Effects of Attending an Inclusive STEM High School: A Longitudinal Study of North Carolina Schools

• In Event: Comparing Studies of Inclusive STEM High Schools: Three Approaches With Different Findings and Policy Implications

Abstract

This paper will describe a longitudinal study using state and student survey data to address the question:
Do students who attend inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) implemented at scale have stronger STEM academic outcomes, interests, and expectations than they would have if they had attended a high school without a STEM focus?

We define a STEM school as one that provides all its students with a more intensive STEM program than the state requires for high school graduation. We define an inclusive school as one that does not select students on the basis of prior test scores or other measure of STEM talent.

The study’s distinguishing features are its (a) representative sample of North Carolina’s ISHSs, (b) quantitative measures of school experiences and outcomes, and (c) propensity score matching to identify students in comparison schools closely matched to the ISHS student population.

A survey conducted in the first semester of ninth grade in both ISHSs and comparison schools provides information about students’ entering STEM attitudes and their participation in STEM activities prior to high school. These survey data, coupled with state data, are used to match ISHS students to students entering comparison schools with the same levels of academic achievement and STEM interest, experience, and aspirations in order to compare how schools enhance these attributes over time.

Using the state list of high schools, we compiled a subset of 73 potential ISHSs by identifying schools participating in state and local STEM initiatives or that had names indicating a STEM focus. Telephone screens reduced the pool of potential ISHSs to 24 schools meeting all study criteria, and 18 ISHSs agreed to participate.

For each ISHS in our sample, we used state administrative data to identify a non-STEM comparison school serving students as much like those at the ISHS as possible.

This paper will describe administrative data and survey responses for 9th graders at ISHSs and comparison schools as a way to understand the similarities and differences between students in the two kinds of schools. Spring-semester survey responses from 12th graders at the same schools shed light on the distinctive experiences of students at inclusive STEM high schools compared to the matched sample, not only with respect to STEM classes but also school climate variables.

Findings reveal that incoming 9th graders did not differ substantially between ISHSs and comparison schools on prior STEM experiences and interests. Although significant differences in programming exist within our ISHS sample, we found that on average ISHSs differ from comparison schools in the nature of their supports for college-going and in the amount of reform-oriented instruction in STEM classes. Finally, a majority of ISHS graduates from pilot schools have responded to a survey on postsecondary STEM course-taking one year after high school graduation, results from which will be included in the paper.

These emerging results do not support inclusive STEM schools as a miracle cure, but do suggest that North Carolina ISHSs increase the quality of students’ STEM learning opportunities, particularly for low-income and African American students.

Authors

• Barbara M. Means, SRI Education

• Viki M. Young, SRI International

• Ann House, SRI International

• Haiwen Wang, SRI International