Students' Pathways to STEM: Exploring the Role of Teacher Quality in STEM Readiness

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Approaches to Assessing Teacher Quality in a Variety of K–12 Settings

Abstract

The natural entrance to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline is K-12 math and science classrooms where quality teachers and quality teaching are critical to inspiring students and preparing them to study STEM in college. Despite this, no research to date has tested potential relationships between teacher quality and college-level outcomes in STEM, in particular, students’ STEM-readiness. Thus, this study examines the relationship between teacher quality (measured by years of experience, education level, subject matter expertise, and teacher value-added score) and students’ STEM-readiness. The study found that the quality of the teachers students encounter in secondary school classrooms could make a significant difference in their STEM-readiness.

Authors

• Se Woong Lee, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Geoffrey Mamerow, Office of Inst. and Market Research