Chapter Highlights

This chapter examines how authentic STEM research experiences can be designed and sustained to support rural high school students through targeted mentoring, place-based learning, and community partnerships.

• Rural STEM Challenges – Highlights persistent barriers faced by rural students, including limited access to advanced STEM coursework, mentors, technology, and funding, which constrain participation in high-quality STEM research experiences.
• NC STEM Research Academy Model – Introduces the NC STEM Research Academy as a scalable and adaptable framework designed to increase rural student participation in STEM research and engineering design.
• Teacher-Led Mentorship – Positions rural teachers as key facilitators of student research, supported through professional development opportunities, stipends, and sustained institutional support that strengthen teacher–student research partnerships.
• Place-Based Learning and Funds of Knowledge – Describes how student research projects are grounded in local community needs, place-based contexts, and family and community knowledge, enabling meaningful, culturally relevant, and resource-efficient research experiences.
• Flexible and Virtual Mentoring – Explores the use of virtual mentoring, near-peer support, and locally available materials to expand access to expertise, reduce geographic constraints, and sustain high-quality STEM research experiences for rural students.