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STEM Pathways of Rural and Small-Town Students: Opportunities to Learn, Aspirations, Preparation, and College Enrollment
Abstract
Using the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), this study documents that rural and small-town students were significantly less likely to enroll in postsecondary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) degree programs, compared with their suburban peers. This study also shows that schools attended by rural and small-town students offered limited access to advanced coursework and extracurricular programs in STEM and had lower STEM teaching capacity. Those opportunities to learn in STEM were linked to the widening geographic gaps in STEM academic preparation. Overall, our findings suggest that during high school rural and small-town students shifted away from STEM fields and that geographic disparities in postsecondary STEM participation were largely explained by students’ demographics and precollege STEM career aspirations and academic preparation.
... Only 45% of schools classified as enrolling a high number of low income students offered calculus, but 87% of schools classified as enrolling a low numbers of low income students offered calculus (Leung et al., 2020). In a study of rural and small-town students, Saw and Agger (2021) found that students who attend rural high schools are 20 percentage points less likely to have access to calculus in high school than their suburban peers, as just 63% of rural high schools offered calculus. This is especially relevant for Indigenous populations given that about 50% of Indigenous people live in rural communities (Henning & Wheeler, 2020). ...
... Previous work has applied opportunity to learn to middle and secondary math education (Bottia et al., 2018;Cogan et al., 2001;Schmidt, 2012;Schmidt et al., 2021). For instance, Saw and Agger (2021) used this framework to examine whether rural and small-town students had similar opportunities to participate in STEM courses and programs compared to suburban peers. Additionally, Strayhorn (2010) incorporated the framework along with individual (i.e., sex) and family characteristics (i.e., first-generation status) to choose variables used to study the math achievement of Black high school students. ...
... However, there is not existing literature that applies an opportunity to learn framework to Indigenous students and secondary STEM coursework. Drawing on the opportunity to learn framework, as well as prior applications of that framework (e.g., Saw & Agger, 2021;Schmidt, 2012;Schmidt et al., 2021;Strayhorn, 2010), we chose specific variables to focus our analysis on math and science coursetaking and its relationships with students' backgrounds (sex, first-generation status, rurality). ...
Despite clear financial and societal benefits of pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), Indigenous students are underrepresented in undergraduate STEM degree programs and STEM industries. While existing literature uses qualitative methods to understand the experiences of Indigenous STEM students, there is a scarcity of quantitative work focusing on the college pathways of Indigenous students. This study uses logistic regression to examine the STEM pathways of Indigenous students who attended high school in Nebraska. Prior research demonstrates that taking STEM courses, including Algebra 2, biology, chemistry, and physics, relates to college enrollment. In particular, this article considers if there is a relationship between taking advanced math and science classes in high school and postsecondary enrollment. Findings indicate that taking Algebra 2 in high school is significantly related to enrolling in college. Similarly, taking Algebra 2 or two advanced lab science courses (biology, chemistry, and/or physics) is related to planning to major in a STEM field. However, only about 42% of Indigenous students were enrolled in Algebra 2, compared to about 74% of White students in the same cohort. Given these findings, high school districts and state policymakers need to consider how unequal opportunities to learn math and science could be inhibiting postsecondary outcomes of Indigenous students. Additionally, postsecondary administrators should acknowledge the barriers that Indigenous students face in secondary STEM education and consider revising admissions standards and support services to attend to the needs of this student population.
... Despite evidenced challenges compared to non-rural areas, rural communities are in a unique position to help address recent national demands for renewed STEM emphasis in schools (Saw & Agger, 2021). This study utilizes interviews from five rural educators who participated in a three-week STEM learning camp to discuss: 1) how teachers perceive the effectiveness of STEM learning opportunities at increasing student aspirations in STEM fields, and 2) what support and resources teachers need to provide more quality STEM learning opportunities. ...
... STEM related skills currently account for upwards of 69% of U.S. GDP (AAAS, 2020), and jobs in STEM fields are estimated to account for 37% of the workforce over the next decade (Lund et al., 2019). Despite evidenced challenges compared to non-rural areas (Bhaduri et al., 2022;Hunter et al., 2020), rural communities are in a unique position to help address these recent national demands for renewed STEM emphasis in schools (Saw & Agger, 2021). This research adds to recent efforts that focus on providing more quality STEM learning experiences to rural students to increase their interests and aspirations for increasingly important STEM careers. ...
... Although rural and small-town students account for around 30% of students in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017), most legislative bills directing educational policy and funds neglect to even mention rural schools (Dahill-Brown & Jochim, 2018;De Mars et al., 2022). Rural communities have distinctly different needs from urban and suburban counterparts (Bhaduri et al., 2022;De Mars et al., 2022), which makes it prudent for stakeholders to find more effective ways to attract and prepare rural students for future STEM careers (Saw & Agger, 2021), especially as pressure builds to meet demands for STEM skills. ...
Despite evidenced challenges compared to non-rural areas,
rural communities are in a unique position to help address
recent national demands for renewed STEM emphasis in
schools (Saw & Agger, 2021). This study utilizes interviews
from five rural educators who participated in a three-week
STEM learning camp to discuss: 1) how teachers perceive the
effectiveness of STEM learning opportunities at increasing
student aspirations in STEM fields, and 2) what support and
resources teachers need to provide more quality STEM learning
opportunities. Learning experiences focused on aerospace engineering, artificial intelligence, and computer science.
Camp participants included 310 students, 40 teachers, 33
schools and 27 school districts across one midwestern state.
Findings suggest teachers perceive that quality STEM learning
opportunities increase many students’ self-efficacy using
STEM technologies and aspiration for future STEM careers.
Perceptions indicated rural teachers demand more effective
PD that emphasizes hands-on experiences, troubleshooting,
student-friendly vocabulary, and pedagogy. Teachers advocated
for more hands-on and peer-to-peer learning opportunities
while avoiding longer lectures and technological issues
to better engage students. Lastly, teachers perceived that outside
funding, resources, and support are the only realistic way
rural teachers can provide more quality STEM learning experiences
to students in rural communities.
Keywords: Rural education, rural teachers, STEM careers,
STEM learning, Research Practice Partnership (RPP), professional
development (PD)
... Youth residing in rural areas often have fewer opportunities to engage with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through learning experiences in both inschool and out-of-school-time (OST) contexts (Arnold et. al., 2005;Saw & Agger, 2021). Youth persistence and continued engagement are common goals in STEM learning (Leos-Urbel, 2015) and can be challenging in rural settings (Saw & Agger, 2021). ...
... al., 2005;Saw & Agger, 2021). Youth persistence and continued engagement are common goals in STEM learning (Leos-Urbel, 2015) and can be challenging in rural settings (Saw & Agger, 2021). STEM learning interventions that are personally relevant to youth have been found to make meaningful connections between STEM learning experiences and youths' lives in their school and their community, especially for youth with low socioeconomic status and from underserved groups (Harackiewicz & Hulleman, 2010;Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). ...
... Anchoring learning in exploring phenomena and addressing locally relevant challenges enables youth to build interests from their everyday experiences and explore how STEM contributes to their lives and community (Avery, 2013;Bhaduri et al., 2018;Bell et al., 2013). This article stems from working in a mountain community (called Mountain County) that has many of the characteristics of a rural place including youth from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM (Saw & Agger, 2021). Specifically, this mountain community has a large population of English language learners and youth from immigrant communities, groups that have been shown in other communities to experience lower levels of confidence in their abilities and reduced participation and retention rates in STEM (Beyer, 2014;Fisher & Margolis, 2003;Fox et al., 2009). ...
Rural students, schools, and communities have unique challenges that hinder academic achievement, growth, and opportunities, compared to other locales. While there is a need to study this community more, there is also a pressing need to bring the local community members together to support the future generation of learners in developing pathways that lead them to future career opportunities. This article focuses on how a Research Practice Partnership (RPP) can be developed in rural communities to support STEM pathways for local middle-school youth. RPPs are often described as long-term collaborations between both researchers and practitioners in which the participating partners leverage research to address specific persistent problems of practice. We present findings from a developing design-based RPP focused on bringing community members and organizations together to co-design opportunities for underserved youth in rural mountain communities.
... As previously established, there are concerns regarding equity in access to mentoring from professional scientists and research done in laboratory facilities (Flanagan, 2013;Schank, 2015). Concerns about equity in science-learning, in general, are mirrored in rural educational settings (Saw & Agger, 2021) and among URMs (US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2018; as well, which will be addressed below. Saw & Agger (2021) note that, compared to their urban counterparts, rural students may experience different levels of access to science learning due to geographical remoteness, among other factors. ...
... Concerns about equity in science-learning, in general, are mirrored in rural educational settings (Saw & Agger, 2021) and among URMs (US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2018; as well, which will be addressed below. Saw & Agger (2021) note that, compared to their urban counterparts, rural students may experience different levels of access to science learning due to geographical remoteness, among other factors. There are also concerns regarding the overall level of support that URM students, especially African American students receive for their science fair projects. ...
... One study found that although schools that required science fair participation and served more African American students, the students were more likely to receive low levels of support (Kook et al., 2020). Additionally, research findings suggest that rural and small-town students experience fewer STEM opportunities to learn as they're more likely to experience fewer STEM extracurricular programs, math and science course offerings, and math and science teacher capacity (Saw & Agger, 2021). ...
