Center on Disability Studies
2022 - 2023 Annual Report
STEM Projects Feature
CDS worked on seven STEM projects to ensure underrepresented groups (including indigenous students and individuals with disabilities) are exposed to, access, and demonstrate STEM proficiency in K-12, pursuing a STEM pathway.
The goal of the multisite cluster randomized controlled research is to scale up and evaluate a culturally responsive, accelerated, and enriched math intervention model designed to increase the number of middle school Native Hawaiian, Native American, Pacific Island, and Hispanic students, identified as “mathematically promising,” in Hawai`i, Arizona, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The overarching goal is to create a seamless and supportive STEM education pipeline for Native Hawaiian youths to bolster their aspirations to enter into postsecondary STEM fields. Ultimately, the project will enhance local capacity to support Native Hawaiian youths’ career development in STEM fields and make them future shining stars in STEM fields. It will be achieved by developing and implementing a research-based Hōkūlani Model, drawn upon social cognitive theory and mindset theory to create Native Hawaiian students’ agency to take an active role in shaping their academic and career pathways.
Project Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Twice-Exceptional students Achieving and Matriculating in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (CLD TEAMS) is an educational research study funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Gifted and Talented Education Program grant (Award No. S206A220049). Our project is run by the faculty and staff at the Center on Disability Studies, College of Education, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
The overarching goal is to develop new information to identify and provide services to underserved students in gifted education and STEM fields, particularly, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino high school students with or without disabilities, having potential in STEM in Hawaiʻi, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). We will also provide training in the identification and education of gifted students with disabilities and promote equity in student access to educational resources and opportunities.
The goal of the Ne’epapa Ka Hana 2.0 (NKH 2.0) project is to increase engagement and achievement in middle-school mathematics. NKH 2.0 was awarded grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to design and implement a technology-enabled and socio-culturally responsive curricula and training. We provide eight curriculums that centers on mathematics application in traditional and modern Hawaiian culture, values and society for 6th, 7th and 8th grade (the 8th grade curriculum was developed under the original NKH). The teacher training empowers educators to create an inclusive and social learning environment to effectively engage students in mathematics.
The goal of Nā Hokua is to support Native Hawaiian students in exploring STEM pathways and careers. Nā Hokua will provide transitioning and current postsecondary students direct academic support, financial assistance, and opportunities for career exploration in STEM fields. These supports will foster the development of skills and knowledge for students to succeed in postsecondary education, encouraging them to participate actively in their communities and discover professional opportunities in high- growth fields. Nā Hokua builds upon research into evidence-based practices for skill development and strategies for supporting diverse student populations. Nā Hokua’s goal is to provide model supports to University of Hawai‘i Community Colleges (UHCC) to improve access, retention, and program completion, resulting in outcomes of quality employment and/or admission to a four- year program of study. Project personnel will pursue participatory action research to ensure fidelity to the support framework and examine the various needs encountered by students at each UHCC site.
Nā Hokua Project: COVID Relief Initiative supports NH students in exploring STEM pathways and careers through the provision of direct academic support, financial assistance, and opportunities for career exploration in STEM fields for transitioning and current post-secondary students. These supports will foster the development of skills and knowledge for students to succeed in postsecondary education, encouraging them to participate actively in their communities and discover professional opportunities in high-growth fields. Nā Hokua builds upon research into evidence-based practices for skill development and strategies for supporting diverse student populations. Nā Hokua’s goal is to provide model supports to UHCC to improve access, retention, and program completion, resulting in outcomes of quality employment and/or admission to a four-year program of study.
Leveraging past successful NSF-funded programs focused on training STEM students with disabilities (SWD), TAPDINTO-STEM (The Alliance for Persons with Disabilities in STEM) proposes to drastically scale up these efforts to meet this challenge nationally, consisting of colleges and universities, organizations, government, and corporate partners. TAPDINTO-STEM aims to (a) Increase the number of persons with disabilities completing associate, undergraduate, and graduate degrees in STEM disciplines, and (b) Enhance communication and collaboration among post-secondary institutions, industry, government, national labs, and community in addressing the education needs of students with disabilities in STEM disciplines nationally.