STEM for All

Leena Bakshi MCLean, Ed.D., is the founder and executive director of STEM4Real, a nonprofit focused on justice-centered, culturally relevant STEM education. With experience as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator, she has consistently shaped educational practices through an equity lens. Dr. McLean also hosts the Teaching STEM #4Real Podcast and is a sought-after international speaker, consultant, and advisor to schools and organizations.

• About the Author xvAcknowledgments xviiForeword by Dr. Tyrone B. Hayes xxiIntroduction xxiiiCRT, CRT, or CRT? Culturally Responsive Teaching versus Culturally Relevant Teaching versus Critical Race Theory xxviThe STEM Equity Odometer xxviiiAn Open Invitation to Reflect on Anti-Racism in STEM xxxviPart 1 Connect 11 What Is Your Why? Our Vision 4 Justice in STEM Education 3Recognize 5Dismantle 10Rebuild 122 Creating Your Squad: The Professional Learning Squad 15Everyone Has a Culture 17Culture of Power Dynamics 18Crafting Your Squad 19Building Collective Definitions 22Finding a Seat at the Table 23Building My Own Table, through STEM4Real 243 Who Are My Students? The Case-Study Student Analysis 27Exploring the Case-Study Student Analysis Protocol 28Case-Study Student Analysis through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Lens 30Why Are Students of Color Pushed Away from STEM? 34Why Do This Part? What Does the Research Say about Case-Study Student Analysis? 36A Window into the Student Is Their Family 37The CASEL Framework: Social-Emotional Learning Is STEM Learning 39Incorporating Cultural Relevance as a Tool for Engagement 40Say My Name: Do Systems Stifle Relationship Building in STEM? 42Implications for Increasing the School-to-STEM Pathways 434 It Takes a Village: The Families and Communities of My Context 45Who Are Our Students? Leveraging Demographic Data 46Data as a Storyteller 48What’s Not in the Data? Conducting an Ethnographic Tour 49Community Knowledge and Environmental Science 51Survey of STEM Resources 52STEM and Social Media 53Who Is Responsible for STEM? 54Expanded Learning Programs 55Curriculum and Community: Consequences of Omitting the Community 55Creating Access to STEM for All through Project-Based Learning 57STEM through the Eyes of Community Events 57Part 2 Create 615 Culturally Responsive Phenomena: Standard-Hook–Society (SHS) 63Think about a Moment in Your Teaching. What Worked? What Didn’t Work? 64What Is Phenomenon-Based STEM? 64Phenomenon versus Topic 65From Phenomenon to Culturally Responsive Phenomenon 67Standard 67Hook 68Society 70What Is the Why behind Your Instruction? 72Additional Standards to Consider 73The Phenomenon Find! 74Intentional Inquiry versus Activity for Activity’s Sake and Whiz-Bang Science 746 Creating Justice-Centered STEM: The 3D5E Instructional Learning Sequence 77The DO-KNOW-THINK Framework and 3-Dimensional Learning 79Dimension 1: DO (More Than Just the Scientific Method) 80Dimension 2: KNOW Core Learning Content through a Justice-Centered Lens 83Dimension 3: Think across the Content with the Cross-Cutting Concepts 84The Great Dreamstorm 86The 5E Instructional Design 87The 3D5E Instructional Learning Sequence Planner 89What Culturally Responsive Teaching Is Not 917 Anticipate and Assess: Bursting the Bubble 95Creating a 3D Assessment 96The Do-Know-Think Frame 98Brainstorm All the Ways to Elicit Student Sense-Making 98What Do Students Already Know? 99It’s Not about the Answer; It’s about the Question 99CER and the Evidence-Gathering Organizer 102Project-Based Learning 104Student Voice and Student Choice 108Modeling Iteration: Assess, Revise, Assess Again 108The Worksheet Is Not Working: STEM Notebooking 111Anticipate Student Responses 1138 Observe and Debrief: Opening Our Classrooms for Student Learning 119Creating a Mindset for Open Doors 121Creating Indicators for Observation 122Forms of Data Collection 126The #4Real Observation Tool: Observation in Collaboration versus Evaluation 126Universal Design for Learning and Teaching for Robust Understanding 128Case-Study Student Analysis: Observation Stage 131Observation and Anti-Racism 132Debriefing the Observation: From Evaluative to Collaborative 133How Does Your Observation Connect to the Student Work Artifact? 1349 Diving into Student Work: How Are Students Demonstrating Their Understanding? 137Recap of Our Journey: From Connecting to Creating 138A Note on Equitable Grading 139Grading versus Analyzing 141Refer Back to Your 3D Learning Goal 142Reconnect to the Lesson Debrief 145Tools for Self-Assessment 147Universal Design for Learning and the CAST UDL Guidelines 147NGSS Evidence Statements 148Metacognition 149Example Meta-Strategic Questions 150Analysis of Student Work as an Act of Justice 150Part 3 Cultivate 15310 Classroom Culture, Discourse, Identity, and Belonging 155Audit 155Belonging 157Cultivate the Culture 159It’s Never Too Early for STEM! 160Special Education: Co-Plan, Co-Teach, Co-Assess, Co-Conspire 162Emergent Multilingual Learner (EML) Instruction and Newcomers 163Alternative Populations, Community Schools, and Court Schools 166Putting It All Together: Discourse: Giving Them Something to Talk About 168Academic Discourse around Social Justice Issues 170Discourse Connected to the Science and Engineering Practices (Do) 17111 The Culture of STEM: Indigenous and Ancestral Knowledge 177Honoring Indigenous Cultures 178Immerse in the Culture 180Redefine the Native Narrative 181Explore the Similarities and Differences 181Storytelling and Wayfinding Protocol 182The Nā Hopena A‘o (HA) Framework 184Is the Environment Racist? Environmental Justice 185Community, Culture, and Normalizing STEM 187Tokenization of Indigenous Cultures 188Nurturing and Creating an Authentic Sense of Belonging 18912 STEM Teachers Are Not Exempt: Anti-Racism, Anti-Bias, and Cultural Responsiveness 191Use of Street Data versus Standardized Data to Inform and Revolutionize 192Black Students Matter 192Black-Escalation Effect 193Changing the Narrative through Reframing 194Conduct the Racial Stereotypes Activity (Modified for STEM4Real) 195LGBTQ in STEM 195Revolutionary STEM Teaching 197Service Learning as an Act of Anti-Bias in STEM 198STEM or STEAM? 199Make It Happen with Maker Education 199Computer Science, Coding, and AI in STEM 201Hip-Hop Hooray! 202Hip-Hop Ed Argumentation Protocol 203Anti-Racist Collaborative Work via Student Grouping 204Expanded Learning Needs to Expand 206Critical Race Theory as the Boogeyman 207The Systems Game 208Part 4 Commit to STEM for All 21113 Leading and Coaching 4 JUSTICE: Transforming STEM Education 213Recognizing Systemic Racism 214Recognizing Situations 215Dismantle Inequitable and Racist Systems 217Examples of Dismantling 219Rebuild 220Multi-Tiered System of Support: Focus on STEM 222The “Can’t Fail” Experiment: A Tool for Innovation 224Questions to Ask Your Organization 226Next Steps: Standards, Initiatives + Anti-Racism & Justice: You Don’t Have to Choose 226STEM and Early Learning 227School-to-STEM Career Pathways 228Sitting in Compliance or Standing Up for Justice 229Afterword 231Stem for All, #4real 233References 235Index 237