INTERCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

Visioncoders is a federal program that implements a new eighth grade computer science course being developed by idra and bexar county school districts. In this course, middle school students who are in at-risk situations will become software designers who create educational games for pre-kindergarten through second grade students in their communities. Visioncoders also integrates focused teacher training through rigorous professional development. Participating school districts include edgewood, harlandale, san antonio and south san antonio isd's.

Epf ii - the grant, which is funded by the kresge foundation, supports idra's efforts to build capacity and sustainability for an education policy fellowship for early and mid-career professionals to engage in state-level advocacy concerning issues around building and expanding college pathways. Dsec - the defense stem education consortium (dsec) named the alamo stem ecosystem (ase) as one of four stem education hubs in the united states, idra co-leads san antonio's ase, which brings together educators, community leaders and industry partners to expand opportunities for k-16 students. Through this partnership, the alamo stem hub will provide and scale up meaningful stem activities for underperforming students across san antonio and provide students and educators with exposure to educational and workforce development opportunities as well as awareness about career opportunities in stem fields. Cgest - under the leadership of idra as part of the department of defense stem education consortium , the cgest program provided professional development to enhance excellence and opportunity in stem education. The program aimed to recruit 40 to 48 educators for professional development across all facets of stem education. This initiative included two main sessions featuring in-person boot camps at arizona state university and morgan state university. These sessions were dedicated to the development and implementation of stem action plans. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to earn a micro credential, further validating their expertise and commitment of fostering stem educational environments. Nextgen - u.s. Department of agriculture (usda) nextgen project. Idra was awarded a grant by the usda over five years to serve as the meta-evaluator for the national institute of food and agriculture's (nifa) "from learning to leading: cultivating the next generation of diverse food and agriculture professionals program" (nextgen). The nextgen program's focus on investment in institutions of higher education supports efforts to build and sustain the next generation of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences workforce by providing student scholarship support, meaningful paid internships, fellowships, and job opportunity matching. Amb - this amb grant, funded by the methodist healthcare ministries, implements the idra digital ambassadors program in the rio grande valley (rgv). The program is a community-based program that aims to empower rgv communities through youth-led technology training. The program also seeks to bridge the digital divide by transforming students into leaders and technology trainers for their local communities. Idra's innovative program is structured in three pivotal phases: research of community technology training needs, mastery of those skills, and community training. Initially, participating students will engage in comprehensive participatory action research to identify the most pressing technology needs within their community. Txp - this grant, funded by the valley baptist legacy foundation, implements the idra youth techxperts and digital ambassadors programs in the rio grande valley. Techxperts is a school-based, comprehensive student-led it help desk initiative designed to prepare students for the demands of the modern information technology (it) landscape. The program engages "at-risk" students as campus leaders, builds their stem identity, and increases the probability they will complete the stem endorsement in high school. The program seeks to improve the low participation rates of students in it fields. Sb17 - this grant, funded by the greater texas foundation, seeks to conduct actionable research on the impact on college-going students of texas sb 17 and the recent supreme court decision concerning affirmative action in higher education. The 2023 texas legislature passed senate bill 17, and the united states supreme court made it more difficult for colleges to consider race in admissions. Idra seeks to explore the impact of those laws on high school students access to college and the opportunites for college admissions, financial aid, and student support in texas higher education institutions. Specifically, idra proposes to research how these new policies impact high school students perceptions of college access and quality in texas, including the impact on their decision to apply and attend college in texas; student success programs for historically underperforming students; and admission and financial aid opportunities for those students. Gcej - this grant, funded by the amalgamated foundation, supports the work of the georgia coalition for education justice (gcej) which is led by idra. The goal is to broaden and make more authentic the education policymaking landscape by centering the voices of those mostly directly impacted by policy. Gcej engages and supports students, parents, educators, and community members to advocate policies that secure an equitable, inclusive, and high-quality public education for every student in georgia. Gcej focuses on four main issue areas: 1.) high-quality curriculum and educational practice; 2) school safety and fair school discipline; 3) opportunity and access for multilingual and immigrant students; and 4) expanded college access. Gra - this is a general operating support grant from the william and flora hewlett foundation.