Every year, the STEM Scale-Up Program provides high-quality STEM educational opportunities to educators throughout Iowa, engaging with an estimated 100,000 students to shed light on the necessary skills needed for the future workforce.
Chase Krug, a former Linn-Mar High School student who participated in the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) STEM Scale-Up Program said, “I was able to learn and experience the diversity of agricultural science, develop critical thinking skills such as problem solving and learn universal lab skills.”
Krug said participating in the Scale-Up Program gave him a strong advantage in career advancement and paved the way for life-changing opportunities.
A 2021 STEM Scale-Up Participants Report produced by the Iowa’s State Longitudinal Data System found that students who participated in the STEM Scale-Up Program were 18 percentage points more likely to major in STEM than their peers.
The Impact of the STEM Scale-Up Program
Here is a glance at the impact and reach the program is having on students and educators all across Iowa.
- In 2020-2021, a total of 1,506 educators delivered at least one of thirteen world-class STEM Scale-Up Programs.
- An estimated 71,913 PreK-12 youth participated in one or more STEM Scale-Up Programs in 2020-2021.
- Since 2012, more than one million PreK-12 Iowans have participated in STEM Scale-Up programming.
Overall, students who participate in a STEM Scale-Up Program have a greater interest in STEM subjects and pursuing a STEM career.
Students aren’t the only beneficiaries of the STEM Scale-Up Program. Ninety-three percent of educators participating in the STEM Scale-Up Programs found increased confidence in teaching STEM topics and their STEM knowledge.
Tracy Ferguson, a Van Meter Community School District elementary teacher, was awarded the Scale-Up Program several years in a row.
“These supplies, tools and lessons have become a part of our daily routines in each of the content areas. My students would tell you that this is their favorite thing about second grade. The best part of my day is when I witness students listening, collaborating and communicating together in such a respectful manner in order to create that week’s product,” said Ferguson.
For more information on the STEM Scale-Up Program, visit https://www.iowastem.org/Scale-Up.