Research study on school science fairs (March 31, 2016)

Dear Fair Directors,

I am a researcher at Education Development Center in Waltham, MA. Our organization has been funded by the National Science Foundation to conduct a four-year, national study of school-level science fairs. We are working with schools across the country, and I’m trying to identify some middle schools in Iowa to participate during the 2016–17 school year.

We are specifically looking for middle schools that hold a school-level science fair, serve grades 6–8 only, and include at least some 6^th-graders in their school science fair. Do you happen to know if any schools that participate in the Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair would fit that criteria?

I have attached some information about our project that details what participation would entail — for example, we’ll gather information in a variety of ways (surveys, observation of the science fair event, student assessment) from a variety of people (administrators, teachers, students, and parents.) Study participants in a school will receive a combined total of up to $2,255 (depending on the number of participants) in appreciation for their contributions.

If you do know of schools that might be eligible and interested, they can also fill out an application at

http://go.edc.org/sciencefairstudyapplication

Thank you in advance for any assistance, and please feel free to call or email me with any questions.

Best,
Erica

Erica Fields
Research Associate
Science and Mathematics Programs
Education Development Center, Inc.
43 Foundry Avenue
Waltham, MA 02453
ph: 617–618–2704
email:
web: www.edc.org