An ecosystem of pathways to data science on the south side of chicago

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded the University of Chicago $1.426 million on October 1, 2025, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to establish a data science learning ecosystem on Chicago's South Side through four entry-point pathways: high school after-school programming at Gary Comer College Prep and Olive-Harvey Middle College High School; in-school introductory data science courses at the high schools; a community college data science certificate or Associate's degree at Olive-Harvey Community College; and a university-level data science minor and major at Chicago State University.

The project runs through September 30, 2028, with performance in Chicago, Illinois. The University of Chicago Data Science Institute leads a collaboration that includes Olive-Harvey Community College, Olive-Harvey Middle College High School, Gary Comer College Prep High School, Chicago State University, and Xchange Chicago. Partners will co-create programs aligned on data science content, experiential and authentic projects, ethics, and pathway progression guidance. Learning objectives span data literacy and the data science lifecycle, coding, and foundational mathematics and statistics, assessed through rubrics, questionnaires, and interviews. The project will produce program descriptions with adaptation guidance, implementation guidance, ecosystem documentation with strategies for replication elsewhere, and examples of authentic data science projects.

Sub-recipients include Chicago State University (sub-award February 26, 2026) and P33 (sub-award March 30, 2026), which participate in implementing the four-pathway model and developing dissemination products across the ecosystem.

Abstract

Data science is a transformative field that has impacted virtually every aspect of society. Providing widespread data science education is essential for cultivating a skilled and engaged workforce while ensuring national competitiveness in this rapidly growing domain. This project is a collaboration between the university of chicago, olive-harvey community college and middle college high school, gary comer educational campus, chicago state university, and xchange chicago to establish pathways to data science learning and careers for youth on chicago's south side. The work will focus on engaging youth in the community with the goal of increasing their understanding of data science and to increase the number of individuals prepared to work in data science related fields. Over the duration of the project, the partners will build a south side ecosystem, deepen partnerships, and implement improvements informed by ongoing evaluation. Four pathway entry points will be created: a) high school after-school programming; b) high school introductory data science courses; c) community college data science certificate; and d) university-level data science minor and major. This project includes assessments of the student learning and evaluations of program activities. Each partner will leverage the others' assets to CO-create programs with four common elements: a) aligned data science content; b) experiential projects; c) explicit attention to ethics; and d) guidance on pathway progression. Assessed learning objectives represent content areas including data literacy and the data science lifecycle, coding, and foundational mathematics and statistics. Data will be collected through rubrics, questionnaires and interviews. Through these efforts, the project will address critical gaps in data science education and provide real-world learning opportunities while contributing to the development of a competitive and skilled national workforce. This award is jointly sponsored by the division of research on learning in formal and informal settings and the division of undergraduate education within the directorate for stem education. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.