Ultimately, BEAM's success will be measured by the number of students who enter STEM careers.  

In the interim, we track indicators that show whether students are on the pathway toward STEM success.

Middle School: Summer Growth

BEAM begins with summer programs for rising 7th and 8th graders (BEAM Discovery and BEAM Summer Away, respectively). We have three primary goals for our students:

  • Increase problem solving skills

  • Increase perseverance in problem solving

  • Increase interest in math

Problem Solving at BEAM Discovery

Standardized tests simply do not measure the kind of problem solving we aim to instill in our students, so we assess mathematical growth using national math contests. Using math contests, we see how students’ starting and ending scores compare to students who are already advanced in mathematics, as most students taking these exams are top math students (many from affluent backgrounds). (Note: Below we highlight results from our most recent in-person programs (2019). We ran our programs online in 2020 and 2021, and are planning a return to in-person summer programming in 2022.)

BEAM Discovery has used the Math League contest to measure growth. The chart below summarizes the median student’s national placement at the beginning of the summer and the end.

2019 Summer Growth, Median Percentile Ranking

Problem Solving at BEAM Summer Away

BEAM Summer Away uses the AMC 8 to measure growth. The chart below summarizes the median student’s national placement at the beginning of the summer and the end.

2019 Summer Growth, Median Percentile Ranking

Perseverance: “What’s the longest you’ve spent on a math problem?”

We measure student perseverance in problem solving by tracking the longest students have spent solving a single math problem, surveying students at the start and end of each summer.

Before BEAM Discovery, the median answer was 57 minutes. By the end of BEAM Discovery, it became 5 hours; 34% of students told us they had worked on a single problem for 1 day or more by the end of the summer.

Interest: “are you more interested in math?”

At BEAM Discovery, 81% of students reported being more interested in math after the summer.

At BEAM Summer Away, 89% of students reported being more interested in math after the summer.

High School: Providing a foundation

In New York City, BEAM examines high schools to determine which schools provide the best foundation for STEM college study. These schools, which we label Tier 1 high schools, offer Calculus* and ensure that students graduate ready for college.

Where do BEAM Students Attend High School?

Cohort Attending Tier 1 Schools Attending Tier 1, Tier 2, or Trusted Schools
2016 52% 71%
2017 56% 83%
2018 59% 68%
2019 59% 77%
2020 58% 92%
2021 56% 86%

Tier 1 high schools include: all specialized schools in NYC (such as Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech); Bard High School Early College; the Beacon School; Midwood High School; Townsend Harris High School; Millennium High School; Manhattan/Hunter Science High School; and Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, all schools that BEAM students attend.

In spring 2020, 14 BEAM students received admissions offers from NYC specialized high schools; 24% of BEAM’s Black and Latinx students who took the specialized high school admissions test earned spots at specialized high schools (compared to 4% of Black and Latinx test-takers citywide.)

*Note: Only 40% of New York City’s public high schools offer calculus. Fewer than 10% of New York City’s public high schools meet the BEAM Tier 1 criteria.

Andy.jpg

Meet Andy

Andy attended BEAM in 2013 and went on to Bronx High School of Science. He is now a third year student at CUNY’s Baruch College, where he is majoring in mathematics with a minor in computer information system.

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Meet Camila

Camila attended BEAM Discovery in 2016 and joined the BEAM Pathway Program in 2017. She went on to Bard High School Early College. She is also a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars award. Camila was recently accepted to Yale University.

College: The Pathway to STEM Success

Almost 70% of BEAM’s college cohort have earned spots at colleges ranked “very competitive” or higher by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges.

In 2020 and 2021, BEAM students were accepted at a diverse list of great-fit schools, including Brown University, Columbia University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Smith College, Stanford University, University of Chicago, and multiple schools in the City University of New York and State University of New York systems.

Here are the outcomes for the 82 BEAM students who entered college in Fall 2020.

College Type Students with One or More Acceptances
Private 4-year college 59%
SUNY 4-year college 41%
CUNY 4-year college 41%
CUNY 2-year college 6%
Gap year 2%

Our students declare majors in biology, computer science, mathematics, physics, and more.

BEAM Fatimatou

Meet Fatimatou

Fatimatou (Fatima) joined the BEAM Pathway Program in 2011. In 2014, she spent the summer at Mathworks Honors Summer Math Camp at Texas State, where she learned number theory. Fatima graduated from Manhattan College in 2020, which she attended thanks to a STEM merit scholarship. She majored in biology, on a pre-med track.

BEAM Zavier

Meet Zavier

Zavier joined the BEAM Pathway Program in 2011. In 2014, he spent the summer at All Star Code, learning to program. He spent the following summer at Microsoft, where he had a paid internship. He has since taught at a maker space, TAed computer programming for BEAM, and served as the Director of Student Life for Summer Away. Zavier graduated from the University at Albany (SUNY) in 2020, with a double major in computer science and studio art.

Maria poses in scrubs during her radiology internship at Lenox Hill Hospital. She plans to study neuroscience in college.

Maria poses in scrubs during her radiology internship at Lenox Hill Hospital. She plans to study neuroscience in college.

Other markers of success: Continued Advanced Study

After BEAM’S summer residential program, students go on to further programs for advanced study.  Dozens of students leave to programs such as PROMYS, the Center for Talented Youth, MathPath, the MathWorks Honors Summer Math Camp at Texas State University, the New York Math Circle, Cooper Union Summer STEM Program, Carleton College Summer Quantitative Reasoning Institute, the NYU Science and Technology Entry Program, and many more; most of them go on full scholarship.  In this way, students can continue their advanced study and explore the many opportunities available to them.