The Path to College and Career: Exploring the Role of High School Engineering Courses for Students with Learning Disabilities

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。随着对工程领域有能力的劳动力的需求持续增长，攻读工程领域的学生比例也出现了令人担忧的下降模式。这一下降的部分原因是缺乏来自代表性不足的背景的学生--比如那些有学习障碍的学生--在高中学习工程学课程。因此，为了缩小这些差距，必须保持对工程学课程的追求和坚持不懈，以便所有学生都有潜力在这些回报丰厚的领域取得成功。更重要的是，在高中阶段，在追求和坚持工程课程方面的任何差距，只会加强美国原有的教育分层。为了解决这一问题，我们建议工程职业和技术教育(E-CTE)可以作为一种潜在的教育途径，以更好地协调工程学管道中的机会，特别是针对学习障碍的学生。因此，了解E-CTE授课模式是否能够支持与工程有关的追求，对于确定STEM和残疾政策，以便改善进入工程领域的机会和取得成功至关重要。如果观察到E-CTE课程设置和长期E-CTE追求之间的积极联系，这也会对学校实践产生影响--例如，学校提供E-CTE，以及有学习障碍的学生获得E-CTE的机会。然而，在这项研究之前，这些政策结论仍然是推测性的--尽管有研究检验了传统STEM课程对学习障碍学生的大学和劳动力市场结果的重要性，但没有研究考察特定的E-CTE课程是否能够成功地培养学习障碍学生在从高中过渡到大学和职业生涯的过程中继续追求和坚持工程领域。目前，对于参加E-CTE课程的未来影响，特别是对学习障碍学生的影响，目前还没有足够的研究来得出任何关于政策或实践的明确结论。因此，我们的项目将填补这一重要空白，并将第一次记录这些经验的景观，为学习障碍学生在E-CTE和工程途径上。利用高中纵向研究的最新、具有全国代表性的数据，该项目将第一次评估E-CTE课程的效果，了解这些课程如何与从高中过渡到大学工程领域以及职业抱负之间的联系，并强调学习障碍学生的潜在好处。具体地说，该项目将确定有学习障碍的学生正在学习哪些E-CTE课程，E-CTE课程如何鼓励工程方面的坚持不懈(例如，STEM态度、大学入学、获得工程学证书)，以及参与E-CTE与工程相关职业抱负之间的联系。使用多层次建模方法来确定个人和学校的背景影响，以及使用倾向分数匹配技术来解释E-CTE参与者中可观察到的差异，该项目将产生有助于政策制定者和教育工作者促进学习障碍学生获得并促进对工程的兴趣的结果，以努力为他们在这些工程领域的未来机会做好准备。鉴于E-CTE课程的实践性、体验性(以及一般的CTE课程)，我们预计参与E-CTE将特别有利于有学习障碍的学生，这是一个传统上在工程领域被边缘化的群体。最终，E-CTE课程设置可能成为改善STEM参与的一种途径，减少学习障碍学生参与STEM的不平等，并鼓励对工程领域的兴趣和坚持不懈。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

“This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2)” As demand for a capable workforce in engineering continues to grow, there is also a concerning pattern of decline in the proportion of students pursuing engineering fields. Part of this decline is attributed to a lack of students from under-represented backgrounds – such as those with learning disabilities – taking engineering courses in high school. Therefore, to reduce these disparities, pursuit and persistence in engineering courses must be sustained such that all students can have the potential to be set-up for success in these highly-rewarding fields. And more so, any disparity in the pursuit of and persistence in engineering courses in high school will only reinforce preexisting educational stratification in the nation. To address this, we propose that engineering career and technical education (E-CTE) may serve as one potential educational pathway to better align opportunities in the engineering pipeline and specifically for students with learning disabilities. Thus, understanding if E-CTE coursetaking patterns can support engineering-related pursuits is crucial to determining both STEM and disability policy in order to improve access to and success in engineering fields. And if positive links are observed between E-CTE coursetaking and long-term E-CTE pursuits, this has implications for schooling practice as well – e.g., schools’ E-CTE offerings, and access to E-CTE for students with learning disabilities. Yet, prior to this study, these policy conclusions remain speculative – although studies have examined the importance of traditional STEM courses for college and labor market outcomes of students with learning disabilities, none have looked at whether specific E-CTE coursework can be successful in preparing students with learning disabilities to pursue and persist in engineering fields as they transition from high school to college and careers. At present, there is currently not enough research in the area of the pipeline effects of taking E-CTE courses, particularly for students with learning disabilities, to come to any definite conclusions in regard to policy or practice.Hence, our project will fill this important void and will be the first to document the landscape of these experiences for students with learning disabilities in E-CTE and along the engineering pathway. Using the most recently available, nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study, this project will be the first to evaluate the efficacy of E-CTE courses and to understand how these courses might link to the transition from high school into engineering fields in college as well as career aspirations with an emphasis on potential benefits for students with learning disabilities. Specifically, the project will identify which E-CTE courses students with learning disabilities are taking, how E-CTE coursework may encourage persistence along the engineering pipeline (e.g., STEM attitudes, college enrollment, earning an engineering credential), and the link between E-CTE participation and engineering-related career aspirations. Using multi-level modeling methods to identify both individual and school contextual influences, as well as propensity score matching techniques to account for observable differences in E-CTE participants, this project will produce results that will assist policymakers and educators in facilitating access to and promoting interest in engineering for students with learning disabilities in an effort to prepare them for later opportunities in these engineering fields. Given the hands-on, experiential nature of E-CTE coursework (and CTE coursework in general), we anticipate that E-CTE participation will be particularly beneficial for students with learning disabilities, a group that has traditionally been marginalized in engineering fields. Ultimately, E-CTE coursetaking may be one avenue to improve reduce the inequities in STEM participation for students with learning disabilities and encourage interest and persistence in engineering fields.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.