Instruction

• In Event: Critical Components of Inclusive STEM-Focused High Schools: A Cross-Case Analysis

Abstract

Objective
This paper will synthesize findings from four case studies of inclusive STEM-focused high schools (ISHS) with regard to their instructional practices.

Theoretical Framework
Prior to the site visits to the selected ISHSs, it was anticipated that the STEM classes would emphasize instructional strategies informed by research aimed at promoting active learning, meaningful teaching, and student immersion in STEM content, processes, habits of mind, and skills (Atkinson et al., 2007; NRC, 2007, 2011; Scott, 2009). These reform-based classroom practices encourage student-centered STEM learning and offer rich alternative approaches to traditional, teacher-centered techniques. For example, students learning in a project-based learning (PBL) environment actively construct knowledge by defining learning goals, seeking information to add to their prior knowledge to improve their understanding of the problem, and participating in active collaboration with others (Beachey, 2004).

Methods and Data Sources
A detailed comparison of the instructional practices across schools was developed through cross-case analysis (Stake, 2006) using four comprehensive case studies written for diverse ISHSs. These case studies incorporated classroom observations along with focus groups and interviews of teachers, students, parents, administrators, and community partners. The research questions addressed were:
• What characteristics of instructional practices are common across the schools?
• What may be unique contextual characteristics of instructional practices across schools?

Results
A preliminary cross-case analysis of our data suggests several findings that illustrate how this critical component is exemplified in ISHSs. For example, there were notable variations in the extent to which the curricular units and projects taught in each school were interdisciplinary in nature. In two schools, STEM and non-STEM teachers collaborated to create significantly integrated units, whereas a more traditional school featured more isolated and siloed projects. However, all were particularly conscious of balancing the academic rigor of their course offerings with the application of STEM skills, practices, and 21st century skills that comes with reform-based instructional practices. Their differing philosophies in how they viewed this ideal balance between rigor and application were manifested in the extent, and ways in which, they implemented a PBL-based curriculum. Finally, each school expressly incorporated real-world contexts and problems into their STEM instructional strategies to better situate student learning and provide meaningful experiences to their students.

Scholarly Significance
This examination of instructional practices across four ISHSs raises a fundamental question of whether student achievement and school reform, as currently envisioned by federal accountability policies, can be limited to instructional practices in the classroom or needs to extend beyond the four walls of the classroom. Of the four schools included in this cross-case analysis, two have fully implemented comprehensive, multidisciplinary PBL; another school has incorporated PBL into its instructional culture but is not yet a 100% PBL-based school. The fourth school used a different set of reform-based practices oriented towards mastery learning in their STEM courses. All four have produced significantly improved student outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates, suggesting the question of the extent to which such outcomes reflect innovative and reform-based instructional practices.

Author

• Edmund M. Han, The George Washington University