Ignited (formerly Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education)

Each year, Ignited aims to: 1) increase teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching, ensuring good teachers remain in schools through teacher retention; 2) increase teachers' efficacy in teaching STEM content and modern workplace skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity in problem solving; 3) increase student engagement and enthusiasm for STEM subjects, leading to long-term persistence in STEM education and STEM careers; 4) support underserved students by connecting them to promising STEM career pathways, leading to successful career outcomes for these students as well as increased diversity in the STEM workforce.

Ignited's programs give teachers the direct experience with industry they need to teach students about cutting-edge STEM content, as well as modern workplace skills such as collaboration and creative problem solving. Teachers return to their classrooms better prepared to advise their students about in-demand career pathways in STEM. We also give teachers the paid time and support they need to participate in professional development programming (many teachers pay for professional development out-of-pocket), and create a lesson plan to share their new knowledge with their students. This revitalizes teachers' enthusiasm for teaching, contributing to teacher retention and schools' success. We emphasize supporting underserved students by recruiting teachers from high needs schools with large proportions of free-and-reduced price meals, high student body diversity, and test scores in the lowest quartile. Through industry-aligned curriculum, year-round professional development, and relationship-building between teachers and practicing industry professionals, our approach aims to close STEM career opportunity and resource gaps for underrepresented students.

Ignited's 39 years of experience with operating programs has given us a positive reputation among both schools and companies in the Bay Area. Teachers recognize the value in building their STEM teaching skills through these experiences, which is why we see some of the region’s best educators apply year after year. These teachers return to their classrooms and spread the word to their colleagues, who apply the next year. Our long-term relationships with district and school leaders - some of whom have participated in Ignited’s programs themselves - help us promote the program across various schools. We also have many strong relationships with companies that are dedicated to supporting our work and the development of the future workforce. We continually collect feedback to improve our programs each year, and our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our programs. External and internal surveys have demonstrated that Ignited has a positive impact on teacher retention, teacher leadership, and teacher performance in the classroom. Retention rates for Ignited teachers are much higher than their peers in the state and nation, saving their districts thousands of dollars in teacher turnover costs. Teachers specifically report being “transformed” by their Ignited experiences, increasing their knowledge and confidence in STEM subjects as well as their commitment to teaching. They also report that their students are more engaged and learn better as a result of their Ignited experience.

Over the past 39 years, we’ve partnered with more than 440 companies, universities, government labs, and foundations to provide transformative experiences to over 4,100 Bay Area teachers at over 800 schools, who have gone on to impact over 4 million local students–58% of whom come from communities traditionally underrepresented in STEM.