The 2018 NSSME+

Horizon Research Inc, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

Exemplary teaching in STEM fields encourages students from diverse backgrounds to pursue further education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Improving teaching, however, first requires an understanding of the current landscape of STEM instruction. The 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (NSSME+) will explore the extent to which such instruction currently models effective, evidence-based, teaching practices, and also will investigate the factors that influence teachers? decisions about content and pedagogy. This will mark the sixth in a series of the national surveys monitoring the status of science and mathematics education conducted by Horizon Research Inc. with assistance from Westat. This iteration will add a focus on computer science and engineering education. The 2018 data will attend to factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of some groups in STEM, further adding to general knowledge about ways to broaden participation. The project is funded by the EHR Core Research program, which supports fundamental research that advances the research literature on STEM learning, and has implications for education in both formal and informal settings. The 2018 NSSME study will yield accurate, up-to-date measures of key elements of the STEM education system, and identify trends in these areas over time. The study will collect data on teacher characteristics, including teacher content background and demographics; course offerings and enrollments; textbook/program usage; instructional strategies; formative assessment; and the influences of particular policies (e.g., the Every Student Succeeds Act). In addition to national estimates, the study will provide results disaggregated by type of community and characteristics of the student body. The investigators will invite the Principal Investigators of the NSF Indicator projects to offer input on the 2018 NSSME+ instruments, with an eye towards identifying how the work of their projects could be infused or adapted into a large-scale survey. All analyses will be conducted using weighted data, with school, teacher, and class weights calculated to reflect the sample design selection probabilities. The Promoting Research and Innovation in Methodologies for Evaluation (PRIME) program seeks to support research on evaluation with special emphasis on: (1) exploring innovative approaches for determining the impacts and usefulness of STEM education projects and programs; (2) building on and expanding the theoretical foundations for evaluating STEM education and workforce development initiatives, including translating and adapting approaches from other fields; and (3) growing the capacity and infrastructure of the evaluation field. Three types of proposals will be supported by the program: Exploratory Projects that include proof-of-concept and feasibility studies; more extensive Full-Scale Projects; and workshops and conferences. This proposal meets the requirements of category 1 above.