Linlin Li ^* Chun-Wei Huang Claire Morgan Kim Luttgen Eunice Chow Shuangting Yang

• WestEd, San Francisco, United States

Rural students often face challenges receiving high-quality education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). However, without meaningful STEM educational opportunities, rural students might not develop the knowledge and skills needed to compete in a technology-driven workforce. The PROGRAM (name blinded), an innovative intervention funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) and Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Funds, addresses gaps in STEM learning in rural settings at the early high school level by supporting teaching and learning around computational thinking and real-world STEM applications. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which students were randomly assigned to the treatment (received intervention) or control group (business as usual) explored the fidelity and impact of the implementation of the PROGRAM with 9th-grade students in three rural and three high-needs high schools in California. While the quantitative analysis did not find a significant impact on student achievement, possibly due to the small sample size and the challenges of program implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic, qualitative findings highlighted several considerations for improved rural and high-needs STEM equity. For example, the PROGRAM's focus on place-built students' ability to make sense of local phenomena by applying computational thinking and coding skills and by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to develop solutions to problems related to their lives. Teachers reported that the focus on real-world applications increased student engagement and self-efficacy. At the same time, the PROGRAM built teacher self-efficacy through professional learning and sharing; teachers developed computational thinking, modeling, experiment, research, and coding skills alongside their students and increased their confidence in delivering NGSS content.