The proposed study, Transforming Interests into STEM Careers (TISC), will test a model for promoting a STEM college-going culture in two high schools. The main goal of the intervention model is to encourage adolescents to pursue STEM majors in college and occupations in these fields. The study's focus is upon understanding the various factors that determine young students' interests in STEM disciplines and their entry into actual STEM careers. The study design includes four schools (two rural and two urban), all of which have lower than expected college going rates. One rural and one urban school will be the treatment group, the other two, the control group. The main purpose of the TISC intervention is to promote a school-wide college-going culture in which all students in a school are encouraged to perceive themselves as college applicants in the STEM fields, with their teachers, administrators, and parents sharing these expectations. The research study will undertake: (1) to implement the TISC intervention in two schools; and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the overall intervention, as well as each specific component (e.g., multi-tiered mentoring, course planning and sequencing, creating a school-wide college-going culture, financial aid planning, exposure to STEM careers, and teacher professional development in mathematics and science classes).
The key research questions are: (1) to what extent is TISC effective at increasing engagement with STEM fields at the high school level? Which components of TISC are most effective at increasing engagement? (2) How effective is TISC at increasing entry into STEM postsecondary fields? (3) How effective is TISC in increasing persistence in STEM fields? Data will be collected using five instruments: (1) Teenage Life Questionnaire; (2) Career Orientation Survey; (3) "College Culture" interviews; 4) Experience Sampling Method on the subjective perceptions; and (5) Young Adult Follow-Up Survey. These data will be analyzed using a variety of quantitative data analysis methods, including regression models and Hierarchical Linear Models to answer the research questions.
The underlying purpose of CAP is to promote a school culture in which all students are encouraged to visualize themselves as college applicants, particularly in the STEM fields, with their teachers, administrators, and parents sharing these expectations. CAP activities include: (1) mentoring and tutoring; (2) course counseling and advising; (3) financial aid guidance; and (4) college visits. The goals of this research study have been twofold: (1) to implement the CAP intervention in seven high schools; and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the overall intervention, as well as each specific component (e.g., mentoring and academic tutoring, course counseling and advising, financial aid guidance, college visits). Mentoring and tutoring Since the beginning of CAP, we have trained 268 undergraduate and graduate student mentors. Mentors volunteered for weekly sessions of at least an hour, although some mentors came more than one day per week or served for more than one hour in a given session. Collectively, they have delivered over 2800 hours of mentoring and tutoring service to the students in our CAP schools. Mentors are surveyed at the end of each semester to understand what they feel they have learned, how they felt after volunteering with CAP, how important they feel mentoring is in supporting high school students, if they feel they have made an impact on the students, and if they plan to return the following semester. Exit polls show that the majority of mentors volunteered through a course partnership, with the rest learning about the opportunity through a campus organization, flyers, or through word of mouth. Course counseling and advising Consistent with CAP’s goal of promoting a school-wide college-going culture, students, teachers, and parents in CAP intervention schools have been invited every year to participate in CAP workshops to give them a better understanding of topics related to college matriculation. We continued to use one of the first resources implemented by CAP, the Ten Steps to College. Electronic (www.collegeambition.org) and paper copies are always available for students in any treatment school. Additionally, the Ten Steps to College Video Modules are also available on the CAP website and can be viewed chronologically or independently depending on the needs of the student. Financial Aid Planning CAP site coordinators work each year with school personnel to plan and organize Financial Aid workshops for students and parents. Additionally, one of the Ten Steps is Paying for College-About Financial Aid. This resource is available for all students and parents within CAP treatment high schools. This handout includes information about: the cost of college; paying for college; websites that have calculators and advice; how financial aid is calculated and disbursed; institutional scholarships; how to apply for aid and scholarships; early decision/early action applications; and how to understand financial aid awards once a student receives them. College Visits Each year, CAP provides opportunities for students in treatment schools to visit different colleges across Michigan. In an effort to build the college-going culture within CAP schools, college visits get students onto campuses and allow them to experience a college atmosphere. Since the 2010-11 school year, 636 students have attended at least one college visit with CAP. Research Activities The CAP all-student survey, senior exit survey, and mentor survey were conducted in all years of the study and were refined and guided by analysis of previous survey responses and completion rates. In addition to these research instruments that collect data for quantitative analysis, CAP collected data through student contact logs, mentor logs, teacher surveys, and structured student interviews. These multiple sources of data support research that looks within the school structure at potential mechanisms that influence the targeted goals of CAP, such as the role of mentoring in shaping attitudes towards math and science. All of the data collected is linked with data collected in previous years and administrative data from the participating schools and the state of Michigan. Impact Analyses to estimate the impact of CAP on student’s college attendance used data drawn from CAP student surveys in combination with postsecondary enrollment data from 2006-2007 to 2010-2011 collected from the state of Michigan. Preliminary results are based on a limited sample of the treatment and control schools and indicate that CAP has a positive and significant effect on postsecondary enrollment (t = 29.90, p < .0001). Estimates from logistic regression models suggest that students in the treatment schools were more likely to show interest in pursuing a STEM major, with a difference in predicted probability of 5.7 percentage points. Consistent with previous research, males were more likely than females to pursue a degree in STEM, with a predicted probability of 13.5 percentage points higher than the females. There was a difference between urban and rural schools in STEM major as well; the predicted probability for urban schools was 4 percentage points higher than rural schools.
