Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K-12 STEM Education by Committee on the Evaluation Framework for Successful K-12 STEM Education

Author:Committee on the Evaluation Framework for Successful K-12 STEM Education
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: The National Academies Press
Published: 2013-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

Elevated Status for Science

The recommendation from Successful K-12 STEM Education to “elevate science to the same level of importance as reading and mathematics” (National Research Council, 2011, p. 28) was developed in response to an unintended consequence of the emphasis on mathematics and reading created by the current federal accountability system, noted above. The committee’s proposed indicators to address this recommendation are directly related to the indicators on devoting more time and resources to science instruction and are designed to encourage state and federal policy makers to remedy the current imbalances.

KEY INDICATORS TO MONITOR

Funding levels, accountability structures, and legislative mandates provide the most meaningful indicators of the value policy makers place on science education.

INDICATOR 9. Inclusion of science in federal and state accountability systems.

For each state, this indicator would measure whether science is assessed, whether science is included in the state accountability system, and whether science counts as much as reading and mathematics in that accountability system. Similarly, at the federal level, the indicator would capture whether or not the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act includes accountability provisions for science, and if so, in what grades.

Available and potentially available data. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has conducted surveys of states’ accountability and assessment policies. Analyses of the survey results have reported whether science is assessed, but not whether science is part of the accountability system (Stillman and Blank, 2008). State applications for flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act do indicate whether the states that have applied include science in their accountability systems: to date, less than half of them do.

Data and research needs. If the CCSSO survey cannot be modified to include questions about whether science is part of a state’s accountability system, another organization that routinely conducts surveys of state educational policies, such as Education Week or the National Governors Association, might conduct a 50-state survey of the role of science in state accountability systems.

INDICATOR 10. Inclusion of science in major federal K-12 education initiatives.

Indicators of a federal commitment to science education could include the level of federal funding for the Next Generation Science Standards assessment relative to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics; the inclusion of science in major federal incentive programs such as Race to the Top; whether funding in support of science education is included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and the frequency of science assessment in NAEP, compared with reading and mathematics.

Available and potentially available data. Information about these indicators could be gathered by analyzing publicly available budget data; federal solicitations for the largest grant programs and other competitive funding; and eventually, language in the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Information about the frequency of NAEP assessments is well known and readily available from the NCES.

INDICATOR 11. State and district staff dedicated to supporting science instruction.

This indicator is intended to measure the human resources that are available for science relative to mathematics and reading for all grade levels.

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