The Governor’s STEM Advisory Council at the Iowa Department of Education is asking developers and providers of exemplary STEM programs to apply to compete for scaling their PK-12 program(s) statewide during the 2025-26 academic year.
STEM Scale-Up programs empower educators to provide students with a diverse range of STEM units and activities, serving over 100,000 students each year in school, afterschool and in other educational settings. More than one million PK-12 Iowa students have taken part in a STEM Scale-UP offering since its inception in 2012.
“Scale-Up lowers the barrier to entry to try something new for our schools, our educators, and most importantly our students, by providing opportunities that can be scaled in both rural and urban learning environments, said Justin Lewis, Bureau Chief for Iowa STEM.
The STEM Scale-Up Program aims to bring world-class STEM education opportunities to all learners, especially those historically underserved, as well as training and support for educators. STEM Scale-Up participants who graduated from high school between 2017 and 2021 were more likely to choose a STEM major in college than students who did not participate in the program.
Program providers will be selected based on statewide and regional strategic priorities that are aligned to workforce needs, including but not limited to:
- Agricultural science
- Applied engineering
- Computational thinking
- Ecology and energy education
- Mathematics
- STEM and arts integration
- STEM careers (especially with local context)
- STEM programming that integrates into existing curriculum
- Transdisciplinary (integrated) STEM
“Through the Scale-Up program, we seek to broaden student engagement in STEM subjects and forge connections with key industries and career fields prevalent in Iowa, including agriculture, advanced manufacturing, information technology, finance, and medical sciences among others,” said Lewis. “As part of the Iowa Department of Education, we are seeking innovative ideas that align with these objectives. We encourage program providers to present their most compelling offerings to Iowa educators, contributing to the advancement of STEM education and fostering a brighter future.”
Applications for program providers for the STEM Scale-Up Program for the 2025-26 school year will be accepted through Sept. 10, at 4:59 p.m. Selected programs will be announced in November. Educator applications for Iowa teachers are set to open in January 2025.
Resources for applicants including FAQs and a webinar recording can be found on the Department's website. Please direct any additional questions about Iowa STEM’s Scale-Up program to Sarah Derry, South Central Region STEM Manager, at Sarah.Derry@drake.edu.