INSTEM Project

This multi-year, federally funded project focuses on closing excellence and opportunity gaps for students with gifts and talents in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) who are from traditionally underserved populations in gifted education (i.e., students who are twice exceptional, English learners, from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and from low-income backgrounds).

Our Integrated STEM Talent Development Model curriculum brings together social and emotional learning and hands-on engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The program uses a schoolwide, multi-tier approach to identify students’ STEM learning potential and provide them with both the domain-specific skills and the socio-emotional skills needed to fully promote their talent development.

The project has three components: an affective curriculum component, a series of STEM enrichment activities for students, and a training program for teachers. The project’s student activities bring together social and emotional learning and hands-on engagement with STEM to inform students about STEM careers as they develop career direction, help them nurture a sense of self, develop their language skills for expressing concerns, and inspire their investment in academics in general. Through this curriculum, students use self-reflection about how they are developing cognitively, socially, and emotionally to shape their college and career goals and planning.