM by working with every student in the classroom, using real, charismatic scientists, and building mentoring relationships. The measure for this goal will be an increase in the numbers of students who score proficient or higher on the STE MCAS. Student comprehension is tested throughout the year through the use of pre- and post-quizzes allowing for immediate feedback.
Teacher effectiveness is addressed by offering PDPs to incentivize teachers to learn science content and integrate the Enrichment Program into their classrooms. SfS provides each of their participating school teachers a “Teacher Prep” document that accompanies each of their 80+ lessons. This content-rich document: a) identifies which MCAS standards are addressed by the lesson, b) lists key vocabulary, and c) links identifies to free online resources such as videos, audio, interview transcripts, FAQs, games, and articles specifically chosen to help increase teacher content knowledge about the featured STEM topic.
Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (MAP) received an award of $75,000 to scale up its Zero Robotics program beyond the Boston area. The program is described as a fun, flexible yet rigorous summer STEM program for middle school students with a key element of targeting under-served and under-represented youth. Over 5-weeks during the summer, students work in teams to learn about computer programming, robotics and space engineering while gaining hands-on experience working with and coding SPHERES (Synchronized Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites). The program culminates in a tournament where each team competes for a spot to operate and race a SPHERE satellite against other teams aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
A full curriculum has been designed to support in-school and out-of-school educators in the use of Zero Robotics. MAP uses @Scale funds to develop a comprehensive teacher training program to train perspective Zero Robotics educators and their regional partners across each of the seven Regional STEM networks. Additionally, MAP gathers evidence that shows the impact of summer learning opportunities on student interest, academic growth and teacher efficacy.
Future City – Competition Working Cities Expansion Project
Future City is a team based transformative educational program designed for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in which students imagine and design cities of the future and explain the underlying technologies and design principles that would make their city possible. Students create both physical scale models and virtual models (utilizing SimCity software), prepare presentations/Q&A responses, and write research documents as part of their engineering design process. Although all STEM disciplines are used in the competition, the emphasis is on engineering. The Future City Program addresses Student Academic Achievement (Goal 2) and Student Interest at the elementary and middle school levels. The program also addresses Educator Effectiveness (Goal 5) by providing teaching and learning tools to educators on STEM topics such as free learning blocks, as well as free seminars and trainings.
The program goals include: 1) Adding 10 more school teams to the NE Future City Regional Competition from the Working Cities cohort over the 2013-2014 competition period; 2) Evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of the competition program in these new school partners; 3) Creating materials for schools so they can attract new participants, volunteers and sponsors for continued Future City participation after the grant period has ended; and 4) Growing the existing NE Future City Competition program infrastructure so it can effectively support the needs of the Working Cities participants.
The Working Cities to be served under this grant are: Chelsea, Everett, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Revere, Salem, and Somerville.
Increasing Accessibility to Algebra & Geometry for All Students (IAAG)
IAAG is a teacher professional development project, which offers foundational math content and pedagogical strategies for general education, inclusion and special education mathematics teachers of grades 5 through 10. It has been especially helpful for teachers in “high needs” districts. It strengthens teachers’ understanding of concepts and relationships among concepts within various domains including Operations and Algebraic Thinking; Equations and Expressions; Functions; and Geometry. Teachers learn universal design strategies and techniques to increase accessibility of rigorous mathematics to a broad range of learners.
Since 2006, sixteen sections of IAAG have been implemented throughout the state impacting 480 teachers and over 10,000 students in Revere, Worcester, Pittsfield, Springfield, Wilmington, Fitchburg, Leominster, Salem, and Southbridge with some schools holding repeat trainings. The IAAG training has been vetted and approved for both the Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Professional Development Institute (PDI) and the District and School Assistance Centers (DSAC). The RSRC is a preferred vendor for the state to offer professional development.
| Network | Lead Partner | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Berkshire | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | $40,000 |
| Boston | Boston Private Industry Council | $40,000 |
| Central | UMass Medical School | $40,000 |
| Metro North | Metro North Regional Employment Board | $40,000 |
| Metro West | Framingham State University | $40,000 |
| Northeast | UMass Lowell | $40,000 |
| Pioneer Valley | UMass Amherst | $40,000 |
| Southeast | Bridgewater State University | $40,000 |
In May 2012, the STEM Advisory Council approved the selection of the following set of projects under Phase I of @Scale. The STEM Council awarded a total of $350,000 in @Scale grants.
| Project | Lead Partner | Award | Private Match | Numbers Served Per Semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BioTeach
 Project description |
MassBioEd | $50,000 | $150,000 | Not available at this time |
| The DIGITS Project Project description |
DIGITS | $50,000 | $218,000 | Not available at this time |
| Mass Math + Science Initiative Project description |
MassInsight | $50,000 | $120,000* | 30 teachers; 500 students |
| Project Lead the Way Project description |
Worcester Polytechnic Institute | $50,000 | $282,500 | 680 students; 14 teachers |
| Science Transfer Initiative Project description |
Massasoit Community College | $50,000 | $156,069 | 6000+ students |
| Advanced Robotics Initiative Project description |
Quinsigamond Community College | $50,000 | $98,500 | 300 students |
| The Gateway Project Project description |
Museum of Science | $50,000 | $150,000 | 80 teachers |
* The private matching ratio is less than the required 3:1 private/public ratio, but additional amounts have been promised.
