Education and Experience: Do Teacher Qualifications in Career-Focused STEM Courses Make a Difference?

当高中生参加“STEM- cte”（即科学、技术、工程和数学领域的职业和技术教育课程）时，他们在从学校到大学/职业的整个管道中有更强的成果，包括更低的辍学率和更高的高中出勤率，更高的12年级数学成绩，以及更高的机会在高中和大学攻读高级STEM课程。越来越多的教师研究表明，教师对学生的成功至关重要，尤其是在STEM领域。特别是，研究已经确定，教师在STEM领域的教育和证书，以及多年的课堂教学经验是支持学生成绩的关键教师因素。然而，关于(a)谁教授STEM-CTE课程以及(b)这些课程和途径的益处是否受到STEM-CTE教师的特定特征的驱动或影响，先前的研究有限。本项目旨在探索这些问题。利用2012-2022年马里兰州高中全州纵向数据，本研究将首先记录在此期间谁教授STEM-CTE课程。该数据集包括大约5,000个独特的教师观察和大约500,000个独特的学生观察。在探索了教学环境之后，该研究将探索STEM-CTE高中课程中教师的资格（即教育、证书、教学经验）是否与学生的成功有关。数据集中的成功指标包括课程结束成绩，STEM- cte浓度/行业认可的证书，高级STEM课程选修（例如，荣誉，AP， IB，双入学），STEM标准化考试成绩，数学SAT/ACT成绩，出勤率/停学率，准时毕业率和辍学率。数据分析包括多元回归分析，辅以教师对学生的非随机排序测试。探索研究preK-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高preK-12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。 该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

When high school students take “STEM-CTE” (i.e., career and technical education courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields), they have much stronger outcomes across the school-to-college/career pipeline, including lower dropout rates and better attendance in high school, stronger math achievement in 12th grade, and higher odds of pursuing advanced STEM courses in high school and college. Growing teacher research shows that teachers matter for students’ success, particularly in STEM. In particular, research has established that teacher education and credentials in STEM fields, as well as years of classroom teaching experiences are key teacher factors in supporting student outcomes. However, there has been limited prior research regarding (a) who teaches STEM-CTE courses and (b) whether the benefits of these courses and pathways are driven or influenced by specific characteristics of STEM-CTE teachers. This project will aim to explore these questions.Using high school statewide longitudinal data from Maryland from 2012-2022, this study will first document who has taught STEM-CTE courses over this period. The dataset includes approximately 5,000 unique teacher observations and approximately 500,000 unique student observations. After exploring the teaching landscape, the study will then explore whether qualifications (i.e., education, credentials, teaching experience) of teachers in STEM-CTE high school courses were associated with their students’ success. Indicators of success in the dataset include end-of-course grades, STEM-CTE concentration/industry-recognized credentialing, advanced STEM coursetaking (e.g., honors, AP, IB, dual-enrollment), STEM standardized test scores, math SAT/ACT scores, attendance/suspension rates, on-time graduation, and reduced dropout. Data analysis includes multivariate regression analyses, supplemented with tests for nonrandom sorting of teachers to students.The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.