IMPACT

2022-23 IMPACT REPORT

In4All served more than 3,000 students in the 2022-23 school year. We made that impact thanks to all of the business and school partners who remained committed to our students and to our new partnerships in several Portland communities.

In total, we have 32 business-school partnerships serving students in more than 100 classrooms throughout the Portland metro area. Our industry partners are represented in the classroom by more than 500 co-learners (formerly known as volunteers) who deliver our programming and work face-to-face with students to explore what’s possible for them.

In reflection, the 2022-23 school year was about a return to normalcy after the pandemic period. We are now able to focus on our future including the addition of more business-school partnerships at the middle school and high school level to complete the pathway for students to experience our programming throughout their K-12 journey.

Below you will learn how In4All programming is making an impact at each level of that journey and how we plan to expand our reach in this current school year.

Implementing our student engagement model

The In4All student engagement model is designed to connect us with students who have been historically underserved at multiple points through their K-12 education experience. One key measure of success lies in our ability to increase the number of students impacted at each stage of this model. We also evaluate the quality of the learning experience delivered at each stage by gathering feedback from the teachers, volunteers and students involved. Here is our assessment of the 2022-23 school year.

Elementary School: Building Interest

The STEM Connect program is now in more than 100 classrooms serving 2,600 fourth and fifth grade students, making it our largest program by far. The goal of the program is to encourage and ignite interest in STEM careers and in the world of math and science through hands-on learning with such topics as acids and bases, water filtration, and kinetic energy. As one student pointed out, “STEM is important because literally everything runs with STEM!”

Educators reported their students were very engaged with the program which had a positive impact on student interest in school and STEM subjects. One educator shared “Students are so excited about science after these activities and it carriers through our other content. It’s wonderful.” We also observed students were eager to get to know the business co-learners including their role in the field and who they are as people.

As for the business co-learners, they were eager to participate and were more aware of structural barriers to education faced by our students. One co-learner told us “Students may have barriers to their education that they have to navigate and overcome, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to participate and learn.” We encourage our co-learners to bring their own lived experiences to the classroom to create a rich learning experience for students, while also challenging their own preconceived ideas of what engaged students look like.

Middle School: Finding Relevance

The Design Thinking program is now in 14 classrooms serving 435 middle school students - nearly twice as many as the previous school year. The goal of the program is to create relevance of STEM subjects for students by engaging them in a solutions-based approach to problems they see in their own communities. Over the course of 8 weeks, co-learners and students walk through the design thinking process to practice iteration, prototyping, failing forward, and leaning into a growth mindset.

The excitement in the classroom really starts in week 4 when students begin building their first prototype of the solution to the problem they have identified. In one class, a student who is interested in costume design observed, “I realized that prototyping is something I have been doing with my designs for a long time.”

In our evaluations with co-learners, the majority report having a positive experience in the classroom and enjoyed seeing the ways students were able to creatively problem-solve using the design thinking process. One co-learner remarked, “We had very limited time with them but we were still able to connect with them. It was an amazing experience.”

High School: Creating Connections

In the 2022-23 school year, In4All piloted a design thinking program with two alternative high schools where seven co-learners worked alongside 40 students in a 6-week sprint. Our goal was to provide opportunities for students to make connections to possible careers by identifying a problem space and iterating solutions.

Overall, the experience was reported to be very positive for students who were excited about their projects and discovered the connection between STEM topics and the problem spaces they identified. The educators involved have indicated they want to continue working with students on design thinking challenges in the coming school year.

Business co-learners reported that they enjoyed the experience and that it was eye-opening to see what alternative high school students face. One of the co-learners remarked, “Seeing the kids open up and also seeing the folder and their finished work was very cool. This is also a reminder about the importance to give back to the community. If you think public schools are not getting the funding they need, alternative schools really are not.”