NSF Award
2217344
The Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education and STEM (CIRCLES) Alliance builds on the collaborative efforts of an existing partnership among six EPSCoR states - Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming - to address the severe underrepresentation of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and within the STEM workforce. Through intentional collaboration with STEM and traditional knowledge holders, including AI/AN students, faculty and staff, and Indigenous communities, this project aims to develop and sustain a national model for centering Indigenous, culturally responsive educational approaches and practices in STEM to enhance inclusivity, increase participation, and build capacity among AI/AN STEM educators and other professionals. The CIRCLES Alliance is establishing a system of place-based educational resources and activities, teacher professional development, and student supports to effect change in the awareness of, and support for, culturally relevant STEM education.<br/><br/>Research has considered the marginalization of AI/AN students in STEM due to an inherent epistemological conflict between mainstream STEM educational contexts and AI/AN identity, traditional knowledge, and ways of knowing. The CIRCLES Alliance is addressing this challenge. The network of experts, institutions, and communities in these six states, which represent 10.5% percent of the Nation’s AI/AN population, participate in a Networked Improvement Community to develop an evidence-based model of working hand- in-hand with tribal communities to enhance STEM education through the integration of Indigenous ways of knowing. Each of the CIRCLES Alliance states has AI/AN representation and established relationships with tribes, tribal colleges and universities, and professionals engaged in working within tribal communities. This project will generate tangible resources and new partnerships by building a repository of culturally relevant K-12 STEM curricular materials and providing tailored supports and learning opportunities for students, faculty, and staff involved in STEM disciplines and the STEM workforce. <br/><br/>This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion, and broadening participation in STEM at scale. The Alliance is jointly funded by the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
