K-12 Educational Access

The Center for the Literary Arts is a transformational hub for creative writing and translation, as well as different forms of literary arts and creative practice across Washington University and the St. Louis community. As an initiative of the Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan, the Center explores all the ways in which literary art and creative practice can change the world around us. It seeks to unite communities within and beyond academia by reimagining vital literary art-making for the 21st century locally and globally.

Through its partnerships with local schools and its work to bridge research and practice, the Institute for School Partnership (ISP) at WashU is closing the education gap for tens of thousands of students in under-resourced schools. ISP has helped boost math and science learning, raise standardized test scores, increase teachers’ confidence in teaching STEM, and improve students’ self-confidence and development of career goals.

Advancing Secondary Science Education through Tetrahymena (ASSET) is an NIH SEPA funded science education outreach program at Washington University in St. Louis. ASSET has developed a variety of modular science education materials designed to stimulate hands-on, inquiry-based learning of fundamental biological concepts for all grade levels. Among the aims outlined in the grant for the program is reaching populations traditionally underrepresented in science in the St. Louis area.

The Science Media Fellowship program at WashU Medicine’s McDonnell Genome Institute supports local high school students interested in science, journalism, public policy, and more. Additionally, the program shares with students how stories told about science influence public perception and public policy.

The Young Scientist Program brings historically-excluded groups in science to scientific resources and scientists directly from the St. Louis area. The program does this through “hands-on scientific demonstrations in local classrooms, field trips to the Washington University campuses, dissemination of teaching kits containing pre-planned lessons, individual and personalized mentoring, and loaning or donating laboratory equipment to classrooms in need.”

Studio: TESLA, which stands for Teaching Engineering in the St. Louis Area, serves as an after-school clinic for underserved youth in the St. Louis area. It is WashU student-run and works to build STEAM literacy through hands-on design challenges.

Since 2007, the Alberti Program has brought young people from across the St. Louis region to the Washington University campus for a hands-on experience tackling 2- and 3-dimensional problems in architectural design, with an eye toward the greater environment. They are introduced to the field of architecture through lectures, discussions, and reviews about design projects. They explore campus and connect with WashU graduate and undergraduate students, who serve as teaching assistants.

The Shaw Institute for Field Training (SIFT) program is an introductory training program designed to engage St. Louis 10th-12th graders in scientific exploration of the natural world, in collaboration with Shaw Nature Reserve. The program provides virtual and in-person training. Students are able paid and given transportation to these sites. Opportunities include species management, habitat restoration, and plant and animal inventories.

Partnering with K-12 schools, WashU bridges research and practice to provide educators with the resources of the mySci curriculum. The mySci approach empowers schools to cultivate curiosity-driven education that is accessible to all students. Schools can volunteer to be a mySci partner as WashU provides the materials.

STEMpact District Immersion (DI) is an ambitious effort launched by the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis (ISP) to support school districts in creating systemic change in mathematics education.