VPOST is proud to be a part of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative, working to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs over the next five years. The Million Girls Moonshot is an initiative of the STEM Next Opportunity Fund.

This is the first of a new newsletter series from VPOST, Moonshot Monday. Twice a month, every other Monday, we will release a newsletter filled with resources and opportunities to better engage girls in STEM. We will also have this information available on our Resource Exchange website, to make it easily available to you.

The month of August is focused on cultural relevance. We know that creating an equity-focused mindset is the beginning step in creating a more inclusive and empowering STEM learning environment. 

Check out these resources:

• Recorded Webinar: Equity in STEM Education: The Connection to Culture - When you think about diversity; how does it show itself? Join the National Girls Collaborative Project to learn about research-based best practices on cultural responsiveness. A powerful approach that spans the cultural divide that often exists between educators and students and allows educators to improve STEM engagement and equity.

• ToolKit: A Guide to Equity and Antiracism for Educators - A toolkit with links to additional resources related to current events and a guide for educators on how to fight racism in their communities. 

• Videos: Culturally Responsive: Educator Mindset and Action - Short videos of educators that describe what it means to have a culturally responsive mindset with examples of specific culturally responsive practices in action. 

• Personal Reflection: Test Yourself for Hidden Bias - Information about stereotypes and prejudices and the impact they have on students. It includes a link to "Project Implicit", a test to identify your implicit biases.

• Research: Focusing on Cultural Competency in STEM Education - White paper that provides an overview of cultural competency in STEM education. It describes: a) stages and steps of cultural competency, b)culturally responsive teaching practices, and c) strategies for developing a culturally responsive out-of-school STEM program.

• Video: Gloria Ladson-Billings Reframes the Racial Achievement Gap - G. Ladson -Billings gave a talk at the 2007 Urban Sites Network Conference in Washington D.C. where she discussed the term, "racial achievement gap" as a construct that considers students as defective and lacking. Instead, she says to approach the achievement gap with a "debt-mindset" instead of a "deficit-mindset" that emphasizes that the achievement gap is complex and systemic.