Welcome
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CT Science 4 Kids is a dynamic not-for-profit science education organization dedicated to strengthening, enriching, and enhancing Connecticut’s public school students academic experience and cultural competence through out-of-school informal student-centric STEM learning opportunities. Over the last 16 years, we have developed a successful strategic learning model that is rooted in the belief that educational equity that maximizes individual potential can be achieved in Connecticut through collaborative programs involving participating school districts, businesses, institutions, universities, industries, entrepreneurs, and the not-for-profit community. All PK-12 programs are centered on the Next Generation Science Standard’s Three Dimensional Learning Model. They are designed to extend the school day/year, enrich the traditional curriculum, and empower students to become responsible, contributing, and engaged citizens in today’s global economy.
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The Need
In an ever-changing complex world, the nation’s youth must be prepared to utilize content knowledge to solve problems, communicate, collaborate, make sense of information, and know how to gather/evaluate appropriate evidence to support their decision making and conclusions in ways that will serve them throughout their educational, professional, and personal lives. It is clearly evident that if the United States is to maintain its place as a world leader, American students must “lead the pack” in science and math. However, data gathered from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), National Science Foundation (NSF), and US Department of Education indicates the country is lagging behind in this effort to produce world class STEM leaders. In a recent comparison of academic performance in 57 countries, United States students placed in the middle of the pack with 16 other industrialized countries scoring above the United States in science, and 23 scoring above us in math. Despite numerous and ongoing local, state, and federal efforts, women and students of color remain critically under-represented in STEM fields.
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A Microsoft survey sheds further light on student attitudes towards STEM education in public schools.
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CT Kids Fueling the Future students creating solar powered cars.
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Connecticut continues to experience persistent inequities in access, participation, and success in educational outcomes along racial, socioeconomic, gender, and geographic lines. This troubling fact is especially pronounced in STEM and the related healthcare fields.
The Challenge
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Our challenge is to improve access to, and engage every Connecticut student in high quality STEM education, both in and outside the classroom to enhance student learning, interest, and motivation. Data gathered from numerous studies indicates high quality STEM-focused out of school initiatives are especially effective in introducing, complementing and reinforcing school day learning. importantly, research indicates that college students often cite such experiences as primary factors in selecting STEM as a career choice.
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The Mission: Our Work
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CT Science 4 Kids primarily explores private, state, and federal funding sources to develop and provide out of school programs for diverse school districts throughout the state. In the past CT Science 4 Kids provided CSDE funded programs in collaboration with industry leaders, universities, professional groups, entrepreneurs, and other not for profit organizations. Most recently this funding has allowed us to provide ten programs at no cost to families during the 2016-17 school year.
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Dynamic Careers in Aquaculture students collecting samples for a lesson on biodiversity.
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Each program was designed to:
- Bring together a diverse population of students from rural, suburban, and urban communities,
- Successfully activate young inquiring minds toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,
- Provide meaningful opportunities to practice the ability to value diversity, exhibit sensitivity to cultural issues, and interact/communicate with others whose background may be different than their own.
Urgency fuels our efforts to continue to provide programming meeting these objectives in the near term while identifying and implementing new strategies for improving student learning and achievement. CT Science 4 Kids collaborated with numerous school districts and other not-for-profit organizations to submit proposals for inter-district programs to CSDE for the 2017-18 school year. In light of Connecticut’s budgetary crisis the likelihood of severe cuts to these available grant funds and therefore our organization will very actively seek out other sources of funding.
