When Spider Webs Unite, They Can Tie Up a Lion: A Partnership to Tackle Achievement Gaps Through Increased Opportunity

Imagine two seventh-grade students from communities of color and low socioeconomic backgrounds, of whom at least one is an English-language learner1 (ELL). Both are likely disenfranchised from avenues to success and the ability to see themselves as capable of great things. These students attend school in the largest school districts in Colorado. As part of their seventh-grade science class, they participate in a program called Urban Advantage Metro Denver (UA Denver), which provides them the opportunity to work on a self-selected science project. Their projects are inspired by field trips to three local, science-based cultural institutions, where they are challenged to embrace the experience like scientists, making observations, asking questions, and brainstorming a scientific project they can conduct, based on their own interests.