Science education in the United States has endured substantial reform due to national needs for a bolstered, more diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. Recent reform efforts call for students to be engaged in scientific inquiry through the practices of scientists and engineers. Opportunity gaps exist in science education and in the STEM pipeline for those who have traditionally been underrepresented, especially females and minorities. Research highlights the potential of science fair experiences to engage students in inquiry learning that could meet the needs of updated standards. Furthermore, students from diverse backgrounds might benefit from out-of-school time science learning opportunities such as science fair. Research results suggest students pursue STEM education and STEM careers due to development of STEM identity, and expectancy-value theory. Other research that investigated students’ motivations to do science fair has failed to differentiate between compulsory and voluntary participation. Little is known about why students, choose to engage in science fair. This research used constructivist grounded theory to develop a theory of students’ motivation to continually participate in scientific research for science fair. Data was collected and analyzed from intensive interviews of 23 students across eight school districts all within a Great Plains state. Participants engaged in multiple science fairs while in middle and/or high school and participated voluntarily for at least one iteration of science fair. Findings yielded a theoretical model that depicts the processes that students experienced as they engaged in science fair, such as the chance to pursue meaningful research, the challenges they faced, such as a lack of resources, and the support they received from sponsors. This study contributes to the literature on motivation to do science fair as findings indicate the development of science identity, students’ needs to have autonomy in their research topic, and students’ realization of scientific research as a tool to solve meaningful problems and science fair as the venue to be an expert. Advisor: Eric S. Buhs
... In a recent study, using national data to identify the differences between rural and urban STEM career pathways of high school students, Saw and Agger (2021) found that there were STEM career aspiration differences between rural and urban students. This seems to have stemmed from a lack of opportunities to learn (OTL), whereby rural students felt more underprepared for STEM subjects. ...
... This perpetual cycle in rural settings that starts with lack of (quality) STEM learning opportunities, to low STEM achievement, and low STEM career aspirations and participation most likely ends in a rural system that does not attract creation of quality STEM learning opportunities. Since the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be a need of 2,292,600 workers by 2026 in STEM-related fields from the creation of new jobs and from those exiting the workforce (Saw & Agger, 2021;U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, n.d.), the lack of STEM programs despite an increasing need for STEM careers is having a widespread effect on rural communities. ...
... Especially in STEM contexts, intent or interest is a key component for future STEM career aspirations (Saw & Agger, 2021). One struggle with interest development in STEM fields in rural areas is the lack of social and content support due to the lack of STEM learning opportunities in schools (Saw & Agger, 2021). ...
Despite its increasing importance in today’s society, STEM learning opportunities in rural areas are limited. Factors such as limited learning resources and experiences may negatively impact students in rural areas in developing interest for STEM subjects, and eventually STEM careers. In this qualitative study, our purpose was to understand how STEM interest develops and how this interest is maintained for rural college students in STEM majors. Supporting the core of the interest development framework by Hidi and Renniger (Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127, 2006), we found out that there were internal and external factors that impacted both the spark and development of STEM interest. Students mentioned the importance of family and school-related factors, as well as environmental factors as triggers of interest. Development of the initial interest was established through sustained cognitive and emotional activities which were also supported by external and internal factors. STEM interest was then maintained during college through elements within the college context and personal factors. Since rural students’ STEM interest is developed and maintained through both internal and external factors, we argue that schools and colleges should provide STEM learning opportunities to assist with these processes.
... However, the lack of related professional development support was still one of the most cited barriers to maker-centered instruction (Hughes et al., 2022). For many K-12 teachers, such resources remained to be limited, especially for those from the low-income communities and in rural remote areas (Chu et al., 2017;Heredia & Tan, 2021;Saw & Agger, 2021;Stevenson et al., 2019). More effective custom-made professional development opportunities are needed to help K-12 teachers build competency in maker technology and pedagogy. ...
... As Harrington (1993) pointed out, in technology integration, if teachers perceive high values, even though resources are limited, they are more likely to actively integrate the technology than in a situation in which resources are rich but the perceived value is low. This is especially important for the teachers in the current study as most of them were from low-income communities and had less accessible resources for maker education (Hughes et al., 2022;Saw & Agger, 2021). Miller and Olson (1994) also saw the optimistic aspect. ...
With the advance of the Maker movement, teacher professional development is needed to prepare K-12 teachers for maker-centered instruction. This study examined the influence of teaching experience in learning maker-centered instruction. Data included surveys, 3D models, and maker lesson plans created by 162 in-service K-12 teachers. Results show that, overall, years of teaching experience did not make a difference in knowledge, attitudes, and design of maker lessons between veteran and novice teachers. Both teacher groups held positive attitudes, yet were concerned with limited maker knowledge and skills. After the initial training, both groups were able to integrate maker technology and design maker lessons in creative ways. Research and practical implications are discussed for the maker-teacher professional development of K-12 teachers.
... The availability of STEM-oriented high schools, however, vary by an area's urbanicity and are less common in rural areas [39, p. 201], [40]. In agreement with this, Saw and Agger [41] found that high schools in rural and small-town settings have less AP math and science class; have less math and science fairs; are less likely to sponsor after school programs; and are less likely to inform students about extracurricular math and science programs. Students attending rural high school, then, tend to have less opportunities to engage in STEM-related activities, and therefore, lower STEM participation. ...
... Our conceptual framework (Figure 1) highlights the importance of demographic characteristics and family background on STEM major choice, and we therefore include the following variables in our regression models: gender, race/ethnicity, parental education, and family income. We also investigate high school-level factors, including high school level of urbanicity, percentage of racially minoritized students enrolled at the high school, whether the high school is public or private, and the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch (e.g., [10], [16], [41]). The conceptual framework also indicates that individual student academic achievement and math and science interest and perceived proficiency are important to STEM major choice. ...
... One of the biggest criticisms of STEM equity in rural education is how little attention it has received (Saw & Agger, 2021). The lack of attention is problematic because rural students experience many challenges, including a lack of resources due to their geographic isolation and decreased access to qualified educators, especially in mathematics and science (Murphy, 2022). ...
... Moreover, although rural environments are a rich context for learning science, rural students' opportunities to engage in their local communities often do not reflect traditional schooling systems in their counties (Saw & Agger, 2021). Therefore, providing access to rural students involves taking a unique approach. ...
As the emerging field of equity in STEM education continues to grow, debates are also growing surrounding how to best serve populations with historically restricted access and successful outcomes within the STEM fields. In this article, a group of doctoral students who took a course titled Equity in STEM Education discussed their takeaways regarding the literature introduced in the course. The topics covered in this article center around Gutiérrez’s (2007) equity framework of power, identity, access, and achievement. Through the lens of the equity framework, the dimension of power will be used to present discourse on the sociopolitical turn in STEM education. Identity will be used to explore debates on race, poverty, gender, and sexuality within STEM equity and education. Access will be used to examine discussions on students’ ability to achieve STEM equity in rural settings and within specific domains such as computer science. Finally, achievement will be used to explore arguments on both sides of the achievement gap research. To conclude, we urge researchers, educators, and policymakers to listen and act upon the work of contemporary scholars in order to achieve an equitable STEM education system.
... Rural schools, many of which are small and have high proportions of low-income students, are less often able to provide a robust college-preparatory curriculum (Brown & Schafft, 2011;Koricich et al., 2018). Rural schools have limited Advanced Placement and advanced STEM offerings as well (Gagnon & Mattingly, 2015Saw & Agger, 2021), which not only are factors considered in the college admissions process as measures of academic rigor, but also are positive indicators for four-year college enrollment (Engberg & Wolniak, 2010). ...
... Students from towns have been categorized as rural at times (in NELS data), as suburban at other times (in ELS data) and now have their own category (in HSLS data), which may cause confusion when making comparisons over time (Manly et al., 2020). Our decision to group rural and town students together is consistent with operational definitions used in the past (e.g., Byun et al., 2012, with NELS data) as well as with recent work using HSLS data (Saw & Agger, 2021), but has the tradeoff of losing some comparative nuance between the four locales (Chambers et al., 2019;Li, 2019). To partially address this, we conducted sensitivity analyses with the town locale categorized as nonrural, to examine the robustness of our results relative to this operational definition. 2 Key predictors of college enrollment are used as covariates. ...
Unlabelled:
Rural students enroll in college at lower rates than nonrural students. This has been partially attributed to lower average socioeconomic status (SES) in rural areas. However, this assertion tends to ignore heterogeneity that may mask how SES shapes rural students' college-going experiences. Utilizing a geography of opportunity framework, this study investigated how rural-nonrural differences in college-going vary based on SES. Analyses reveal that (a) rural and nonrural students in the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) had very similar mean SES; (b) rural status still predicted lower college enrollment rates overall, as well as four-year enrollment specifically; (c) the overall rural-nonrural enrollment gap was primarily a gap for low- and middle-SES students; and (d) there was greater socioeconomic inequality in college access in rural geographies than in nonrural geographies. These findings reinforce the fact rural students are not a monolithic group and emphasize the continued importance of SES between and within geographies. Given these findings, recommendations are provided with the intent of making college enrollment more equitable by the joint consideration of rurality and SES.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11162-023-09737-8 .
... Parents' occupations and involvement also influence students' STEM learning and career development (Howard et al., 2019;Moakler & Kim, 2014). Other factors include students' performance and motivation in STEM (Eccles, 1983(Eccles, , 2009Lent et al., 1994;Wang, 2013), as well as their learning experiences and context factors in high school, such as school location (Saw & Agger, 2021), teacher quality (Althauser, 2015;Lee et al., 2015;Park et al., 2019), extracurricular opportunities (Kitchen et al., 2018;Franco & Patel, 2017;Means et al., 2016), and STEM course-taking (Gottfried & Bozick, 2016). ...
... For teacher quality, we included unobserved factors that are critical to students' STEM learning achievement, such as math and science teachers' perceptions of professional learning communities, self-efficacy, expectations, collective responsibility, and principal support (Althauser, 2015;Lee et al., 2015;Park et al., 2019). For school location, we selected urbanicity and geographic region as predictors, given the geographic disparities in postsecondary STEM participation (Saw & Agger, 2021). For extracurricular opportunities, we included variables such as whether a school offers STEM-related programs (e.g., supporting underrepresented students in STEM and informing parents about college majors and careers in STEM), which may benefit students pursuing careers in STEM (Kitchen et al., 2018;Franco & Patel, 2017;Means et al., 2016). ...
