STEM Report: STEM Interest and Achievement on the Iowa ......achievement, the following analyses...

STEM Report: STEM Interest and

Achievement on the Iowa Assessments

Catherine Welch

Stephen Dunbar

Heather Rickels

Iowa Testing Programs

University of Iowa

November 2015

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STEM Report: STEM Interest and

Achievement on the Iowa Assessments

There has been an increased focus on science and math achievement in the United States due to a

concern that students lack the skills needed for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

fields (STEM) (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). This concern is especially relevant as the

demand for STEM graduates is increasing and there is a lack of graduates to fulfill this need (U.S.

Department of Commerce, 2011). In addition, research suggests that college and career readiness planning

should begin before high school (ACT, 2008). In an attempt to increase student interest and achievement

in STEM, the U.S. Department of Education established the Committee on STEM Education. Many states

have also created their own STEM initiatives. In Iowa, Iowa Testing Programs collaborated with the

Governor’s STEM Advisory Council to study the connection between (1) student interest in science and

math careers and (2) achievement in science and math. This report addresses those findings, with a special

focus on middle school results.

Measures

Iowa Assessments

The Iowa Assessments (IAs) measure student achievement in reading, written expression,

mathematics, social studies, and science. They have been designed, developed, and researched to support

a variety of important educational purposes, including providing measures of growth and relative standing

compared to students in the nation. Relative standing can be assessed through either proficiency level or

National Percentile Rank (NPR). For this report, proficiency levels include Not Proficient, Proficient, and

College Ready. Proficiency levels are based on National Standard Scores (NSS) by grade level. The NSS

is a developmental score that describes a student’s location on the achievement continuum. The NPR is a

score that indicates the percent of students in a group with a lower score. For this report, proficiency levels

and NPRs in both science and math will be examined.

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STEM Interest Inventory

The STEM Interest Inventory is a self-report survey given to Iowa students at the same time as the

Iowa Assessments. This inventory was developed by the STEM Monitoring Project Committee and consists

of eight questions. For this report, only responses to the final question on the survey were of interest. This

final question assessed students’ STEM career interest.

Data Collection

The sample consisted of approximately 168,000 students in Grades 3-11 who were enrolled in Iowa

schools in 2013-2014 (see Table 1). Students were selected, from the population of Iowa students, if they

took the interest inventory and had a science or math score on the IAs.

Table 1: Number of Students per each Grade

Grade N

3 19348

4 19818

5 19978

6 19275

7 18584

8 18936

9 17905

10 17598

11 17120

Analyses

The relationship between interest and achievement in STEM was first examined through

descriptive statistics of students’ NPRs in science and math by grade, proficiency level, gender, and

STEM interest. Next, three-way ANOVAs were conducted for all grades combined and for middle

school grades combined. Due to the large number of comparisons, a Bonferroni correction was applied

(.05/28 = .002), requiring an observed significance level of .002 for interpretation and follow-up analyses.

Middle school results were then further examined through follow-up tests and graphs.

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Results

All Grades

Descriptive statistics were used to examine the relationship between interest and achievement in

STEM. Means and standard deviations of science and math are provided on the NPR scale for each grade

by proficiency level, gender, and STEM interest (Appendix). In comparing overall performance across

the groups (Table A.10), Proficient and College Ready students tended to perform better when they

reported high STEM interest. Conversely, Not Proficient students’ performance did not increase with

STEM interest. These relationships were similar for both females and males.

Three-way ANOVAs were conducted to examine the effects of grade, gender, and STEM interest

on science and math achievement. For this analysis, only students with high and low STEM interest were

included. The three way interaction of grade, gender, and STEM interest was significant in predicting

both science and math achievement (Table 2). Follow-up analyses were conducted and there was a

significant interaction between gender and STEM interest in predicting science and math achievement for

Grades 3-5, but not for Grades 6-11. Since this report is concentrating on middle school grades, results

for these follow-up analyses will be outlined below.

