Press Release
September 2002
Northwest Girls Get Support from National Science Foundation
BOTHELL, WA - Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology
(PSCTLT) has announced receipt of a $99,982 grant from the National Science
Foundation's STEM Pathways, a gender-equity program that funds efforts
to motivate and support girls' interest in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM).
The grant was awarded to Puget Sound Center, which will work with the
Northwest Girls Coalition, a collaboration of organizations serving Northwest
girls. PSCTLT will provide an additional $50,000 to fund the effort to encourage
collaboration between existing STEM activities and support services for
girls in Washington and Oregon. PSCTLT is a private, non-profit information
and communications technology training collaboration between Edmonds and
Shoreline Community Colleges and is funded by corporate contributions,
private endowment and government grants.
According to Karen Peterson, PSCTLT's Director of Diversity in Technology, "As
we began working on a grant proposal, we identified more than 25 organizations
in Washington State alone that provide valuable but uncoordinated support
services to motivate and support girls' interest in STEM careers. It became
clear to us that what Washington and Oregon needed was not a new, competing
program but rather a way to coordinate the efforts of existing programs.
We want to make sure that girls learn about the wonderful opportunities
already available to them—and to continue to improve these opportunities
through cooperation."
The grant-funded effort will produce a resource guide of all STEM programs
for girls in Washington and Oregon and will help such organizations network
and collaborate to share resources. Activities will include ongoing forums
and virtual conferences, as well as creating an online resource database.
In addition, standardized tools will be developed to help Northwest STEM programs measure their own effectiveness. Twenty-two organizations will
receive grants of $1,000 each to try out and report on the value of these
new evaluation methods. Results will be used to design a national program
replication guide for other states. All work on the program must be completed
by February 2004.
Project management will be collaborative. Peterson of PSCTLT will direct
the project. Louise Stevens, former Project Manager with the U.S. Department
of Education, will lead outreach efforts. Francine Lindner, Research Associate,
Education, Career and Community Program will guide the Northwest Regional
Laboratory’s assessment and evaluation team. And, Patricia MacGowan,
state director of Washington Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement
(MESA), will lead the mini-grant process.
The project will be under the guidance of a Champions Board made up of
individuals such as Dr. Denise Denton, Dean of the College of Engineering
at the University of Washington, current presidents of the state Math and
Science teacher associations, and representatives from both the Washington
and Oregon state education departments.
A daylong kick off celebration and information forum will be held on Friday, September 27th at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus. For more information, contact at Puget Sound Center, 425.368.1028.