Project SCORE: youth research and STEM self-efficacy
A Mississippi youth participatory action and near-peer mentoring pipeline was feasible and well liked, with modest non-significant gains in STEM self-efficacy and career interest.
Source
Project SCORE (Student-Centered Outcomes Research Experience)
Study at a glance
- Design
- Other — Educational program description/evaluation of a student-centered outcomes-research experience
- N
- Program evaluation; primary student N not extracted
- Population
- Students in an outcomes-research training experience
- Outcome
- Student experience and outcomes in a student-centered research program
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Project SCORE: youth research and STEM self-efficacy
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109 teens enrolled from 2021 to 2025.
Project SCORE met its recruitment goal, as teen participant enrollment included 109 total students from 2021 to 2025.
Just under half (47%) completed both pre and post surveys.
While 109 students have participated in the program, just under half (47%) completed both the pre and post survey.
What they did
Project SCORE engaged high-school teens through community partners in youth participatory action research with near-peer mentors, collecting pre/post surveys on STEM self-efficacy, career interest, health literacy, belonging, and program satisfaction across academic-year and summer components.
What they found
109 teens enrolled from 2021–2025. Completers attended well; pre–post differences were not statistically significant, though trends favored STEM self-efficacy, STEM career interest, and public-health communication, with a small health-literacy decrease. Satisfaction and belonging were strong; summer camp respondents were highly positive.
The limits
What it doesn't show
It is not a randomized efficacy trial, completion of paired surveys was incomplete, and modest trends cannot establish causal effects of YPAR or mentoring on STEM outcomes.
Key terms
- Youth participatory action research (YPAR)
- Approach in which youth lead research on issues that affect them rather than serving only as subjects.
- Near-peer mentoring (NPM)
- Mentoring by slightly more advanced students, such as undergraduates mentoring high-schoolers.
- STEM self-efficacy
- Confidence in one’s ability to succeed in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics tasks.
- Pipeline program
- Enrichment pathway intended to support underrepresented students toward STEM/health careers.
- Health literacy
- Ability to obtain, understand, and use health-related information.
- Sense of belonging
- Feeling accepted and valued within the program community.
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What is Project SCORE’s core model?
Common questions
How many teens participated?
109 students enrolled across 2021–2025.
Were outcome changes statistically significant?
No; authors report no statistically significant pre–post differences, with favorable trends on several STEM measures.
What instructional model was used?
Youth participatory action research combined with near-peer mentoring in community settings.
What limited the outcome analyses?
Just under half completed both pre and post surveys.
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