This rubric is designed to help program administrators, designers, implementers and funders identify the critical attributes of a STEM program to determine the degree to which it is inclusive and supports access and success for students who historically have not engaged in STEM. Serving “all students” does not ensure equity, so considering how each of these attributes impacts underrepresented students in STEM and addressing those barriers will create a STEM learning environment where every student can succeed.

The Rubric

The rubric contains eight sections with research-based attributes of high-quality, equitable STEM programs.  Each attribute is defined and contains several sub-attributes that expand the user’s understanding of the attribute.  The rubric then provides criteria for what constitutes an accomplished, established, developing, and undeveloped STEM program for each sub-attribute.  Finally, each attribute lists several examples of artifacts that would demonstrate evidence of the attribute.

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How to Use the Rubric

The rubric is intended to be used primarily as a guide for program leaders to self-evaluate how well their programs meet the standards of equity in STEM education and design strategies to grow toward “accomplished” in every attribute.  The rubric could also be used by other STEM stakeholders when making funding or partnership decisions through a lens of equity.