Outcomes of an Integrated STEM High School: Enabling Access and Achievement for All Students

Abstract

There has been considerable movement in the United States toward an integrated approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) which leverages English/language arts, social studies/history, and the arts as contexts and tools for solving the grand STEM challenges of our society. Selective STEM schools have been demonstrated as having positive student outcomes, but enroll students based upon academic criteria rather than interest and effectively exclude underrepresented groups in STEM. In this study, we examine the impact of an integrated STEM high school on student academic outcomes. Findings indicate students significantly outperformed the 13 comparison schools in district on American College Testing (ACT) and school exams.

Representation matters: A case study of ethnic matching aimed at building an environment of success for Black males

“…The presence of caring Black male school stakeholders who serve as role models is often lacking in many urban schools that serve predominantly Black students (Achinstein & Aguirre, 2008; Danforth & Miller, 2018; Johnson & Sondergeld, 2020). Ms. Harper, a Black chemistry teacher, told us about the culturally responsive practices she relies on in her classroom to engage Black male students.…”

“…Thus, many issues emerge based on a cultural disconnect or mismatch between school stakeholders (individuals who are affiliated with the school) and their ethnically and racially diverse learners (Achinstein & Aguirre, 2008). For example, White teachers often have inherent biases and, consequently, provide preferential treatment to White students in which they share cultural backgrounds, identities, languages, and norms (Danforth & Miller, 2018; Johnson & Sondergeld, 2020). Moreover, contributing to the adverse outcomes of Black males is the lack of access to culturally responsive, professional school counselors (Erford, 2019; Hines et al., 2020; Hines, Mayes, et al., 2022).…”

Student ways of thinking in STEM contexts: A focus on claim making and reasoning

“…For example, geometry, measurement, or proportional reasoning tasks might be inserted into a problem situation because they are a part of the gradelevel mathematical learning standards, but only relate to the situational context in a peripheral way. Third, STEM education can take an interdisciplinary approach to the exploration of tasks and problems (Asunda, 2014;Dare et al, 2018;Denick et al, 2013;Johnson & Sondergeld, 2020). This approach often utilizes themes or projects to ground the learning experience, and attempts to "focus on meaningful integration of STEM disciplines around real-world challenges as anchors" (Johnson & Sondergeld, 2020, p. 5).…”

“…Funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation, have supported numerous projects in the last 15 years that focus on improvements to interdisciplinary STEM education. STEM education is proliferating, as is a growing research base related to processes and outcomes (Bybee, 2018;Johnson & Sondergeld, 2020;Lesseig et al, 2019). This includes research on inclusive STEM schools, which focus on equitable approaches to educational access (Eisenhart et al, 2015;LaForce et al, 2016;Lynch et al, 2018).…”

Critical Race Structuralism: The Role of Science Education in Teaching Social Justice Issues in Urban Education and Pre-Service Teacher Education Programs

“…As NCES (2018aNCES ( , 2018b data indicate, White females are completing education programs at a higher rate than minority students (Yuan, 2018). Science teachers are in high demand across the nation as urban school districts place underqualified teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) classrooms (Johnson & Sondergeld, 2020; J. E. King & Swartz, 2014;Ladson-Billings, 1999). Thus, this investigation explores the following research question:…”