Background: There is a need to arm students with noncognitive, or 21 st Century, skills to prepare them for a more STEM-based job market. As STEM schools are created in a response to this call to action, research is needed to better understand how exemplary STEM schools successfully accomplish this goal. This conversion mixed method study analyzed student work samples and teacher lesson plans from seven exemplary inclusive STEM high schools to better understand at what level teachers at these schools are engaging and developing student 21 st Century skills. Results: We found of the 67 lesson plans collected at the inclusive STEM high schools, 50 included instruction on 21 st Century skills. Most of these lesson plans designed instruction for 21 st Century skills at an introductory level. Few lesson plans encouraged multiple 21 st Century skills and addressed higher levels of those skills. Although there was not a significant difference between levels of 21 st Century skills by grade level, there was an overall trend of higher levels of 21 st Century skills demonstrated in lesson plans designed for grades 11 and 12. We also found that lesson plans that lasted three or more days had higher levels of 21 st Century skills. Conclusions: These findings suggest that inclusive STEM high schools provide environments that support the development of 21 st Century skills. Yet, more can be done in the area of teacher professional development to improve instruction of high levels of 21 st Century skills.

No abstract

Inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) can be viewed as opportunity structures for students underrepresented in STEM. By opportunity structures, we mean an education that provides not only access to high quality STEM curriculum and instruction or "opportunity to learn," but also the capacity to create learning environments where students can build STEM social capital and the dispositions, knowledge, skills, and networks to be successful in STEM college majors and careers. This is a cross-case analysis of case studies that describe the design and implementation of eight "exemplar" ISHSs. Beginning with 10 hypothesized critical components, we found evidence for all 10, but present in unique patterns of prominence, depending on the school context. Further inductive analysis located an additional four emergent critical components that complete the picture of how these successful ISHSs were able to achieve their goals. Importantly, across schools, four components stood out as foundational: a flexible and autonomous administrative structure; a college-preparatory, STEM-focused curriculum for all; well-prepared STEM teachers and professionalized teaching staffs; and supports for students in underrepresented groups.

In this exploratory study, students in four co-taught high school chemistry classes were randomly assigned to a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) treatment or a comparison condition. Each co-teaching team taught one comparison and treatment class. UDL principles were operationalized for treatment: (a) a self-management strategy (using a mnemonic, IDEAS) for the multi-step mole conversion process; (b) multi-media lessons with narration, visuals, and animations; (c) procedural facilitators with IDEAS for conversion support; and (d) student workbooks mirroring video content and containing scaffolded practice problems. All students completed a pre-test, post-test, and a 4-week delayed post-test. There were no significant differences between conditions; however, there was an interaction effect between students with and without disabilities for post-tests. Social validity indicated students found IDEAS helpful. Implications for future research include continued focus on disaggregated learning outcomes for students with and without disabilities for UDL interventions, and refinements for UDL interventions that benefit students with and without disabilities.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract