Math and Science Achievement Gaps for Minority and Disadvantaged Students: Developmental and Environmental Influences from Nine Months to 8th Grade

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This proposed project is an empirical study that falls within the contextual research strand of the REESE program. The aim is to conduct research about STEM education relative to achievement gaps that exist between minority and disadvantaged students and their non-minority counterparts. The outcomes of this study will help in addressing the convergence of several trends that may exact increasing costs to individuals on the lower end of the gap, the economy, and to social and political ideas. The achievement gap is a deceptively complex scientific problem that will increasingly require studying the origin and evolution of gaps from earliest childhood. In that regard, this study will integrate research trends in the developmental sciences, the cognitive and neurosciences and economics, and education research and other strands of social science to develop interventions to address gaps in more efficient ways. The first large nationally representative longitudinal data collection will be used for this study. This large database includes information from nine months to grade eight that will be used to test and compare the leading hypotheses about the origin and evolution of gaps. To meet the challenge of turning such data into credible evidence that might inform intervention plans and further research, two statistical estimation strategies (growth and econometric models), information from supporting meta-analysis, and an extensive advisory network of experts will be used to conduct the study. The research will focus on: (1) Building better theoretical and empirical research models directed toward understanding how these gaps develop from conception to school entry; (2) Identifying effective strategies and inventions that might efficiently narrow gaps prior to school entry; (3) Building better explanations about why gaps are so difficult to close during schooling; (4) formulating stronger suggestions about why gaps for some minority groups expand during schooling, while gaps for other minority students narrow; and (5) Identifying the conditions associated with significant positive changes in learning trajectories during schooling for the small proportion of minority and disadvantaged students who narrow their score differences with white advantaged students.Broader Impacts: The study is likely to advance knowledge and discovery in the field in that it brings together researchers from many fields to examine ways to better understand the achievement gap in STEM areas. The results could benefit education stakeholders interested in improving STEM education for all students. Potentially, this study could inform and influence current policy considerations regarding mandatory pre-school enrollment, and in that regard could be transformative. State and local policymakers will assist with dissemination as well as national outlets established through earlier studies.