FAQs: Accelerating STEM

• The ASAP Lesson Plan Database is a FREE resource compiled of over 2,000 K-12 STEM Lessons of every topic, created by our previous Fellows, each of whom contributed at least four lessons to the collection.
• These lessons have been vetted by a small team of educators and experts, headed by Jonathan Perrone from the Arizona Education Foundation.
• These lessons will remain permanently accessible to all Arizona educators, as a high-quality resource for classrooms across the state.

• Please connect with us on social media! We can be found on…
  • Facebook: facebook.com/groups/azstemaccelerationproject
  • Instagram: instagram.com/azstemacceleration
  • Website: stemteachers.asu.edu
  • Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/ASAPYoutubeVideos 
• We always highly encourage you to share photos of your successes in STEM Education on our social media channels! Whether it's pictures from ASAP STEM Projects or exciting things currently happening in your classroom or community, we have plenty of Fellows who are always excited to see STEM acceleration in action!
• If you're one of our professional development partners or a nonprofit professional development entity here in Arizona, our Facebook group has over 1,000 teachers who would love to hear information about your upcoming events! Feel free to share exciting opportunities on there at anytime!
• If you've previously participated in the ASAP Program and would like to share and publish your success from your time in our program, feel free to reach out to your local newspaper (or various STEM journals!) If you need any help getting started on this here is a document with some brief information to pull from regarding the origins and purpose of ASAP!
  
  ASAP Information Document

The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project continues to remain open to all forms of collaboration between others invested in improving STEM Education in Arizona! Whether you would like to help fund our program or you would like to potentially be funded by us in the future, we're interested in exploring any forms of collaboration! Feel free to reach out to us at via email at stemteachers@asu.edu!

For anyone interested in pitching in to continue the work of our program, all funds we receive go directly towards...

• Creating and vetting new permanently FREE K-12 STEM lesson plans for our STEM Lesson Plan Database
• Funding new low-cost or free professional development events for teachers across the state, with an emphasis on rural and traditionally underserved communities where teachers often don't have access to high-quality STEM training
• Providing supplies and materials to teachers and classrooms across the state
• Supporting STEM Projects across the state to impact thousands of more students and communities
• And so much more!
  
  ⭐For anyone who would be willing to contribute to our ongoing mission to support teachers, students, and STEM Education across Arizona, here's the link to do so!
  
  Support ASAP
   

 A large portion of the ASAP project is academic research, with our end goal being to make a case for further funding in STEM education statewide. With the help of the University Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness at ASU (UOEEE) we've begun to measure how much impact this program has had on kids as well as teachers.

Through the statistics we've collected thus far, ASAP has impacted over 240,000 students in every Arizona county, paid out $7,560,444 directly to teachers, granted opportunities for our educators to attend 34,974 total hours of professional development, and impacted 757 schools.

See Our Impact

• Absolutely! Lesson Plans can continue to be submitted via the STEM Lesson Plans category on our webpage! While the ASAP Program seeks out additional sources of funding it may take us additional time to vet any lesson plans we receive, but our hope is to continue to be able to approve and accept lesson plans to be published to our database!
• We are extremely thankful for any additional contributions made to STEM Education via these Lesson Plans!

• STEM occupations and industry leaders continue to turn to the Arizona workforce to fill jobs requiring technical expertise, and it remains essential that we provide educated workers to fill these vacant positions. Between 2017 and 2027 alone, STEM jobs in AZ are on track to grow by 21%! Arizona remains currently unable to provide workers to fill the current vacancies in STEM fields, let alone this projected growth. Only 42% of Arizona adults possess a degree or certificate, as many lack the crucial STEM thinking skillsets needed to succeed in higher education.
• At the present time one's zipcode determines one's access to high-quality STEM education, and it remains imperative that we continue to work towards providing equitable access to education for all Arizona students.

Previously having been funded by the Department of Education in a three year grant, ASAP has transitioned to a non-fellowship period, while we search for additional sources of funding! In the meantime we are making every effort to support STEM Education across Arizona, and publish the research we have conducted thus far.

The ‘Get Set For STEM!' program funded by the Arizona Department of Education is the largest program available to educators currently!

• This scholarship program offers Arizona Educators $2,000 per year for up to three years to pursue coursework or programs that will prepare them to add a STEM area (calculus, physics, biology, etc) or a CTE Certificate, along with bolster their STEM teaching knowledge and skills.
• Any Arizona certified teachers with a current contract at an Arizona public school are eligible and encouraged to apply! Coursework must be taken through a regionally or nationally accredited secondary-education institution in Arizona, such as ASU, UA, NAU, GCU, or an Arizona Community College. In addition, scholarship recipients agree to teach in Arizona public schools for three years after completing their coursework or program.
  
  Learn More!
  
  ⭐Additional opportunities for teachers can be found on our website homepage when they arise!
  ⭐The 'Our Partners' page also contains a full gallery of our professional development partners! Click on any of the icons to be redirected to their website, where there's plenty of low cost or even FREE professional development events available!