A Longitudinal Study Predicting Postsecondary STEM Readiness Among Low-Income Minority Students

这项研究延续了一项纵向研究，从学前班的学生开始，并将跟随他们进入一个大型城市学区的高中，其中包括大量非裔美国学生和低收入家庭的学生。这项研究是一个独特的机会，了解学生如何通过学校从幼儿园到高中毕业。这个机会将考察他们对STEM职业的准备情况以及他们对STEM的信念。他们在学校的道路将特别关注与数学学习和成就的联系。该项目将收集新的数据，将小学生和中学生收集的数据联系起来。对教育研究、政策和实践的重要贡献将是理解数学知识的发展，并在学生的整个pre -12经历中为STEM职业做好准备。本项目由美国国家科学基金会EHR核心研究（ECR）项目支持。ECR项目强调在该领域产生基础知识的基础STEM教育研究。该项目旨在确定成功学生的成长轨迹和预测因素。这项工作继续了对大约500名低收入，主要是非裔美国学生的研究，他们在一个大城市学区从学前班一直跟踪到八年级。目标是(1)检查学生在高中数学成绩的增长以及与以前模式相关的高中增长，(2)确定数学成绩的预测因素和其他中学后准备指标，以及(3)描述低收入和少数民族学生对高中STEM职业的信念，包括他们的信念自中学以来的变化。学生主要是非裔美国人（80%），超过90%的学生有资格享受免费或减价午餐。在研究的每一年，项目团队将对学生的数学知识进行个人评估，并收集ACT数学和科学成绩的行政数据，以及课程注册、成绩和期末考试成绩、毕业率和学生高中毕业后上大学的意愿。在高二的秋季，与学生的焦点小组将询问他们高中毕业后的计划以及他们对STEM职业的看法。对八年级的学生进行了类似的焦点小组调查。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。

This study continues a longitudinal study that began with students in preschool and will follow them into high school in a large, urban school district including a large number of African-American students and low-income students. The study is a unique opportunity to learn about how the students go through school from preschool through the end of high school. This opportunity will examine how their readiness for STEM careers and their beliefs about STEM. Their path through school will particularly focus on the connections to mathematics learning and achievement. This project will collect new data to make connections to data collected during the students elementary and middle school years. An important contribution to educational research, policy, and practice will be understanding math knowledge development and readiness for STEM careers over students' entire preK-12 experience. This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field.The project is designed to identify growth trajectories and predictors of more and less successful students. This work continues a study of approximately 500 low-income, predominantly African-American students who have been followed from preschool through 8th grade in a large urban school district. The goals are to (1) examine students' growth in math achievement across high school and related high school growth to previous patterns, (2) identify predictors of math achievement and other indicators of postsecondary readiness, and (3) describe low-income and minority students' beliefs about careers in STEM in high school, including how their beliefs have changed since middle school. The students are predominantly African American (80%) and over 90% eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. In each year of the study, the project team will conduct individual student assessments of math knowledge and collect administrative data on ACT math and science scores as well as course enrollment, grades and end-of-course exam scores, graduation rates, and students' intent to attend college after high school. During the fall of eleventh grade, focus groups with students will ask about their plans after high school and their beliefs about careers in STEM. Similar focus groups were conducted with the students in eighth grade.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.