Despite the increasing demand for professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), only a small portion of young people in the USA pursue a postsecondary degree in STEM. To identify the major predictors of STEM participation, this study uses a machine learning approach, a Classification and Regression Tree (CART), to analyze a wide range of individual, family, and school factors obtained from national survey data of US high school freshmen in fall 2009 who eventually enrolled in STEM college majors by 2016. The analytic results indicate that calculus credits, science identity, total STEM credits, and math achievement are the most predictive factors during the high school years of college STEM major selection. The CART-based tree also shows how these four variables interactively predict the likelihood of students enrolling in STEM college majors.
... The current study was unique in that literally all of the data collected and analyzed for this manuscript were provided by the students. The population of participants in the current study has not been well represented in the literature (e.g., [4,14,83]). Overall, these were rural, minority (predominantly African American) students from low-SES households who had moderate participation in the clubs. ...
... For policymakers who are interested in broadening participation and learning in STEM, it is important to consider key elements of motivation and participation of youth in informal spaces. One way in which policymakers can successfully broaden participation of youth in STEM is to create and support STEM-focused clubs in out-of-school settings [14]. In this manuscript, essential components of afterschool STEM clubs in four rural middle schools, held over the course of 3 years, were explored and discussed, based solely on research data provided completely by the participating students (for a more detailed description of the entire project, see [6]). ...
This research investigated what motivated and sustained the involvement of 376 students in culturally relevant, afterschool STEM clubs at four rural, under-resourced schools. A longitudinal, convergent parallel mixed methods research design was used to investigate participants’ participation in and perceptions of the clubs, their motivations to attend, and their future goals, over three years. Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) served as a guiding theoretical and analytical framework. Overall, students who attended the clubs were African American (55%), female (56%), and 6th graders (42%), attended approximately half of the clubs (43%), and agreed with quality measures on the STEM Club Survey (M = 4.0/5). Students interviewed (n = 131) were most likely (99%) to describe what they enjoyed (intrinsic value), what was useful to them (utility value; 55%), personally important (42%; attainment value), or related to their personal or collective identity (40%). Most participants (78%) planned to attend a 4-year university and expressed interest in at least one STEM career (77%); highest attendees (48%) expressed the most interest. Our study reveals that a culturally relevant, afterschool STEM club can motivate underserved students to participate, learn, feel a sense of belonging as a club member, and positively influence their college and career pathways.
... Studies have shown that urban schools often have a larger number of inexperienced, out-of-field, and uncertified teachers than low need schools due to difficulties with recruitment and retention of qualified and experienced teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2003;Krakehl et al., 2020;Palermo et al., 2021aPalermo et al., , 2021bPatterson et al., 2004). STEM teaching capacity and opportunity-to-learn have also been shown to be constrained in rural and small-town schools (Saw & Agger, 2021). Since under-resourced schools have a higher teacher turnover rate than well-resourced schools, many novice teachers enter these schools each year (Ingersoll, 2001). ...
... Furthermore, school-level characteristics such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, school locale, and prevalence of English language learners have been related to student outcomes in science (De Brey et al., 2019;Kelly & Sheppard, 2009;Saw & Agger, 2021). It has been found that STEM participation and performance is lower for racial minorities historically underrepresented in STEM and students of low socioeconomic status (Herrera & Hurtado, 2011;National Science Foundation, 2010;Schultz et al., 2011). ...
Student performance in high school Earth Science coursework often depends upon access to high quality teaching and resources. This study employed a non-experimental correlational research design to explore teacher-level and school-level variables and their relationship to students’ Earth Science performance. The theoretical framework is derived from studies that suggest both teacher and organizational characteristics influence students’ academic outcomes. Statewide census data were collected from a sample of Earth Science teachers (N = 2457) and Earth Science students (N = 153,749) in New York State during the 2016–2017 academic year. Teacher-level variables included certification status, professional age, course load in Earth science, and teacher isolation; while the school-level variables included Earth Science performance, test-taking percentage, socioeconomic status, locale, ethnicity, and English language proficiency. Results indicated that nearly a quarter of Earth Science teachers were teaching out-of-field, with a higher incidence in urban schools, where nearly half of all Earth Science teachers were not certified in the subject. A multivariable regression model with a subset of isolated Earth Science teachers (n = 528) indicated student performance was predicted by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, English language proficiency, and the prevalence of Earth Science participation in the school. These findings have implications for policy makers to institute reforms in teacher education and precollege Earth Science instruction, particularly in educational contexts that serve historically marginalized students, with the aim of promoting equity in diverse educational contexts. Recommendations include increasing precollege Earth Science access in the United States, improving pedagogical knowledge, and enhancing the teaching of Earth Science through informal settings.
... However, the technology adoption for rural areas has lagged behind, significantly and historically, which that in urban districts (Hollifield & Donnermeyer, 2003). Moreover, teachers in rural areas have limited access to high-quality PD that prepares them for using technology (Lavalley, 2018;Saw & Agger, 2021). Rural communities are facing this challenge for makerspace education (Nixon et al., 2021). ...
... With the recent maker movement, makerspace has been viewed as a new education revolution. Recent years witnessed a growing body of research in bringing makerspaces and ideas of maker education for teacher PD (Jones, 2020;Peterson & Scharber, 2018;Saw & Agger, 2021;Stevenson et al., 2019). However, teachers in rural areas are faced with the challenges of accessing such resources, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
This study explored two different ways for K‐12 school teachers to access educational makerspace through virtual fieldtrips. K‐12 school teachers from rural areas of the Southeast USA were divided into two groups. The experimental group (n = 48) drove telepresence robots to take their fieldtrip, while the comparison group (n = 23) watched the same fieldtrip through a recorded video. Analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data, collected through surveys and written reflections, showed that the experimental group reported significantly higher scores in embodiment, social presence and engagement (ie, behaviour, emotion and cognition) than the comparison group, and that actual driving the robots for the virtual fieldtrips was highlighted as a favored experience. Educational significance and implications are discussed.
Practitioner notes
What is currently known about this topic With makerspaces gaining increasing attention in K‐12 education, professional development (PD) opportunities are needed to help teachers understand makerspaces and related technologies.
Teachers in rural areas are faced with the challenges of accessing makerspace resources and opportunities, especially during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Little research has explored teacher makerspace PD in rural areas.
Maker resource deficiency in rural areas and the COVID‐19 pandemic call for an alternative approach to the makerspace PD, particularly for teachers in rural areas.
What this paper adds Explored the use of telepresence robots for rural teachers to access an authentic makerspace through virtual fieldtrips.
Examined the effects of virtual fieldtrip to access makerspaces on K‐12 teachers' embodiment, social presence and engagement.
Examined the aspects of the telepresence fieldtrip that were most valuable to K‐12 teachers.
Investigated the factors that contribute to teachers' engagement in a virtual fieldtrip.
Implications for practitioners Telepresence robot was an effective tool that enabled teachers in rural areas to explore authentic makerspaces through a virtual trip over distance.
To help teachers conceptualize the idea of makerspace, it is important to allow teachers to move in the physical makerspace and interact with the environment.
To design an engaging fieldtrip that triggers active learning, more attention should be given to how to develop the emotional aspect of a fieldtrip experience.
Embodiment plays an important role in virtual fieldtrips. When teachers have a higher level of embodiment, they are more likely to be emotionally and cognitively engaged in a fieldtrip experience.
... However, their research showed that male students from rural areas have more positive attitudes toward using ICT in teaching and learning. Recently, Saw and Agger (2021) studied differences between rural and small-town students regarding opportunities to learn STEM subjects and to follow college studies in the US. The findings of that research showed that during high school, rural students shifted away from STEM fields, because of geographical disparities. ...
This paper presents the findings from a survey conducted on primary students to map their views toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in Greece according to their urban or rural setting and gender. The sample included 281 primary students from different public schools in Attica and 69 primary students from a Greek province. A close-ended questionnaire was digitally distributed to collect the data. The findings revealed that most students, from both settings, consider themselves good at mathematics and science. At the same time, they do not report it to be very likely that they would follow a career that is related either to these subjects or engineering and technology. Regarding their personal skills, most of them stated that they have communication and cooperation skills. Concerning differences between the two settings, there were statistically significant differences in favor of rural students in whether they believed they could improve, both in mathematics and science, their belief that their knowledge in STEM subjects could be useful in their adult life, and their views on the causes and effects of environmental issues. Finally, limited gender differences emerged in favor of the boys’ responses regarding future STEM careers. The implications for further research on geographical, gender, and socioeconomic disparities in STEM education are discussed.
... Despite evidenced challenges compared to non-rural areas (Bhaduri et al., 2022;Hunter et al., 2020), rural communities -which account for around 30% of students in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017) -are in a unique position to help address national demands for renewed STEM emphasis in schools (Saw & Agger, 2021). Recent research suggests quality STEM learning experiences enhance students' aspirations for STEM degrees and subsequent careers (Martín Páez et al., 2019). ...
The transformative potential of Virtual and Augmented Reality applications has sparked significant interest in educational contexts based on the exciting types of real-world learning experiences they can afford students to develop complex skills (Suryodiningrat et al., 2023). As an extension of Project LEAPES (a grant initiative aiming to promote STEM degrees across a midwestern state), this research team recently facilitated 44 VIVE XR Elite VR headsets to 44 teachers in rural schools to explore how VR and AR learning experiences can address increasing demands for STEM-related jobs in the United States (National Science Board, 2020). Thus, this research began as a scoping review over the suggested benefits and challenges associated with how VR and AR learning applications were being used with K-12 students in STEM contexts. Scoping procedures revealed a tremendous lack of research related to VR and AR applications being used in American K-12 STEM contexts. Of the limited eleven applicable articles, suggested benefits included increased student engagement and learning, improved perceptions of STEM subjects, and greater access to quality learning opportunities that develop complex knowledge and skills. Suggested challenges included physical side effects, complex learning curves, cultural relevancy, and high costs. Implications for ongoing project initiatives and future research efforts relating to VR and AR STEM learning applications are discussed.
... Research shows that rural students are significantly underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) (Harris and Hogan, 2019;Saw and Agger 2021;and Postsecondary National Policy Institute, 2023). Yet, rural students account for approximately 30% of the public elementary and secondary education student population in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2017). ...
