STEMulating Youth, Inc.
ENGAGING OUR YOUTH IN SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATH
STEMulating Youth, Inc. grew out of an interactive after school program of the same name. Our goal is to promote STEM-literacy in our 21st century citizens. As the Virginia Department of Education noted, STEM-literacy is the ability to identify and acknowledge STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts and processes in everyday life.
Why is this important?
America’s youth are deficient in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In particular, current classroom format and information delivery is not reaching a vast majority of our students. Our students need extra educational services so that their peers do not leave them behind.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in 2019, the average math score of Virginia’s fourth-grade students was 247 (from a scale of
0 – 500). This was higher than the average score of 240 for public school students in the nation. |
In the same year, eighth-grade Virginia students averaged 287 math score. This was not significantly different from the average score of 281 for public school in the nation (NAEP, 2019).
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Virginian 4th graders’ science proficiency level (last reported by NAEP in 2015), was 50%. This percentage was greater than the nation's 37%.
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Virginian 8th grade students who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level was 40% in 2015. This percentage was greater that the nation's 33% (NAEP, 2019).
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