Developing Indicators for Undergraduate STEM Education

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The Board on Science Education at the National Research Council, in collaboration with the Board on Testing and Assessment and the Board on Higher Education and the Workforce, is convening a 12 member expert committee to develop a framework and set of indicators that can document the status and quality of undergraduate STEM education at both community colleges and 4-year institutions and be used to track improvements at the national level over multiple years. At present there is no comprehensive, national system for documenting important aspects of undergraduate STEM education nor is there an analytic framework for thinking about what indicators are needed to adequately document progress toward improvement. The committee will meet 6 times to gather information, deliberate on the evidence, and prepare a report. After the third meeting, an interim report will be made available for public comment. The final report will undergo rigorous peer review and be available in free PDF format. By identifying needed research and data sources, the study will enhance the information that is available to educators, researchers, and policy makers, thereby laying the foundation for a deeper understanding of the practices and conditions that contribute to successful postsecondary STEM education. The project will provide NSF, other federal agencies, private foundations and professional organizations with guidance on important indicators to track in gauging the status and quality of postsecondary STEM education.