... For STEM or any educational-type of interest, there exists some additional important factors to be able to recognize and consider, like more broadly examining the impact of familial socialization, the educational setting in which a student is involved, co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities available to a student, among others [9][10][11]. These factors may also be influenced by demographics including social status or geographic region [12,13]. ...
... Las ocupaciones y el capital social que los estudiantes de áreas rurales y los pueblos pequeños poseen pueden afectar su educación y aspiraciones de carrera. Su posición geográfica puede ser una barrera o limitante en las oportunidades de enseñanza y aprendizaje relacionado a disciplinas STEM y es posible que puedan explicar las diferencias de aspiraciones en la selección de carrera (Saw & Agger, 2021). ...
El papel de los padres y profesores es relevante en el impulso de las mujeres para la selección de carreras STEM. El objetivo del estudio fue la determinación de las propiedades psicométricas de una escala de medición para la estimación de las perspectivas de las estudiantes sobre el apoyo de padres y profesores en el fomento por carreras en ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería o matemáticas en instituciones de educación media superior en zonas rurales. Se desarrolló un análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio, y se estimaron los principales indicadores de fiabilidad y validez. Se concluye que el modelo propuesto cumple con los atributos psicométricos necesarios para ser empleado en el estudio de este fenómeno en el contexto para el cual fue desarrollado.
... • The geographic gap in STEMM is partly due to rural and small-town students' lower STEMM career aspirations. 170 • Negative gender stereotypes affect women's goal setting in STEMM fields. 171 Actional STEMM capital denotes the action repertoire of a person; as such, it describes the totality of actions a person is capable of performing in STEMM. ...
In principle, there could be STEMM talent everywhere if there were sufficient and adequate opportunities and learning resources everywhere. The reality, however, is that the likelihood of developing one's talent in STEMM is tied to membership in social groups. In this contribution, we explore the implications of this statement with multiple examples for different social groups and for different stages of talent development. We propose an educational framework model for analyzing equity gaps in STEMM talent development that identifies and systematizes the unequal and inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities as the proximal cause of the emergence of such equity gaps. Furthermore, we discuss important aspects for closing equity gaps in STEMM talent development. We argue that—similar to public health approaches—the focus in establishing equity in STEMM talent development should be on prevention rather than intervention. We discuss the importance of the cooperation of societal subsystems and argue for the use of adequate methods of disparity detection for creating equal opportunities. We also outline why preventive strategies are crucial for the creation of resource parity and explain why outcome standards should be considered obligatory.
... These pressures may be more intense for girls with stronger family responsibilities and a more limited local job market (Kirkpatrick-Johnson et al., 2005). Additionally, rural schools are less likely to offer advanced classes or extracurricular science activities, and children from rural schools are less likely to pursue science majors in college (Jones & Burrell, 2022, Saw & Agger, 2021. Science teachers in rural schools have fewer opportunities for professional development and report less confidence with science materials than teachers in urban or suburban school systems do (Zuniga et al., 2005). ...
This study was designed to test how well a commercial intervention with a highly feminized role model (Barbie) worked to improve pre-adolescent girls’ interest and performance in computer science. Concurrently, this study examined how overtly feminist texts and images of real women would impact girls compared to the traditional highly feminized Barbie texts and images. Girls were randomly assigned to hear one of the four books in a 2 (pictures: Barbie illustrations or photos of real women) × 2 (text: original or feminist) design. Sixty-eight 6–13-year-old girls (M age = 9.48, SD = 1.41) were read a book, reported their interest in computer science, created an avatar for themselves, received coding training, and completed a coding assessment. It was predicted that girls who had seen a book with a highly feminized model and heard the original text would choose to spend more time on appearance-based skills (creating a personal avatar) over coding skills and thus would score lower on the coding assessment than girls who saw photos of real women and heard the feminist text. Results showed that the text manipulation, rather than the pictures, had the most influence on the girls’ behaviors: girls who heard the feminist text performed better on the coding task and were more likely to choose a coding activity over an avatar creation activity. The girls’ individual characteristics (gender attitudes and gendered avatar choices) showed significant associations with their hypothetical responses to sexist comments, coding performance, and choice of coding activity. Results underscore the importance of language in the internalization of gender stereotypes.
... At a rural school with small enrollment, it may not be cost effective for the administration or time-effective for the teachers to organize a SEF. Finally, lack of rural SEFs might be another reflection of decreased STEM education opportunities known to exist in rural communities [53][54][55][56]. Distinguishing between the foregoing possibilities will require future research. ...
The findings reported in this paper are based on surveys of U.S. high school students who registered and managed their science and engineering fair (SEF) projects through the online Scienteer website over the three years 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22. Almost 2500 students completed surveys after finishing all their SEF competitions. We added a new question in 2019/20 to our on-going surveys asking the students whether their high school location was urban, suburban, or rural. We learned that overall, 74% of students participating in SEFs indicated that they were from suburban schools. Unexpectedly, very few SEF participants, less than 4%, indicated that they were from rural schools, even though national data show that more than 20% of high school students attend rural schools. Consistent with previous findings, Asian and Hispanic students indicated more successful SEF outcomes than Black and White students. However, whereas Asian students had the highest percentage of SEF participants from suburban vs. urban schools- 81% vs. 18%, Hispanic students had the most balanced representation of participants from suburban vs. urban schools- 55% vs. 39%. Differences in students' SEF experiences based on gender and ethnicity showed the same patterns regardless of school location. In the few items where we observed statistically significant (probability < .05) differences based on school location, students from suburban schools were marginally favored by only a few percentage points compared to students from urban schools. In conclusion, based on our surveys results most students participating in SEFs come from suburban schools, but students participating in SEFs and coming from urban schools have equivalent SEF experiences, and very few students participating in SEFs come from rural schools.
... More than 9.3 million students in the U.S. attend rural schools (Showalter et al., 2019). Yet, as Saw and Agger (2021) note, the bulk of research and policy to date addressing STEM opportunity and access has paid little attention to those in rural locales. Rural spaces do, indeed, often have inequitable STEM access and opportunity (Biddle & Azano, 2016), but they also have D R A F T the capability to be more nimble and locally responsive with decision making (Preston, 2021)including with STEM education. ...
More than 9.3 million students in the U.S. attend rural schools, yet most research and policy addressing STEM opportunity and access has paid little attention to rural spaces. Further, STEM is a nebulous term, leading stakeholders to often make STEM into whatever they want it to be, which can lead to confusion and frustration. This qualitative exploratory study sought to learn about rural administrators’ perceptions of STEM to consider how policy might support STEM education in rural spaces. Interviews with rural administrators were analyzed for themes around their perceptions of STEM as well as what impacts their decision-making related to STEM implementation. Preliminary findings indicate that rural administrators see STEM as something that is already integrated in their schools, although teachers need more professional development to fully understand the importance of STEM education. Related to decision-making, the perspective that administrators had regarding their rurality (asset vs. deficit view), as well as how they view their roles as STEM leaders colored administrators’ decisions about STEM. Hearing from rural administrators can assist stakeholder in considering how to craft policies that support STEM access and opportunity while acknowledging the unique nature of rural spaces.
... Simultaneously, the existing scenario for children from rural areas in terms of STEM application highlights a need for increased access to resources, educational opportunities, and exposure to STEM-related activities in order to fully unlock their potential and engage them in STEM disciplines. Rural and small-town pupils were much less likely than their suburban peers to enrol in postsecondary STEM degree programmes (Saw & Agger, 2021). Rural students were less likely to enrol in STEM and non-STEM university programmes (Hango et al., 2018). ...
This study investigates the characteristics that influence rural high school students' interest in jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). It focuses on the impact of socioeconomic class, family background, and gender on their ideas and desires for STEM jobs. The findings show that socioeconomic factors have a major impact on rural students' interest in STEM subjects. Due to enhanced access to resources, educational opportunities, and exposure to STEM-related activities, students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds in rural areas display greater interest and drive for STEM. Furthermore, parental education and occupation have a significant impact on rural children' perceptions of STEM vocations and self-confidence in these domains. The report also emphasises the impact of gender dynamics, with gender preconceptions and a lack of diverse role models contributing to rural students' underrepresentation of girls and marginalised genders in STEM jobs. It is critical to develop inclusive learning settings, challenge gender prejudices, and offer equal access to STEM education for rural children in order to increase interest and participation in STEM. By addressing these concerns, educators and politicians can encourage rural kids to pursue STEM careers, resulting in a more diversified and skilled STEM workforce and propelling rural areas forward in the face of technological breakthroughs.
... These publications examine a wide range of pedagogical, social, education and policy issues. For example, data from HSLS09 was the focus of studies undertaken by [29][30][31] which were all published in 2021 while [32][33][34] appeared in 2022. ...
It has long been understood that there exists a strong association between a student's belief in the future utility of mathematics and their self-efficacy in mathematics. This study re-examines this association by studying these variables based on data collected from a sample of 21,444 ninth-grade students who participated in the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS09). The nature of the association between future utility beliefs of students in mathematics and self-efficacy of students in mathematics is explored visually using the simple correspondence analysis technique. The main feature that will be utilised from this technique is a two-dimensional graphical display, referred to as a correspondence plot. By studying the HSLS09 data, the first two axes of such a plot summarised nearly 99% of the statistically significant association that exists between a student's beliefs in the future utility of mathematics and their mathematics self-efficacy. It is shown visually that students who strongly believe in the future importance of studying mathematics also perform strongly in the subject, while those who do not believe that there is any future utility from studying mathematics do not perform well at it. This study, therefore, suggests that mathematics ability is associated with a student's perception of its future importance.
... Rural students tend to have fewer opportunities for engaging in STEM learning opportunities (Boettcher et al., 2022). In addition to limited resources because of limited funding, the challenges are often exacerbated by the fact that many rural areas lack access to broadband connectivity (Croft & Moore, 2019;Saw & Agger, 2021). Issues of access are worsened for students of color in rural areas (Horrigan & Duggan, 2015). ...
