< B-WET Gulf of Mexico May 6, 2017 NOAA-21st Century Community Learning Centers Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grants Bronwen Rice NOAA B-WET National Coordinator
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< B-WET Gulf of Mexico May 6, 2017
NOAA-21st Century Community Learning Centers
Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grants
Bronwen Rice NOAA B-WET National Coordinator
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Thanks for the opportunity to share some updates on our pilot NOAA-ED partnership. For those who don’t know, I’m Bronwen Rice, the national coordinator for the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training, or B-WET program. Today I’m going to tell you about our first cohort of NOAA-21st CCLC Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grants! Outline: Update the Gulf grantees on the new pilot partnership between the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Review FY17 funded projects w/examples from the region! Opportunity for Q&A
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: STEM Opportunities to Engage and Inspire
Interagency Partnerships • Offer authentic STEM content and
experiences to participating students.
• Build capacity to offer STEM programs going forward.
• Provide opportunities to engage with STEM subject matter experts.
• Effectively leverage the impact of multiple federal STEM education investments.
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
First, a little bit of background about this partnership. ED has been implementing a STEM initiative as a cohesive national strategy for several years. The goal of this initiative is to leverage unique federal agency assets and STEM education investments to engage youth in STEM via real-world connections to STEM content, activities and professionals. Partnership activities are focused on out-of-school time, a critical pathway for engaging students in STEM fields; target groups historically underrepresented in STEM; and help build capacity for participating sites to offer STEM programs going forward. Other agency partners include NASA, NPS, and IMLS. We began discussion with ED in 2015, when they came to us at the Office of Education with funds to support NOAA participation in the initiative. Unfortunately, it was very late in the fiscal year, and there wasn’t enough time to take them up on the opportunity. We kept up the conversation however, and began scoping a project we thought we could feasibly implement on short notice should the funds become available again, so when ED came back to us in late FY16 we were able to accept.
< B-WET California
• ED’s 21st CCLC program provides academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools.
• The 21st CCLC program: • Helps students meet state and local learning
standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and STEM;
• Offers students a broad array of enrichment activities to complement their regular academic programs; and
• Provides literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children.
21st Century Community Learning Centers
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
So what is this partnership all about? On the ED side, we are connecting to their network of grantees funded through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21stCCLC) program. The 21st CCLC program is the largest out-of-school program in the nation—serving over 1.5 million students in all 50 states. The program provides academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools, and aims to: Help students meet state and local learning standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and STEM; Offer students a broad array of enrichment activities to complement their regular academic programs; and Provide literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children. US ED provides funds to state who conduct competitions.�
< B-WET Great Lakes
NOAA B-WET
• Supports Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) for students and related professional development
• MWEEs are multi-stage activities that include learning both outdoors and in the classroom, and aim to increase environmental literacy
• www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet-mwee.pdf
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
From the NOAA side, we are leveraging our network organizations that have established NOAA-related environmental education capacity as a result of past work with the B-WET program B-WET is an environmental education grant program that promotes locally relevant, authentic experiential learning focused on K–12 audiences. Since 2002, NOAA has awarded over $74 million to support Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (or MWEEs). The link on this slide will take you to a pdf of the full NOAA MWEE definition.
< B-WET Pacific Northwest
NOAA-21st CCLC Watershed STEM
Education Partnership Grants
Grants from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation support organizations with established NOAA-related environmental education capacity as a result of past work with the NOAA B-WET program.
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Our implementation partner for the collaboration this year is the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Grants provided through a cooperative agreement that the Office of Education has with the Foundation are supporting partnerships between past (or current) B-WET grantees and 21st CCLC sites, to bring NOAA-related STEM content into their after school programming.
< B-WET Hawaii
Program Activities
Activities include: – Hands-on, place-based and watershed-
focused STEM experiences for students; – Capacity building for 21st CCLC staff who
will assist with the STEM experiences for the students; and
– Direct interactions with NOAA or other scientists.
• Grants support STEM experiences that use components of MWEEs
• Grantees partner with 21st CCLC sites nationwide
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Specifically, projects funded under this pilot program provide STEM experiences that use components of “Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences” (or MWEEs) emphasizing STEM skills, inclusion of hands-on activities that take place both outdoors and indoors, promotion of student interest and careers in STEM, and support for staff capacity building at 21st CCLC program sites. It is important that project activities include a strong connection to NOAA and offer the opportunity for direct interactions with NOAA or other scientists (that may happen at 21st CCLC sites, at field sites or even virtually.)
