iSTEM: A Multi-state Longitudinal Study of the Effectiveness of Inclusive STEM High Schools

SRI和乔治华盛顿大学的研究人员正在研究包括德克萨斯州、北卡罗来纳州和俄亥俄州在内的三个关键地理区域的包容性STEM高中的有效性。STEM学校仍然是一个重要的政策领域和测试平台，表明STEM教育在STEM是学生学习经验重点的最佳条件下可以取得什么样的成就。总统呼吁再建立1,000所STEM学校，但关于这些学校的影响或这些学校的哪些配置和要素很重要的证据相对较少。这项研究的重点是在何种程度上包容性的STEM高中有助于提高学术成果，在STEM职业的兴趣，以及对中学后学习的期望。该研究从事实施研究，以检查STEM学校的设计和实施的要素以及其他环境因素，包括与上级成果相关的国家政策。这是一项准实验性研究，研究参加包容性STEM高中的影响，比较这些学校的学生与参加相同州其他类型学校的学生的结果。该研究包括所有9年级或12年级的学生在包容性的STEM高中和学生在同一个国家的比较学校的样本通过倾向分数匹配确定。使用学生记录和定期调查学生纵向收集数据。这项研究跟踪了12年级学生毕业后进入中学后学习和就业的情况。本研究中确定的州拥有支持拟议研究的必要行政数据系统。通过使用州一级数据库中可用的数据和通过项目调查获得的新信息的组合，研究人员正在确定不仅在人口统计变量和高中入学前的学业成绩上匹配的学生，而且还在预先存在的兴趣和期望的指标上匹配，如自我效能和先前参与非正式STEM相关活动。对学生成绩的影响分别为每个国家进行分析。关于STEM学校要素的数据是通过教师和管理人员调查和访谈收集的。州立STEM学校的历史和政策数据是通过文件分析和访谈收集的。该研究采用分层回归模型，每个结果测量和多重比较测试调整的单独模型。学生流失监测和调查结果进行检查，以确定流失的影响。该项目侧重于包容性而不是选择性的STEM学校，以便学生人数更典型地代表当地的学生人数。这项研究不仅提供了STEM学校有效性的证据来源，而且还提供了关于什么有效、对谁有效以及在什么条件下有效的背景证据。

Researchers from SRI and George Washington University are studying the effectiveness of inclusive STEM high schools in three key geographic regions including Texas, North Carolina and Ohio. STEM schools continue to be an important policy area and test bed for one indication of what STEM education can accomplish under the most optimal conditions in which STEM is the focus of students' learning experiences. The President has called for the creation of an additional 1,000 STEM schools with relatively little evidence about the impact of such schools or the evidence of which configurations and elements of such schools are important. The study's focus is on the extent to which inclusive STEM high schools contribute to improved academic outcomes, interests in STEM careers, and expectations for post secondary study. The research study engages in implementation research to examine the elements of the STEM schools' design and implementation and other contextual factors, including state policies, which are associated with superior outcomes. This is a quasi-experimental study of the effects of attending an inclusive STEM high school comparing outcomes for students in these schools with those of their counterparts attending other types of schools in the same states. The study includes all students in the 9th or 12th grade in the inclusive STEM high schools and students in samples of same-state comparison schools identified through propensity score matching. Data are collected longitudinally using student records and surveying students at regular intervals. The study follows the 12th grade students after graduation into postsecondary study and the workforce. The states identified in this study have the requisite administrative data systems to support the proposed study. By using a combination of data available in state-level data bases and new information obtained through project surveys, the researchers are identifying students who are matched not only on demographic variables and academic achievement before high school entry, but also on indicators of pre-existing interest and expectation such as self-efficacy and prior participation in informal STEM-related activities. Impacts on student achievement are analyzed separately for each state. Data on the elements of STEM schools are collected through teacher and administrator surveys and interviews. State STEM school history and policy data are collected through document analysis and interviews. The study utilizes hierarchical regression models, with separate models of each outcome measure and adjustments for tests of multiple comparisons. Student attrition is monitored and findings are examined to determine influence of attrition. This project focuses on inclusive rather than selective STEM schools so that the population of students more typically represents the population of the students locally. The study provides a source of evidence about not only the effectiveness of STEM schools, but also contextual evidence of what works and for whom and under what conditions.