Rural economically disadvantaged communities face unique challenges in engaging students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). School district administrators, teachers, and students do not have access to high-quality STEM opportunities compared to urban schools. This article describes a partnership between a small, private STEM university and a network of school districts scattered across the geographically isolated region of upstate New York. The partnership’s primary goal is to support the teaching and learning of STEM. This is achieved through actively engaging a range of university and community stakeholders in STEM enrichment and professional development. Programming includes summer camps and after-school activities, challenges and competitions that focus on inspiring students to pursue STEM careers, undergraduate and graduate student mentors, and a university curriculum designed to prepare teachers to work in high-need school districts. Activities are supported by the university’s Institute for STEM Education, which fosters collaborations for like-minded faculty and campus members to pursue grant opportunities and connect with community members. The paper describes various program components and how they work to support each other, discusses impacts of the program, and describes ways in which elements can be implemented elsewhere.
... Efforts to improve trust in science among rural Americans include improving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education at elementary and secondary levels and Extension programming (Harris & Hodges, 2018;Robinson, 2013). Despite these efforts, rural students are significantly less likely to enroll in postsecondary STEM degree programs (Saw & Agger, 2021). Although it has been documented that rural communities distrust science, many crises, such as COVID-19, climate change, water quality, and obesity, not only require scientific knowledge to understand, but also affect rural communities disproportionately (Mueller et al., 2021). ...
... One of the advantages of community science is questioning pernicious assumptions about who is capable of participating in science [9]. Engagement with students from rural backgrounds is important, since rural students are less likely to have access to camps or informal science learning environments such as museums and to enroll in postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs, compared with their suburban peers [14]. Empowering wider participant engagement in community science has the potential to increase community science literacy or the ability to use science to advance local community issues [9]. ...
Studies of tickborne illness have benefited from interactions between scientists and community members. Most participants in community science projects are well-educated adults, but there are anticipated benefits from engaging younger students in research. We evaluated whether an outreach experience for rural middle-school students promoted student interest in science and resulted in the generation of samples that could be used for tick testing to assess disease risk. Middle-school students from 78 Wisconsin communities developed interdisciplinary hypotheses about the spread of Lyme disease, identified ticks, and extracted DNA from ticks to assess the prevalence of pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophillium, and Babesia microti. As a result of this intervention, students were able to successfully complete the research protocol and explain the rationale for completing the experiment. Of student participants, 84.7% reported no difficulty completing the protocol, 66% of the student samples gave reliable PCR results, and 76% of students reported interest in participating in similar experiments. Our study shows that tick outreach programs that incorporate community-based science promote knowledge about Lyme disease, facilitate engagement between students and scientists, and generate samples that can be successfully utilized for pathogen testing.
... These pressures may be more intense for girls with stronger family responsibilities and a more limited local job market (Kirkpatrick-Johnson et al., 2005). Additionally, rural schools are less likely to offer advanced classes or extracurricular science activities, and children from rural schools are less likely to pursue science majors in college (Jones & Burrell, 2022, Saw & Agger, 2021. Science teachers in rural schools have fewer opportunities for professional development and report less confidence with science materials than teachers in urban or suburban school systems do (Zuniga et al., 2005). ...
A lack of access to a sequence of introductory to top-level curricula in rural schools has widened the achievement disparity between rural and urban students and influenced the number of college degree holders in rural areas. Recently, surging diversity and differentiation in income levels across nonurbanized areas can serve as determinants of the development of academically rigorous course pipelines in rural schools. This study examines differentiation in spatial access to the curriculum ladder for rigorous mathematics in three southern U.S. states during the 2017–18 school year: Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Policy variations in these states yield different effects on the sequence of rigorous mathematics courses in rural high schools. Given that the mathematics course pipeline reinforces college access, access to academically challenging courses likely outweighs the rural disadvantages of college readiness in non-urban students and the persistence of inequality in public education.
Introduction:
Health disparities between rural and urban areas in Aotearoa New Zealand are exacerbated by rural workforce issues. Traditionally, undergraduate medical programs are urban-based, and reconfiguring the curriculum to meet the needs of rural communities is challenging. The aim of this project is explore how urban-located universities might develop and implement a rural strategy. Evaluation of a rural strategy may lead to the strategy's ongoing improvements designed to increase the rural workforce.
Methods:
This is a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with purposively selected key stakeholders. Enquiry included the systematic identification of processes required to develop a rural strategy, including possible facilitators and challenges to be addressed. Qualitative analysis of de-identified data was conducted using a thematic approach.
Results:
Fourteen stakeholders were interviewed: four rural GPs, two rural hospital doctors, four administrators involved in placing students, and four senior medical academics with involvement in the regional and rural programs. Five overarching themes were identified: (1) developing rural pathways into medical school, (2) improving and expanding rural exposures, (3) developing rural GP pathways, (4) implementing interprofessional education and (5) having a social mission.
Conclusion:
These findings align with the literature relating to developing rural strategies for universities. However, this study also suggested that rural health interprofessional programs may have a role. A key finding was that the social mission of a university may not be visible to rural stakeholders. Reorientating an urban-located university to having a rural strategy requires moving past having policy around social accountability to operationalising it.
Science education that fosters scientific competency and engagement prepares students to become informed civic participants in modern society. Teaching strategies that encourage scientific engagement are especially important in rural settings, as these students are less likely to pursue scientific careers or use science in their everyday lives. To this aim, we implemented a citizen science approach in science education, an approach that enables K‐12 grade students to participate in locally relevant and authentic scientific research, in suburban and rural 5th and 9th–12th grade classrooms. While most citizen science education initiatives are led by experienced scientists, we recognized the additional level of learning that may arise from positioning undergraduate students as curricular designers of the citizen science classroom activities and partners for the classroom teachers. This study evaluates perceived changes in science engagement, science identity, and science competency that emerged as a result of participating in this citizen science initiative, both for the 5th and 9th–12th school students and the undergraduate instructors. Classroom teachers reported that students demonstrated an increased level of engagement with and excitement about science. The undergraduate instructors reported a renewed sense of confidence in their science abilities and a deepened sense of place in the science community. Finally, the educators involved in this project, both classroom K‐12 teachers and undergraduate higher education educators, observed the benefits of this model for connecting students at different points in their science learning journeys. In our discussion, we articulate the benefits and challenges of implementing a multilevel approach to citizen science education.
A diverse health professions workforce is critical to healthcare access and quality, but nurturing interest and recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds into health science careers remain a challenge. Pipeline programs commonly target students who are underrepresented in health professions, including those from racially and ethnically minoritized groups as well as those from rural areas, low socioeconomic backgrounds, first-generation college students, and other marginalized subgroups. The work of a variety of institutions in developing pipeline programs provides many successful models for enhancing diversity in health professions programs. This chapter describes the roles institutions and pre-health advisors can play in connecting underrepresented pre-health students with well-designed pipeline programs.
This study uses a naturalistic inquiry approach to investigate how rural educators navigate the affordances and barriers of implementing an out-of-school program to identify and develop middle school STEM talent in rural communities. At the time of this study, the STEM program was in its fourth year of implementation. Participants included 34 educators and 324 students in Grades 6–8 across 10 school districts in a predominately rural state. We used maximum variation purposive sampling to select 3 of the 10 districts as case study sites. The cross-case analysis resulted in the themes of (a) exercising local control, (b) expanding community for advanced STEM learning, and (c) leveraging the intersectionality of rurality, local agency, and expanded resources. One implication is that when supported with resources, rural educators will leverage the systems of their schools and communities to create robust ecosystems for advanced STEM talent development.
This study aims to investigate the licensure status of computer science teachers in Indiana by examining teacher licensure data as it relates to school locale and school demographics across the state. Results indicate that there is no significant difference in the presence of teachers with CS-Related or Approved licenses across schools with various locale designations and demographic (ethnic and economic) compositions. It is a positive indication that there are no glaring disparities in access to well-prepared CS teachers across student groups. This also provides an opportunity to investigate additional factors that may shed light on future areas of focus.
Rural schools, especially smaller ones, offer enormous opportunities for teachers to get to know their students and to cultivate their academic talents. However, students with potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) face specific obstacles to having their talents fully realized in rural schools. Joni Lakin, Tamra Stambaugh, Lori Ihrig, Duhita Mahatmya, and Susan G. Assouline describe the STEM Excellence and Leadership project from the University of Iowa, which seeks to equip rural teachers in grades 5-8 with the skills and knowledge to recognize and grow STEM talent in rural areas. Examples of success and lessons learned are shared.
The racialized structure of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) higher education maintains gross inequities that are illustrative of structural racism, which both informs and is reinforced by discriminatory beliefs, policies, values, and distribution of resources. Thus, an examination into structural racism in STEM is needed to expose the marginalization of underrepresented groups in STEM and to improve understanding of the STEM policies, practices, and procedures that allow the foundation of racism to remain intact. I argue that, even at the top of the education hierarchy, Black STEM doctorate students and PhD degree holders consistently endure the racist residue of higher education institutions and STEM employers. Thus, this manuscript also discusses how universities institutionalize diversity mentoring programs designed mostly to fix (read “assimilate”) underrepresented students of color while ignoring or minimizing the role of the STEM departments in creating racially hostile work and educational spaces. I argue that, without a critical examination of the structural racism omnipresent in the STEM, progress in racially diversifying STEM will continue at a snail’s pace.