< B-WET Chesapeake
Implementation and Evaluation
• Funding amount ranges from $20,000 up to $50,000 for projects serving multiple sites.
• Project evaluation will be completed by Foundation grantees
• Implementation evaluation study will provide recommendations for program development
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Funding amount ranges from $20,000 up to $50,000 for projects serving multiple sites. Funds go to program delivery and support all 21st CCLC site participation costs. We are also planning a robust evaluation of this pilot program. National Marine Sanctuary Foundation will complete individual project evaluations and include results in their final grant report. In addition to this project evaluation work however, we are conducting an evaluation study to assess the implementation of the pilot this year, and provide recommendations for future program development. As part of this program evaluation, 6 NMSF grantees and 21st CCLC partners have been asked to participate in observational data collection using the Dimensions of Success (or DOS) tool. In addition, the evaluation team is developing a special MWEE observation tool that will be used to assess projects’ implementation of MWEE best practices. We have selected sites nationwide to conduct these observations, based on project timelines, location, and other logistical considerations. Evaluation team: Jessica Sickler and Anita Kraemer Artist Boat is one of the observation sites selected
Project Timeline
2017
Today
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Activities Begin Mar 17
NMSF Grantee June Reporting Due Jun 30
Activities End Aug 31
NMSF Grantee Sept. Reporting Due Sep 30
Spring Phase Activities End May 31
Summer Phase Activities End Aug 31
Mar 17 - Aug 31 Project Activities
Mar 17 - May 31 Spring Phase
Jun 1 - Aug 31 Summer Phase
Sep 1 - Dec 15 Evaluation Analysis and Reporting
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Projects take place in after-school settings this spring and as part of a summer learning series. Project and all evaluation reporting will be complete by December 15, 2017.
Funded Awards
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http://www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet/awards/21stcclcprogram
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In March 2017, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation provided a total of $500,000 to 17 selected pilot projects, impacting 37 21st CCLC sites in 15 states. We have at least one project in each of our 7 B-WET regions. NOAA partners include: National Marine Sanctuaries (Stellwagen, Cordell Bank, possibly Flower Garden Banks) Fisheries (Office of Habitat Conservation Restoration Center, Northwest Fisheries Science Center) NOAA Corps Sea Grant (Wisconsin) National Centers for Environmental Information (Stennis, MS) Will also include connections to GLOBE (PA project) You can learn more about the individual projects in the awards announcement/handout. If you’re interested in learning more about any of the individual projects I am happy to share more information with you after the presentation today.
Gulf Region Grantees:
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Artist Boat Galveston, Texas, $24,853 "How Do You Back the Bay?" will provide 40-50 middle school students with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) project-based and experiential learning where they will learn how watersheds are physically connected to the Bay and how actions taken at a local level will improve water quality regionally. Mississippi State University-Gulf Coast Community Design Studio Biloxi, Mississippi, $25,096 "Getting to Know the Magnolia Bayou through Science, Arts and Culture" will provide 50 students and 2 teachers with STEAM watershed education through learning about watershed dynamics, impacts of stormwater runoff on water quality and quantity, and the important role of watershed planning and action.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Future? The hope is that this pilot project can lay the groundwork for future NOAA collaboration with ED. However, there are currently lots of uncertainties regarding both funding and implementation: 21stCCLC has been proposed for elimination in FY18, FY17 budget still uncertain If 21st CCLC continues, highly likely the STEM work will continue to be a priority My colleague at ED, Ellen Lettvin concludes her fellowship in September, no one currently identified to take over the STEM portfolio Our OED cooperative agreement with NMSF ends in early 2018, so we also need to explore alternative mechanisms to do this work Of course, also funding uncertainties for B-WET and OED, which would impact our capacity to implement All interagency agreements have been for a single year at a time, and we have not yet been invited to begin work on a new agreement. I can provide the Council with updates as they are available.
< B-WET New England
Questions?
Bronwen Rice, B-WET National Coordinator 202-482-6797 [email protected]
NOAA B-WET Program website: http://www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet NMSF NOAA-21stCCLC Program Info: https://www.marinesanctuary.org/blog/interagency-partnership-allows-new-stem-environmental-education-grants/
Cathy Green, B-WET Great Lakes 989-766-3458 [email protected]
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Presenter
Presentation Notes
Contacts – credit to Cathy Green, Amy, and the rest of the B-WET program managers
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