Although Washington has one of the highest concentrations of jobs requiring STEM literacy, less than half of 9th graders (40%) will go on to enroll in an apprenticeship or a 1-, 2- or 4-year credential program after graduation. Key factors that increase postsecondary enrollment include dual credit programs, completing federal and state financial aid applications, and a comprehensive approach to student advising. Washington STEM’s High School to Postsecondary (“H2P”) Collaborative is a group of regional leaders and 40+ high schools across the state who aim to improve postsecondary pathways for students across the state. They do this by using high school course-taking data, postsecondary enrollment data, student and staff surveys, and student listening sessions to improve supports for students to pursue their post-high school dreams, often in high-demand STEM careers.

When you’re imagining the world you want to create, you need to get out of old routines. And sometimes, that means you need to pick up the scissors and glue.

Washington STEM is joining Native education experts from across the state to support Maximum Representation – an effort to fully represent multiracial/multiethnic students in data sets and solve the interlocking problems of undercounted Native students and underfunded Native education.

New research shows that principal turnover increased significantly since the pandemic, affecting under-resourced schools in both urban and rural settings. Washington STEM partnered with University of Washington College of Education researchers to curate and make sense of the data and to connect the findings to stakeholders and policy makers. The STEM Teaching Workforce blog series (see Teacher Turnover blog) highlights the recent research to support improving workforce diversity.