The county scale has thus far dominated rural demographic research—this descriptive profile of small town America is unique with its place-based lens. Another important extension is the nationwide application of the Community Capitals Framework which builds on the body of research examining capitals within case studies focused on one or more communities. Here, we examine place-based “community capitals” at the national scale through novel integration of data from a wide variety of sources. The goal is to identify tiny town socioeconomic and demographic patterns of change—or trajectories—over the past several decades—and contrast remote small towns with those proximate to metropolitan areas. Results reveal both commonalities and distinctions. Instead of differences in trends across time, the analyses suggest that what differs are the more general profiles of small places as contrasted with national data. For example, regardless of metro proximity, small town America has lower levels of human and financial capital. Still, distinction also appears in that rural population growth has focused on high-amenity regions, bringing some increases in community capitals but potentially also exacerbating inequalities. In all, the analyses presented here offer an important foundation for necessary work at the place scale to improve understanding of the nuances inherent in population shifts, and their implications, within rural communities.
span>Internationally, out-of-school time (OST) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs abound. However, rigorous evidence of their impacts on student outcomes is scarce. This study evaluated the relationships between OST STEM program participation and student motivational factors in math and science by analyzing survey and administrative data of 1.017 middle school students who participated in the seven-week, STEM-focused Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP) in San Antonio, Texas, from 2015 to 2017. Multiple regression results indicated that the PREP participation was positively associated with students’ attitudes toward math and interests in math-related careers, whereas the effects on students’ attitudes toward science and career interests in science were negligible. No evidence was found to suggest that the associations between PREP participation and student motivational factors in math and science differed by gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.</span
Many factors contribute to the educational challenges students face in rural areas, including a lack of funding compared to urban and suburban schools and a lack of role models pursuing postsecondary education. School counselors in all settings are trained to provide education to students about the postsecondary options in demand. College and career counseling with students and families in rural areas requires unique understanding of the rural characteristics that shape community life and family dynamics. National attention on rural education has highlighted a particular need for advising into STEM career fields. Using a phenomenological approach, the researchers examine the beliefs and experiences of eight school counselors working in rural schools regarding their lived experiences of advising students in their rural areas about careers in STEM. Three themes about STEM-focused career development emerged from the interviews with the school counselors, a lack of opportunities and resources, challenging local influences, and ideas for much needed place-based innovations. Implications are discussed for several key players with the ability to improve and increase STEM advising for rural students. Examples include the following: for practicing school counselors, intentional career counseling efforts that include rural families; for counselor educators, the addition of rural field placements and assignments focused on rural student career needs; and for rural communities, combining the school counselor’s efforts with local business and industry to highlight and increase STEM career awareness for students and their families.
Objective: The process by which students decide to stay in college has been primarily based on models that are independent of geographic context. This article describes the local labor market in which community college students are situated and discusses the multiple and complex ways these labor markets impact student decisions to persist and graduate. Method: Using institutional data and U.S. Census Data for 2010, this article argues that the process students use to decide to enroll and persist in community college needs to account for geographic context. Applying ArcGIS mapping, we layout students’ location, local labor market data, and the educational attainment data of a Houston area community college to map the geography of opportunity for these students. Results: The geography of opportunity signifies the educational or occupational opportunities afforded to individuals that are influenced by geography. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that research addressing persistence would benefit from acknowledging the geographic context of the higher education institution.
Despite the large contingent of students living in rural areas, existing research on the processes that precede the college enrollment of rural adolescents is limited. With a particular focus on gender, this study investigated rural adolescents’ perceptions of family and place and how these perceptions related to their educational aspirations and subsequent college enrollment using a nationwide sample of rural adolescents (N = 3,456; 52.5% female). Female adolescents reported higher academic achievement, educational aspirations, parental expectations, and family responsibility and enrolled in two- and four-year institutions at greater rates compared to male adolescents, who reported significantly higher rural identity and perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community. Utilizing a multiple group moderated mediation approach, the results provided evidence that adolescents’ increased perceptions of their parents’ educational expectations were associated with increased educational aspirations and college enrollment and that adolescents’ increased perceptions of job opportunities in their rural community were associated with decreased educational aspirations. In addition, the results showed that gender moderated the relation between perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community and postsecondary enrollment. These findings highlight how the developmental resources of family and place relate to adolescents’ educational aspirations and subsequent postsecondary enrollment.
This study investigated patterns of college attendance using data from a nationwide and contemporary sample of 2,112 rural youth. We found that more than half of rural youth attended two-year institutions at some point during their college career and about a fourth initially enrolled in a two-year college before enrolling in a four-year college. Results also revealed that parental education, college preparatory track and preparation experiences, and teacher expectations predicted students' college attendance patterns. Our findings point to the importance of two-year colleges and highlight the influence of family characteristics and students' schooling experiences in the postsecondary trajectories of rural youth.
More than 4 decades of research on community colleges has indicated that students who begin in these institutions realize lower levels of educational attainment than initial 4-year entrants. In terms of labor market outcomes, studies have overwhelmingly focused on comparing 2-year entrants to high school graduates who did not attend college. In contrast, this study concentrated on 2-year entrants who became scientists in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and compared their individual and professional characteristics and monetary compensation during a 10-year period to those of scientists who entered college in the 4-year sector. The data analyzed came from 2 National Science Foundation longitudinal and nationally representative samples of doctorate recipients. The analytic techniques relied on the instrumental variables approach for dynamic panel data and propensity score weighting. Findings consistently revealed that 2-year entrants came from lower-income backgrounds and had lower mean salary and lower salary growth than their 4-year sector counterparts. Despite these negative salary-based effects, data showed that the 2-year sector has had an active function in the early formation of scientists. As the competition for science and technology development tightens worldwide, initiatives should identify understudied venues to increase the production of STEM graduates. Considering its scope, the 2-year sector could be one of them.
This study analyzes videotaped interviews and 407 photographs taken by 20 grade 5 and 6 students in rural New York State to document their science and engineering learning. Aristotle’s concept of phronesis or practical wisdom frames the findings and their implications. Key findings indicate that: 1) All 20 children found examples of science and engineering; 2) The children learned by observing or doing or both; 3) The children learned from family members, particularly parents and grandparents; 4) These 20 children learned numerous science and engineering concepts by participating in activities associated with their daily lives; and 5) Only when directly probed did students make explicit connections between what they learned outside school in their local environments and what they learned in the science classroom. These findings point to the need to anchor the teaching and learning of science and engineering in the students’ experiential habitat; thus, bridging the gap between children’s local knowledge and global science.
The author investigated students' persistence regarding career aspirations in science and engineering (SE) professional careers as a function of race and sex. In a nationally representative sample of 8th graders, persistent racial minority and female students were compared with nonpersistent racial minority and male students regarding their self-concept, parental involvement, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement. Men were more likely than women to persist in SE career aspirations. Persistent students scored higher than did nonpersistent students on all of the variables studied. Academic proficiency and math self-efficacy were 2 of the strongest predictors of persistence in SE careers.
This retrospective cohort study characterizes how interest in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) careers changes during high school for more than 6,000 students in a representative national sample of 34 two- and four-year colleges taking mandatory college English courses. Overall, large gender differences in career plans were found, with males showing far more interest particularly in engineering, whereas females were more attracted to careers in health and medicine during their high school years. The key factor predicting STEM career interest at the end of high school was interest at the start of high school. There was an additional effect of gender, indicating both a lower retention of STEM career interest among females and a greater difficulty in attracting females to STEM fields during high school. During the high school years, the percentage of males interested in a STEM career remained stable (from 39.5 to 39.7), whereas for females it declined from 15.7 to 12.7. The students' initial specific (disciplinary) career interests were found to influence the stability of their interest in a STEM career, with those interested in physics careers at the start of high school having the highest retention in STEM. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 96:411–427, 2012
A bstract
Drawing on a recent national survey of rural high school students, this study investigated the relationship between social capital and educational aspirations of rural youth. Results showed that various process features of family and school social capital were important for predicting rural youths' educational aspirations beyond sociodemographic background. In particular, parents' and teachers' educational expectations for their child and student, respectively, were positively related to educational aspirations of rural youth. In addition, discussion with parents about college was positively related to educational aspirations of rural youth. On the other hand, there was little evidence to suggest that number of siblings and school proportions of students eligible for free lunch and minority students are related to educational aspirations of rural youth, after controlling for the other variables. We highlight unique features of rural families, schools, and communities that may combine to explain the complexity of the role of social capital in shaping educational aspirations of rural youth.
A substantial proportion of quantitative educational research is non-experimental because many important variables of interest are not manipulable. Because nonexperimental research is an important methodology employed by many researchers, it is important to use a classification system of nonexperimental methods that is highly descriptive of what we do and also allows us to communicate effectively in an interdisciplinary research environment. In this paper, the present treatment of nonexperimental methods is reviewed and critiqued, and a new, two-dimensional classification of nonexperimental quantitative research is proposed. The first dimension is based on the primary “research objective” (i.e., description, prediction, and explanation), and the second dimension is called the “time” dimension (i.e., cross-sectional, longitudinal, and retrospective).
This article examines how high school science and mathematics course-taking creates pathways toward future baccalaureate degree attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors in Florida 4-year universities using Burkam and Lee's (2003)4.
Burkam , D. T. and
Lee , V. E. 2003. Mathematics, foreign language, and science coursetaking and the NELS:88 transcript data (NCES 2003-01)., Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. View all references course-taking categories developed using national student datasets. This study finds that even though women, overall, complete high-level courses, they do not complete the highest level science and mathematics courses. Even women who did complete high-level science and mathematics are less likely than men to obtain STEM degrees. Black and Hispanic students complete lower level high school courses, but Black and Hispanic students who did take high-level courses are as likely as White students to pursue STEM degrees. Findings suggest that gender disparities in STEM occur because women are less likely to pursue STEM, but racial disparities occur because fewer Black and Hispanic students are prepared for STEM in high school.
All organizations face turnover in their workforce; however, in schools high turnover can interfere with the effectiveness and efficiency of the school. While past research has examined school-related factors linked to teacher turnover, few studies have examined how external contextual factors are related to teacher turnover. This study examines the role of two external contextual factors in teacher turnover: economic downturns and changes in state curricular policy (the Michigan Merit Curriculum [MMC]).
