The National Research Council (NRC) Board on Science Education (BOSE) and Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA) will conduct a RAPID planning project to respond to an urgent Congressional request to identify highly successful schools in STEM education. The project will create a plan for a workshop on the topic.
NRC will identify a seven member steering committee; draw on existing research to plan the agenda for the workshop; and develop a framework for classifying the landscape of successful approaches. This planning phase also includes the identification of those who will produce commissioned papers on relevant topics.
In response to a request from Congress, the National Research Council (NRC) held a workshop in May 2011 about successful education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the disciplines that are collectively referred to as STEM). The 2-day workshop included 19 invited presenters, and the NRC commissioned 8 papers for the workshop. A description of the workshop, the agenda, and links to commissioned papers and workshop presentations can be found at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Successful_STEM_Schools_Background_Homepage.html. Drawing on the workshop presentations and commissioned papers, as well as several NRC reports on teaching, learning, and assessment in the STEM disciplines, in June 2011 the Committee on Highly Successful Schools or Programs for K-12 STEM Education issued the consensus report Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The report provides information that leaders at the school, district, state, and national levels can use to make strategic decisions about improving education in the STEM disciplines. It describes three broad goals for K-12 STEM education that are widely espoused in the United States: to increase advanced training and careers in STEM fields, to expand the STEM-capable workforce, and to increase scientific literacy for all students. It also identifies several types of specialized STEM-focused schools and programs that have the potential to address these goals. They include schools that are organized around the STEM disciplines and have selective admissions criteria; inclusive STEM schools with open admission; and STEM-focused career and technical education schools and programs, which emphasize application-based courses. There is little evidence to suggest that any particular type of school is superior, on average, to another type of school. However, the report discusses two key aspects of practice that are found in successful schools of all types: effective STEM instruction and school conditions and cultures that support learning. The report defines effective instruction as capitalizing on students’ early interest and experiences, building on what they know, providing them with experiences to engage in the practices of science, and sustaining their interest. It describes five key elements that support effective STEM instruction: a coherent set of standards and curricula, teachers with high capacity to teach in their disciplines, a supportive system of assessment and accountability, adequate instructional time, and equal access to high-quality STEM learning opportunities. It also identifies some characteristics shared by effective schools, including strong leadership, strong ties to parents and the community, instructional guidance for teachers, and a student-centered learning climate. The report concludes with several recommendations for improvements to the education system that are designed to support effective instruction and advance the United States toward the three broad goals for STEM education. At the school and district levels, these recommended improvements include adequate instructional time and resources for science, coherent standards and curriculum, greater teacher capacity, and supportive school conditions that have been identified in the research. At the state and national levels, these recommended improvements include greater attention to science, including assessments for science, investment in support for STEM teachers, and increased support for research programs that can identify instructional practices that improve student outcomes in STEM. NSF, the NRC, and several members of the committee have been actively involved in disseminating the report. In September 2011, NSF held a public launch event in Philadelphia, and has begun holding a series of regional workshops to help local educators put the report’s recommendations into practice. The committee chair and several committee members have given numerous keynote speeches about the report at conferences throughout the country, and the NRC has held briefings for major constituencies that have an interest in the report. The report has been well received at these events, and interest in it remains high a year after its publication. As part of the overall project to explore successful STEM education, in 2011 the NRC also published Successful K-12 STEM Education: A Workshop Summary. This summary of the May workshop proceedings describes the presentations at the workshop, but does not contain conclusions or recommendations from the National Research Council.
