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About

Martha Abele Mac Iver is a leading researcher in urban education, with a focus on student engagement, attendance, and STEM access in middle grades. Her major contributions center on designing and evaluating interventions to combat chronic absenteeism, particularly through innovative summer programs. Her most cited work, a 2015 quasi-experimental study, demonstrates that a summer robotics program in Baltimore City Schools significantly improved school attendance rates among low-income, minority middle school students—effectively “STEMming” the swell of absenteeism. This research, cited 17 times, highlights how hands-on STEM experiences can re-engage disaffected learners. Mac Iver’s subsequent papers (2014, 2015) further explore the program’s design and impact, using VEX Robotics to build student motivation and academic momentum. Her work has influenced district-level policy and practice, offering a replicable model for urban districts seeking to reduce dropout risk. By linking STEM enrichment directly to attendance outcomes, Mac Iver has provided compelling evidence that engaging, project-based learning can be a powerful tool for equity and persistence in underserved schools.