In this paper, we explore how secondary school students' participation in structured, math‐ and science‐focused programs outside of school is associated with the aspiration to, and actual enrollment in, a STEM major in college. Moreover, we examine how varying sociodemographic backgrounds are related to their participation in these programs. Using expectancy‐value theory and social cognitive career theory as our conceptual frameworks, we conduct a path analysis based on a nationally representative panel dataset. Results indicate that students who participate in structured science‐focused out‐of‐school programs in eighth grade are more likely to express an aspiration to and choosing a STEM major in college. The intersection of sociodemographic backgrounds further highlights the intricate differences in math‐focused programs participation outside of school between Latinx and White adolescents of varying socioeconomic status.
Broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is critical to the nation’s economic growth and national security. In K–12 and higher education, researchers and educators increasingly employ the concept of social capital to develop programs for improving STEM learning, motivation, and participation of young students. STEM social capital in education comprises STEM-oriented resources—whether instrumental, informational, or emotional—that students access through their social networks. Major theoretical perspectives, research evidence, and promising practices are associated with the concepts of social capital in STEM education. Students’ social capital in STEM education (derived from families, peers, teachers, and professional networks) demonstrably promotes their STEM educational outcomes and career paths. Inclusive STEM schools, mentoring, and after-school programs are some promising approaches that can enhance STEM social capital and outcomes of underrepresented students, particularly women, Blacks/Hispanics/Native Americans, youth with low socioeconomic status, and persons with disabilities.
Missing data is a common issue in research using observational studies to investigate the effect of treatments on health outcomes. When missingness occurs only in the covariates, a simple approach is to use missing indicators to handle the partially observed covariates. The missing indicator approach has been criticized for giving biased results in outcome regression. However, recent papers have suggested that the missing indicator approach can provide unbiased results in propensity score analysis under certain assumptions. We consider assumptions under which the missing indicator approach can provide valid inferences, namely, (1) no unmeasured confounding within missingness patterns; either (2a) covariate values of patients with missing data were conditionally independent of treatment or (2b) these values were conditionally independent of outcome; and (3) the outcome model is correctly specified: specifically, the true outcome model does not include interactions between missing indicators and fully observed covariates. We prove that, under the assumptions above, the missing indicator approach with outcome regression can provide unbiased estimates of the average treatment effect. We use a simulation study to investigate the extent of bias in estimates of the treatment effect when the assumptions are violated and we illustrate our findings using data from electronic health records. In conclusion, the missing indicator approach can provide valid inferences for outcome regression, but the plausibility of its assumptions must first be considered carefully.
Empirical studies have concluded that rural students experience lower rates of college enrollment and degree completion compared to their nonrural peers, but this literature needs to be expanded and updated for a continually changing context. This article examines the rural-nonrural disparities in students’ postsecondary trajectories, influences, and outcomes. By comparing results to past research using similar national data and an identical design, we are able to examine change over time. Results show narrowed gaps from the 1990s into the 2000s, but with rural students still facing persistent challenges and experiencing lower average rates of college enrollment and degree completion.
Purpose:
In several biomedical studies, one or more exposures of interest may be subject to nonrandom missingness because of the failure of the measurement assay at levels below its limit of detection. This issue is commonly encountered in studies of the metabolome using tandem mass spectrometry-based technologies. Owing to a large number of metabolites measured in these studies, preserving statistical power is of utmost interest. In this article, we evaluate the small sample properties of the missing indicator approach in logistic and conditional logistic regression models.
Methods:
For nested case-control or matched case control study designs, we evaluate the bias, power, and type I error associated with the missing indicator method using simulation. We compare the missing indicator approach to complete case analysis and several imputation approaches.
Results:
We show that under a variety of settings, the missing indicator approach outperforms complete case analysis and other imputation approaches with regard to bias, mean squared error, and power.
Conclusions:
For nested case-control and matched study designs of modest sample sizes, the missing indicator model minimizes loss of information and thus provides an attractive alternative to the oft-used complete case analysis and other imputation approaches.
Increasing the number of students choosing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career is a national educational priority. One way thought to increase interest in STEM is with advanced STEM courses in high school, especially Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Using data from 15,847 college undergraduates, we investigated the relationship between participation in AP mathematics courses (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) and student career interest in STEM. After controlling for covariates, the strongest effect (d = 0.13) showed that students who took AP Calculus had a modestly higher career interest in engineering and mathematics/computer science. However, the relationship between most AP mathematics courses and most STEM career outcomes was negligible. Most differences in outcomes between AP and non-AP students are likely due to preexisting differences between the two groups.
Analyzing the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), this study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal disparities in STEM career aspirations at the intersection of gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). Results indicated that female, Black, Hispanic, and low SES students were less likely to show, maintain, and develop an interest in STEM careers during high school years. Compared with White boys from higher SES background, girls from all racial/ethnic and SES groups, as well as Black and Hispanic boys from lower SES groups, consistently had lower rates of interest, persistence, and developing an interest in STEM fields.
This study examines the disparities in, changes in, and longitudinal interrelationships among mathematics achievement and motivational factors for Hispanics and their White, Black, and Asian peers throughout high school. Analyzing the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, regression results indicate that Hispanics trail other racial/ethnic groups in math cognitive and psychosocial factors, except that they outperform their Black counterparts in math standardized assessments. Cross-lagged path analyses further reveal that while math intellectual competencies and expectancy-value beliefs are generally reciprocal over time for all racial/ethnic groups, the estimated effect of initial math expectancy on subsequent math test scores for Hispanics is 2.4 to 2.6 times larger than for non-Hispanics. This finding highlights the distinctive developmental patterns of math achievement and motivational factors for young Hispanic students, which have important implications for research and practice on increasing participation of Hispanics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers.
Drawing on social cognitive perspectives, the present study examined an integrative model of the interplay among math self-efficacy, interests, aspirations, and achievement among early and middle adolescents. Based on short-term longitudinal data from approximately 400 students, analyses using fully latent structural equation analyses, establishing requisite levels of longitudinal invariance, revealed that (a) math self-efficacy positively predicted math achievement using both class grades and standardized test score operationalizations; (b) prior math achievement positively predicted basal levels of math self-efficacy but not changes in self-efficacy; (c) math interest and intentions were reciprocally linked over time; and (d) prior math interest positively predicted subsequent math self-efficacy whereas the opposite was not true. Notably, all effects were observed while accounting for prior variance in outcomes as well as the effects of known covariates. The current findings contribute to understandings of the motivational processes involved in math achievement and choosing educational pathways, and suggest that multidimensional interventions may be most profitable if both achievement and selection outcomes are at stake.
Despite the striking reversal of the gender gap in education, women pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees at much lower rates than those of their male peers. This study extends existing explanations for these gender differences and examines the role of the high school context for plans to major in STEM fields. Building on recent gender theories, we argue that widely shared and hegemonic gender beliefs manifest differently across schools so that the gender-specific formation of study plans is shaped by the local environment of high schools. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study, we first show large variations between high schools in the ability to attract students to STEM fields conditional on a large set of pre–high school measures. Schools that are successful in attracting students to these fields reduce the gender gap by 25 percent or more. As a first step toward understanding what matters about schools, we then estimate the effect of two concrete high school ...
Our study examined the relation of advanced math course taking to the educational attainment of rural youth. We used data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Regression analyses demonstrated that when previous math achievement is accounted for, rural students take advanced math at a significantly lower rate than urban students. Compared with urban students, rural students have less change in their math achievement from tenth to twelfth grade and are less likely to be enrolled in a 4-year college 2 years postsecondary, and these differences are explained by advanced math course taking. Limitations, implications , and future research directions are discussed.
From headlines to documentaries, urban schools are at the center of current debates about education. From these accounts, one would never know that 51 million Americans live in rural communities and depend on their public schools to meet not only educational but also social and economic needs. For many communities, these schools are the ties that bind. This book shares the untold story of rural education. Drawing upon extensive research in two southern towns, Tieken exposes the complicated ways in which schools shape the racial dynamics of their towns and sustain the communities that surround them. Vividly demonstrating the effects of constricted definitions of public education in an era of economic turmoil and widening inequality, Tieken calls for a more contextual approach to education policymaking, involving both state and community. © 2014 The University of North Carolina Press. All rights reserved.
This study examines the effect of beginning at a community college on baccalaureate success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In addition, drawing upon a new concept of “STEM momentum,” this research explores whether and how STEM baccalaureate success is related to early STEM momentum, as well as whether and how such momentum is shaped differently in community colleges as compared with public 4-year institutions. Results indicate that, overall, students beginning at community colleges were less likely to achieve STEM baccalaureate success. However, this negative effect was reduced to some extent by the positive influence of community colleges on a key STEM momentum indicator, quality points students achieved in STEM courses during the first term, which in turn positively impacted STEM baccalaureate success.
Improving science, technology, engineering, andmathematics (STEM) education, especially for traditionally disadvantaged groups, iswidely recognized as pivotal to the United States's long-term economic growth and security. In this article, we review and discuss current research on STEM education in the United States, drawing on recent research in sociology and related fields. The reviewed literature shows that different social factors affect the two major components of STEM education attainment: (a) attainment of education in general, and (b) attainment of STEM education relative to non-STEM education conditional on educational attainment.Cognitive and social-psychological characteristics matter for both components, as do structural influences at the family, neighborhood, school, and broader cultural levels. However, whereas commonly used measures of socioeconomic status (SES) predict the attainment of general education, social-psychological factors are more important influences on participation and achievement in STEM versus non-STEM education. Domestically, disparities by family SES, race, and gender persist inSTEMeducation. Internationally, American students lag behind those in some countries with fewer economic resources. Explanations for group disparities within the United States and themediocre international ranking of US student performance require more research, a task that is best accomplished through interdisciplinary approaches.
This study draws upon social cognitive career theory and higher education literature to test a conceptual framework for understanding the entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors by recent high school graduates attending 4-year institutions. Results suggest that choosing a STEM major is directly influenced by intent to major in STEM, high school math achievement, and initial postsecondary experiences, such as academic interaction and financial aid receipt. Exerting the largest impact on STEM entrance, intent to major in STEM is directly affected by 12th-grade math achievement, exposure to math and science courses, and math self-efficacy beliefs-all three subject to the influence of early achievement in and attitudes toward math. Multiple-group structural equation modeling analyses indicated heterogeneous effects of math achievement and exposure to math and science across racial groups, with their positive impact on STEM intent accruing most to White students and least to underrepresented minority students.
