The Effectiveness of Inclusive STEM Schools at Scale: A Multistate Longitudinal Quasi-Experiment

对经济竞争力和教育公平的担忧强调，美国有必要扩大和多样化准备好并有动力攻读STEM大学专业的学生渠道。解决这一需求的一项新战略是大规模实施包容性STEM高中。在这个探索性的项目中，来自SRI国际和乔治华盛顿大学的研究人员正在为一个严格的准实验奠定基础，通过纵向学生记录、调查和访谈来测试上这样一所学校的效果。该项目对包容性STEM高中（ISHS）的操作定义是一所学校，学校中的学校或学校计划，主要根据兴趣而不是天赋或先前的成就来接受学生，并为他们提供在STEM大学专业取得成功所需的数学和科学准备。isss通过不要求高中入学前的高考试成绩的申请程序，从STEM专业中代表性不足的群体中招收学生。选择性STEM学校根据入学考试分数录取有天赋的学生，从而选择公认的STEM能力，与之相反，ISHSs有更雄心勃勃的目标，即培养STEM专业知识。为了确定对包容性STEM学校的有效性进行大规模、多州调查的可行性，研究人员正在：-开发isss的初步分类，并探索isss异质性对研究设计的影响；-招募代表不同ISHS方法的三所学校伙伴；-使用州数据为每个iss学校合作伙伴确定比较学校（不特别关注STEM），并招募比较学校合作伙伴；-制定学校领导和三次学生调查（9年级秋季，12年级春季，毕业后春季）；-与合作学校合作，设计数据收集程序、招聘材料和激励措施；-在6所合作学校开展学校领导调查和2项学生调查（9年级秋季调查和12年级春季调查）；-确定和招募更多的国际卫生服务学校和相匹配的比较学校样本，以收集第二年的数据；-在40所或更多高中进行调查；-找到三所合作学校的2012年春季毕业生，并对这些学生进行毕业后学生调查的试点测试；聘请顾问委员会提供方法方面的专业知识和建议。最终，通过记录调查回复率、学生位置率以及学生管理和调查数据成功匹配的率，这项可行性工作表明，有可能收集到能够利用必要的工具和手头的经验开展大规模研究的数据。总统科学技术顾问委员会最近呼吁新建1000所STEM学校，国家研究委员会发布了题为“成功的K-12 STEM教育：确定科学、技术、工程和数学的有效方法”的报告，强调了各种STEM学校，这证明了拟议的研究与当前的政策倡议和辩论高度相关。此外，该研究有可能通过影响尚未大规模实施isss的州和地区的政策制定者，促进STEM管道的多样性。

Concerns about both economic competitiveness and educational equity emphasize the need for the United States to broaden and diversify the pipeline of students prepared and motivated to pursue STEM college majors. An emerging strategy for addressing this need is large-scale implementation of inclusive STEM high schools. In this exploratory project, investigators from SRI International and George Washington University are laying the foundation for a rigorous quasi-experiment to test the effects of attending such a school using longitudinal student records, surveys, and interviews. The project's operational definition for an inclusive STEM high school (ISHS) is a school, school within a school, or school program that accepts students primarily on the basis of interest rather than aptitude or prior achievement and gives them the mathematics and science preparation they need to succeed in a STEM college major. ISHSs enroll students from groups underrepresented in STEM professions through an application process that does not require high test scores before high school entry. In contrast to selective STEM schools that admit gifted and talented students on the basis of entrance examination scores and thus select for perceived STEM aptitude, ISHSs have the more ambitious goal of developing STEM expertise.To establish the feasibility of a large, multi-state investigation of the effectiveness of inclusive STEM schools at scale, researchers are: - Developing a tentative taxonomy of ISHSs and exploring implications of ISHS heterogeneity for the research design; - Recruiting three school partners representing different ISHS approaches; - Using state data to identify a comparison school (without a particular focus on STEM) for each ISHS school partner and recruiting comparison school partners; - Developing School Leader and three student surveys (fall 9th-grade, spring 12th-grade, and spring post-graduation); - Collaborating with partner schools in design of data collection procedures, recruiting materials, and incentives; - Piloting the School Leader Survey and two student surveys (9th-grade fall survey and 12th-grade spring survey) in six partner schools; - Identifying and recruiting a larger sample of ISHSs and matched comparison schools for Year 2 data collection; - Administering surveys in 40 or more high schools; - Locating spring 2012 graduates of the three ISHS partner schools and pilot testing the post-graduation student survey with these students; and - Engaging an Advisory Board who will provide methodological expertise and advice.Ultimately, by documenting survey response rates, student location rates, and rates for successful matching of student administrative and survey data, this feasibility work is demonstrating that it is possible to collect the kind of data that would enable a large-scale study to be launched with the necessary instruments and experience in hand. As evidenced by the recent call from the President's Council of Advisors in Science and Technology for 1,000 new STEM schools and the National Research Council's report entitled "Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics" that highlights various STEM schools, the proposed research is highly relevant to current policy initiatives and debates. Moreover, the research has the potential to promote diversity in the STEM pipeline by influencing policymakers in states and districts that have yet to implement ISHSs at scale.