GEOPATHS: Kansas City's Pipeline Strategy for Minority Students from High School to College

GEOPATHS is an innovative collaborative program between the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) College of Arts and Sciences, UMKC School of Education, and the Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD), which seeks to increase the number of under-represented minority students majoring in geoscience fields at institutions across the state of Missouri that are partners in the Louis Stokes Missouri Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-MoAMP). The GEOPATHS program includes implementation of two years of high quality, professional development in geoscience content and inquiry pedagogy for middle and high school teachers of the KCMSD and the KC metro area; mentoring of high school teachers by university professors for dual-credit, environmental science courses; summer research internships for high school students with geoscience professors; lectures and visits to community colleges and secondary schools by professors and industry professionals to provide information about career opportunities in the geosciences; and scholarships for incoming freshman and community college transfer students who chose to major in the geosciences at any of the LS-MoAMP partner schools. The KCMSD is an urban district with a rich ethnic and cultural diversity. Approximately 67% of the student population is African American and17% is Hispanic. The GEOPATHS program addresses pipeline issues by developing and supporting programs for pre-college students from underrepresented groups to explore geoscience fields and careers while they are still in school including the Students as Scholars program which provides summer internships for high school students. Core curriculum issues that are currently preventing students from being prepared for college-level coursework is addressed by providing content and pedagogy assistance to middle and high school teachers. Through these pipeline strategies our goal is to increase minority participation in the geosciences at all levels.