In rural settings, leaving for college can mean a young person's first step in leaving home forever (Sherman & Sage, 2011). That presents a serious challenge for college recruiters as they ask parents from Indian reservations or close-knit Hispanic or rural farming communities to allow their children to consider postsecondary opportunities. In this article, the authors discuss impediments to college-going that rural students face and shine a light on several efforts in central Washington State that help students connect to job opportunities in fast-growing, lucrative STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers in the region. Beyond inviting STEM professionals to job fairs, these efforts can expand opportunities for collaboration between STEM professionals and rural schools and teachers. Such opportunities might include enriching the K-12 curriculum with locally relevant problems of science, using local STEM professionals to collaborate on learning projects, and possibly engaging students to contribute to national databases and studies. These programs represent one way to highlight the real-world application of postsecondary education, encouraging students to pursue STEM college programs and careers.
An extended body of research has documented the outmigration of the "best and brightest" youth from rural areas. Some of this scholarship has suggested that rural schools and educators may be complicit in this process as they devote extra attention and resources to the highest achieving students-those most likely to leave their rural communities after high school. Using data from a national multimethod study, we find mixed support for this hypothesis. To the contrary, our data suggest that the highest-achieving rural students are among those with the greatest community attachment, and that student perceptions of local economic conditions are far more influential in shaping postsecondary residential aspirations than the advice of educators, or the poverty level of the school.
The concept of opportunities to learn is analyzed through a review of evidence on the potentials and pitfalls of the proposal for a common core curriculum of demanding content for all students. Research-on the sources of international differences in students' achievements, the impact of curricular offerings on American students' accomplishments, and the advantages of Catholic over public high school programs for minority or disadvantaged students in this country-supports the idea that students will learn more if they are offered a more demanding curriculum. But the prospects that unacceptable rates of failure by students may accompany new high curricular standards introduce forces that can undermine the implementation of such a curriculum. School-organization reforms to offset these forces are analyzed, including enhanced resources and flexible scheduling, revised criteria for academic success, and reconstructed roles and relationships for teachers with regard to learning outcomes.
Using data from the 1990 U.S. Census andf rom the Ne w York Stat.' Department of Education. I identify comm unity-level characteristics associated with the presence or absence ofa school. My inquiry f ocuses on two sets of rural commu-nines: those with populations of500 or less and those with populations between 50 1 and 2.500. I find that the social and economic welfare in all rural communities is higher in place s that hav e schools, Further. in the smallest villages. which haw.'fewer resources andfewe r civic place s, schools are esp ecially critical 10the social and economic well-being of the community. For pottcvmakers. educational administrators. and local citizens it is impo rtant to understand that schools are vital to rural communities. The mone y that might be saved through consolidation co uld be forfeited in lost taxes, declining property values. and los/ businesses. tmrodu ction • Schools in rural communities play many roles . In ad-dition to provid ing for basic educat ion, they serve as social and cultural centers. They are places for sports, theate r, music, and othe r civic activit ies. Over 20 years ago. Alan Peshkin (1978, 1982) showed how vital a school is 10 the survival of rural communities. He noted that schools serve as symbols of communi ty autonom y, co mmunity vitality. commu nity integration. personal control, personal and com -munity trad ition. and persona l and co mmunity identity. Accord ing 10 Peshkin (1978. p. 161), "Viable villages gen-erally contain schools: dying and dead ones either lack them or do not have them for long. The capacity to maintain a school is a cont inuing indicator of a comm unity's well-being ." For many rural comm unities, the school is not only the social hub of the village, but the school sett ing also contributes to the sense of survival of adult s in the culture. School co nsolidation has been the bane of rural com -munities for at least the past 50 years. In 1930 there were more than 130,000 school districts in the United States (and many more individua l schools). By 2000, the number of school districts had dw indled to fewer than 15,000.
Opportunity to learn (OTL) is rare among the many concepts that education researchers use to depict the complexity of the schooling process. Although designed as a technical concept to ensure valid cross-national comparisons, OTL has changed how researchers, educators, and policymakers think about the determinants of student learning. This article examines the evolution of OTL from a research concept to a policy instrument. It describes OTL’s intellectual origins in the IEA studies and the role of OTL research in education indicator development. The article then outlines OTL’s emergence as a potential policy tool, and assesses its political and technical feasibility.
American policy makers, educators, and others are concerned that predicted workforce shortages in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields will have a catastrophic impact on the economy. This article takes a realistic look at the “STEM problem,” identifying how community colleges can be a part of the solution. We provide evidence that shortages in STEM workers vary by geographic locale. Furthermore, STEM achievement is not consistent across ethnic groups or between men and women. These gaps may be due to unequal access to STEM degree programs and the shortage of quality STEM teachers.
Research has shown that rural high school students in the United States (and elsewhere) have lower academic achievement than their nonrural counterparts. The evidence for why this inequality exists is unclear, however. The present study takes up this issue with a narrowing of the focus. Using the database of the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002-2004, the author investigates reasons for the rural achievement gap in mathematics during the last 2 years of high school. His approach focuses on the geographic disparities in the opportunity to learn advanced math. The findings show that geographic variation in high school resources and practices—operationalized as the availability of advanced math courses, evidence for track assignment by family background, and the quality of instruction—do not account for the rural math achievement gap. On the other hand, geographic variations in the opportunity to learn that result from differences in family socioeconomic status (SES) and the influence of friends’ academic commitments and aspirations do help to explain why rural high school students learn less mathematics than their nonrural counterparts. The observed effects on math achievement by family SES and friends are in part direct effects, but these factors also have critically important indirect effects because they appear to influence student motivation to take advanced math courses.
This article advocates a quantitative sociological approach to measuring curriculum differentiation and its effects. It distinguishes between the social organization of schools, which includes such arrangements as the grouping and tracking of students, and the instructional processes that occur within classes. Because organization and instruction can vary independently, it is necessary to examine the academic experiences that presumably link students' outcomes with their positions in the school stratification system. An agenda for research calls for combining survey with observational methods to examine measures of track organization and instructional activities that are sensitive to conditions that differ across schools.
We tested the social cognitive model of choice (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) using a longitudinal design. Participants were 116 students taking beginning engineering courses at two historically Black universities. They completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals, and environmental supports and barriers near the end of two consecutive semesters. Path analyses indicated overall support for the choice model and, in particular, suggested that self-efficacy served as a temporal precursor of outcome expectations, interests, goals, and supports. Interests and self-efficacy were found to be reciprocally related but, contrary to expectations, supports and barriers did not account for unique variance in self-efficacy. Implications for future research on the choice model are discussed.
Rising concern about America's ability to maintain its competitive position in the global economy has renewed interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. To understand who enters into and completes undergraduate programs in STEM fields, this report examined data from three major national studies: the 1995-96 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01); the 2003-04 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:04); and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002/06 (ELS:02/06). STEM fields, as defined in this study, include mathematics, natural sciences (including physical sciences and biological/agricultural sciences), engineering/engineering technologies, and computer/information sciences. This study used students' reported major field of study to identify STEM entrants and considered a STEM entrant anyone who reported a major in a STEM field at any time during his or her postsecondary enrollment. Looking only at single points in time, STEM majors accounted for 14 percent of all undergraduates enrolled in U.S. postsecondary education in 2003-04 and 15 percent of 2003-04 high school graduates who were enrolled in postsecondary education in 2006. In general, the percentage of students entering STEM fields was higher among male students, younger and dependent students, Asian/Pacific Islander students, foreign students or those who spoke a language other than English as a child, and students with more advantaged family background characteristics and strong academic preparation than among their counterparts who did not have these characteristics. After 6 years of initial college enrollment, STEM entrants generally did better than non-STEM entrants in terms of bachelor's degree attainment and overall persistence. Although students in various STEM fields were generally alike in terms of their demographic, academic, and enrollment characteristics and their outcomes, those entering computer/information sciences differed in many respects. According to the BPS data, older students, students from low-income families, and those less academically prepared enrolled in computer/information sciences more often than did their peers who were younger, from high-income families, or more academically prepared. Additionally, compared to other STEM students, a larger percentage of computer/information sciences majors attended public 2-year institutions, enrolled in sub-baccalaureate programs, and attended classes exclusively part-time. A Technical Notes section describes data sources, study samples, weights, and derived variables used for this report. It also includes a crosswalk for the specific contents of the STEM categorization for various major fields of study. (Contains 2 figures and 8 tables.)
This study explored whether and how teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching contributes to gains in students' mathematics achievement. The authors used a linear mixed-model methodology in which first and third graders' mathematical achievement gains over a year were nested within teachers, who in turn were nested within schools. They found that teachers' mathematical knowledge was significantly related to student achievement gains in both first and third grades after controlling for key student-and teacher-level covariates. This result, while consonant with findings from the educational production function literature, was obtained via a measure focusing on the specialized mathematical knowledge and skills used in teach-ing mathematics. This finding provides support for policy initiatives designed to improve students' mathematics achievement by improving teachers' math-ematical knowledge.
Our study utilizes data from a national cohort of eighth-grade students to consider how different gender and racial/ethnic subgroups compare to White males in their likelihood to aspire toward a science or math occupation and examine the roles that self-concept, enjoyment, and achievement may play in shaping disparities at this early point in occupational trajectories. We find that the importance of enjoyment, self-concept, and achievement in explaining disparities in science career aspirations relative to White males varies according to the female subgroup considered, such that no singular story applies to females across different racial/ethnic backgrounds. For math, White and Hispanic females remain approximately half as likely as White males to aspire to a math occupation regardless of all indicators we consider. Finally, Black and Hispanic adolescent boys have generally comparable aspirations toward future careers in science and math as their White male peers, despite notably large differences in achievement. We discuss implications of our results for future research on equity. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed95: 458–476, 2011