In December 2012, the STEM Advisory Council approved the selection of five projects under Phase II of @Scale. The STEM Council awarded a total of $428,000 in @Scale grants. These projects address goals 4 and 6 of the state STEM Plan:
| Project | Lead Partner | Award | Private Match | Numbers Served Per Semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Data | Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC) | $89,280 | $275,000 | Over 50 students; 10 teachers |
| ABLE4STEM | University of Massachusetts (UMass) | $77,000 | $204,000 | Over 25 students |
| STEM Power Workforce Network | Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board (WIB) | $125,000 | $449,905 | Over 60 trainees; 96 employers |
| Western Regional Partnership | McCann Technical School | $62,000 | $282,500 | 80 students; 8 teachers |
| STEM Pathways Project (SSPP) | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) | $75,000 | $120,635 | 80-100 students; 10 faculty |
BATEC’s “Big Data” program provides training to students as well as displaced and incumbent workers seeking to upgrade or develop their knowledge and skills in information technology. BATEC plans to expand their programming to Holyoke, Northern Essex, Quinsigamond and Roxbury Community Colleges.
UMass' “ABLE4STEM” is a program focused on underrepresentated minorities to promote associate and baccalaureate degree completion at all four UMass undergraduate campuses and the Commonwealth's 15 community colleges.
Central Massachusetts WIB’s “STEM Power” project re-engineers Career Center practices, procedures and policies to provide a sector-based approach to nearly all facets of the services offered to dislocated workers including job-seeker STEM pathways outreach, orientation and education; STEM-related pathways career counseling; training; placement for job seekers; and STEM employer engagement and support. Sixteen local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and their One-Stop Career Centers are partners in this project.
McCann Technical School’s “Western Regional Partnership” is a workforce development project in the area of advanced manufacturing. The educational institutions that make up the STEM Western Regional Partnership currently offer Chapter 74-approved technical programming in advanced manufacturing, precision manufacturing and machine tools.
MCLA’s “STEM Pathways Project” (SSPP) promotes student success with the goal to increase graduation rates by providing strategic and successful initiatives which address students’ academic, experiential, and career awareness interests. MCLA’s SSPP employs a STEM retention plan, starting with activities for freshman and continuing through senior year. Administered through the MCLA Center for Student Success and Engagement (CSSE), the program delivers enhanced academic support, advising, and career planning, and marshals the efforts of both the academic affairs and student affairs divisions.
On March 10, 2009 the Department of Higher Education announced five mini-grants totaling $75,000 through the STEM Pipeline Fund for the following projects:
| Lead Partner | Team Members | Predicted Enrollment of 1st Yr. Elementary Education Majors |
|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater State University | Bristol Community College, Cape Cod Community College, Fall River Public Schools, Barnstable Public Schools |
4-Yr College: 130 Community College: 138 |
Elms College | Holyoke Community College, Holy Name Elementary School |
4-Yr College: 20 |
| Fitchburg State University | Middlesex Community College, Fitchburg Public Schools |
4-Yr College: 80+ Community College: 90 |
| Framingham State University | MassBay Community College, Natick Public Schools, ACCEPT Educational Collaborative, MetroWest STEM Education Network |
4-Yr College: 100 Community College: 28 |
| Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield Public Schools, North Adams Public Schools |
4-Yr College: 55 Community College: 35 |
On February 15, 2008, the Board of Higher Education announced $3.2 million in three-year grants through the STEM Pipeline Fund for the following projects.
Andover Public Schools, with partners Brookline Public Schools, Worcester Public Schools, and Northeastern University, will collaborate and expand upon existing engineering curriculum to further implement and integrate the curriculum across districts and grade levels. Students will have access to visits to employers through partners Wyeth and Philips Healthcare.
Boston University, with partners Northeastern University and Wheelock College, receives funding for the for inquiry-based learning opportunities for elementary and middle school teachers from seven area school districts. The professional development will be focused around the theme of Green Energy. Teachers and students will also take part in visits to colleges and employers.
CONNECT, with partners University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Fall River Public Schools, will hold two week-long summer camps on sustainability and biotechnology with an emphasis on inquiry-based learning.
Framingham State College, with partners the Greater Framingham Community Church, Metro South/West Regional Employment Board, and Olin College, will continue to scale up the LIFT program, to give regional teachers externship opportunities at local STEM companies, and will develop the Saturday STEM Academy. Based on the MIT SEED Academy, the Saturday STEM Academy will bring students and parents to the campuses of Olin College and Framingham State College for hands-on STEM projects, college awareness, and college role models. In addition, the students will tour regional industry locations.
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, with partners Berkshire Community College, Williams College and regional school districts will produce a series of STEM career awareness and professional development activities including an after-school family STEM program, visits to colleges and employers, and the continuation of the Starlab professional development program. Several of the programs will become STEM Destinations as part of the Berkshire Compact’s Berkshire Passport program, available to students in Berkshire County beginning in third grade.
Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, with four other industry associations:MassMEDIC, MassBioEd, The Engineering Center, and the Massachusdtts Networks Communications Council, will develop a statewide STEM awareness campaign, a STEM Ambassadors program, and a guidebook for how business and school districts can most effectively work with each other. The collaborative will also sponsor a research report on student motivation.
Northern Essex Community College, with partners Lawrence Boys and Girls Club,Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board, Middlesex Community College,Museum of Science, and school districts Billerica, Chelmsford, Methuen, andReading, receives funding to implement the Engineering is Elementary curriculum in four school districts and to support the Viva Latinas program for young women to learn about computing technology.
University of Massachusetts Amherst, with partners Greenfield Community College and Smith College, receives funding to continue the STEMRAYS program, an after-school science program for districts in Franklin County and currently funded through NSF. The after-school programs connect teachers and students in grades 4 through 8 to topics such as weather and climate, air quality, and sustainable energy. Through theFranklin/Hampshire Regional Employment Board, participating teachers will have access to externships at regional employers; participating students will have access to career awareness activities.
University of Massachusetts Lowell, with regional school district partners, will expand its existing after-school DESIGNLAB program for middle school students and teachers. The DESIGNLAB program seeks to teach mathematics and science concepts using inquiry-based learning and to increase the interest in STEM subjects.
University of Massachusetts Medical School, with partners Colleges of the Worcester Consortium, EcoTarium, Fitchburg State College, Mount Wachusett Community College, Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and school districts in Fitchburg, Lunenberg, Worcester and elsewhere will develop a communications plan to increase the awareness of STEM careers and career pathways among middle school students, parents, teachers, and guidance counselors in Central Massachusetts. Students will have access to role models and career mentors and will participate in the development of student-friendly messages about STEM.
On January 8, 2007, the Board of Higher Education announced $1.7 million in three-year grants to the following Regional PreK-16 Networks through the STEM Pipeline Fund.
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and regional partners
Cape Cod Community College and regional partners
Framingham State College and regional partners
University of Massachusetts Medical Center and regional partners
University of Massachusetts Lowell and regional partners
University of Massachusetts Amherst and regional partners
CONNECT and regional partners
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and regional partners
Got Math? was an out-of-school mentoring program reaching 60 fourth grade students in three elementary schools in Berkshire County. The program was designed to individualize math instruction and combine instruction with hands-on experiments.
University of Massachusetts Medical Center and regional partners
Making Connections in STEM involved teams of math and science teachers from four diverse districts and their students, higher education faculty, math and science professional development experts, and industry mentors. The Network completed a 3-credit STEM Data Analysis course with 28 teachers.
Northeastern University and regional partners
The Boston Children’s Museum’s Waterfront Learning utilized Boston Harbor as a rich STEM resource for students and teachers. MassPEP’s (Pre-Engineering Program) Discovery Labsupported underserved elementary and middle school students to increase success in science, math, engineering, and technology. Northeastern’s Boston Summer Advanced Math continued to prepare underserved urban high school students for their calculus course in their senior year in high school.
Framingham State College and regional partners
MassBay Community College’s SolidWorks Workshops promoted computer graphics, technology, science and math in Massachusetts high schools and regional vocational schools. The MetroWest Center for Excellence hosted after-school science and engineering clubs for middle and high school girls.
University of Massachusetts Lowell and regional partners
The STEM Fellows program enrolled 38 middle school and early high school mathematics, science and technology teachers in eight school districts in a program to participate in existing regional STEM programs and share the new content and tools with their classrooms and districts. Each Fellow develop an individual professional development plan.
University of Massachusetts Amherst and regional partners
Engineering pathways mapping project organized available career and educational options into a guide book of coherent engineering/technician pathways for parents, guidance counselors, teachers, and students to better inform career and college choices; threeengineering/technology career fairs were also held. Two new summer camps were created to increase students' awareness of STEM careers. Six Saturday Explorations in Science and Engineering combined hands-on activities, lab work and visits to labs. Three summer content and pedagogy institutes and two academic-year seminars were held for K-12 and high school teachers.
Bridgewater State College and regional partners
Project INVENTION facilitated project-based, real-work related activities for teachers and students mentored by industry and higher education. The Advanced Studies and Leadership Program provided project-driven content instruction in STEM subjects during a four-week, summer, residential program for 8th and 9th grade, high-achieving students from districts in the Cape Cod Collaborative. Three previously approved but wait-listed schools received assistance from the MassBioEd Lab Awards to remodel and refit science laboratories.
University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute
CITI is a public/private partnership to promote information technology across the curriculum and prepare graduates to participate, lead and innovate in the knowledge-based economy of Massachusetts. CITI funded 14 subgrants for teacher professional development and pre-service course development projects.
Museum of Science
This project, originally funded by the Intel Foundation, developed seven technology and engineering units in the elementary science curriculum and professional development for teachers in support of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.
Metro South/West Regional Employment Board
This proposal developed a statewide STEM internship program for high school students among seven Regional Employment Boards. Nearly 1,000 students were placed in STEM internships in 2004-2005.
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