Table 2: Three-way ANOVA Results for All Grades

Effect All Grades

Science

All Grades

Math

df F-value p df F-value p

Grade 8 310.90 <.001 8 199.94 <.001

Gender 1 77.98 <.001 1 55.21 <.001

STEM 1 2009.93 <.001 1 2489.82 <.001

Grade*Gender 8 3.23 .001 8 6.03 <.001

Grade*STEM 8 20.49 <.001 8 23.57 <.001

Gender*STEM 1 174.98 <.001 1 32.19 <.001

Grade*Gender*STEM 8 4.27 <.001 8 3.38 <.001

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Middle School

To provide a more well-defined picture of the relationship between STEM interest and

achievement, the following analyses focus on middle school grades, Grades 6-8. Three-way ANOVAs

were conducted to examine the effects of grade, gender, and STEM interest on science and math

achievement for middle school students. For this analysis, only students with high and low STEM interest

in Grades 6-8 were included. The three way interaction of grade, gender, and STEM interest was not

significant in predicting either science or math achievement at the .002 level (Table 3). For science, the

two-way interaction of gender and STEM interest was significant. In addition, for math, both STEM

interest and grade were significant. These findings were examined in detail. Three main trends emerged,

including 1) interest in STEM remains high in middle school, 2) female interest lags behind male interest,

and 3) STEM achievement is associated with STEM interest. Results are summarized below.

Table 3: Three-way ANOVA Results for Middle School

Effect Middle School

Science

Middle School

Math

df F-value p df F-value p

Grade 2 233.25 <.001 2 56.90 <.001

Gender 1 31.63 <.001 1 5.09 .024

STEM 1 677.75 <.001 1 861.16 <.001

Grade*Gender 2 0.74 .478 2 4.62 .010

Grade*STEM 2 3.28 .038 2 1.62 .198

Gender*STEM 1 37.53 <.001 1 6.21 .013

Grade*Gender*STEM 2 5.12 .006 2 1.36 .255

Interest in STEM remains high in middle school. Approximately 82% of Iowa students in Grade

3 expressed a moderate or high interest in STEM, and levels of STEM interest increased until middle school.

By middle school, approximately 85% of Iowa students expressed a moderate or high interest in STEM.

This level of interest is encouraging and findings also suggest that students remained interested in STEM

fields throughout high school, although levels do drop slightly.

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Female interest in STEM lags behind that of males. In early grades, males and females reported

very similar levels of interest in STEM; however, by middle school years, males were more likely than

females to be interested in STEM. Approximately 91% of males and 80% of females were interested in

STEM in middle school. Additionally, the proportion of males interested in STEM remained fairly constant

throughout middle school, while the proportion of females interested in STEM decreased slightly. This

discrepancy was greater in high school. By Grade 11, approximately 87% of males and 69% of females

reported interest in STEM.

Achievement levels are highest when STEM interest is expressed. Students who expressed high

interest in STEM outperformed students who expressed no interest in STEM, in both science and math

(Figures 1-2). In addition, this trend for science increased over grades, indicating that gains made by

students interested in STEM were greater than those made by students not interested in STEM.

Figure 1: Science Achievement in Middle School by Gender and STEM Interest

Figure 2: Math Achievement in Middle School by Gender and STEM Interest

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Summary

This report summarized many promising trends in Iowa students’ STEM achievement as it relates

to STEM interest. It is encouraging to note that the majority of students, including middle school

students, are interested in STEM. This outcome is especially significant given the fact that STEM interest

was found to be associated with STEM achievement. It is also important to note that while females are

interested in STEM, their interest lags behind that of males and decreases slightly throughout middle

school and high school.

Monitoring STEM interest and achievement is an important step in ensuring college and career

readiness for Iowa students. As demonstrated, the Iowa Assessments are a valuable tool for this purpose.

These findings provide vital information for Iowa educators to reflect upon when monitoring STEM

achievement and developing STEM programs. As part of the Iowa Assessments research program, trends

in STEM interest and achievement will continue to be monitored.

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References

ACT. (2008). The forgotten middle: Ensuring that all students are on target for college and

career readiness before high school. Iowa City, IA: Author.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics

2011. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.

U.S. Department of Commerce. (2011). STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future. Economics

and Statistics Administration Issue Brief, 3(11), 1-10. Retrieved from

http://www.esa.doc.gov

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Appendix

Descriptive Statistics for Interest and Achievement in STEM

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Table A.1: Descriptive Statistics for Grade 3 by Proficiency Level, Gender, and STEM Interest

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Table A.10: Descriptive Statistics for All Grades Combined by Proficiency Level, Gender, and STEM Interest

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