Digital Promise is gathering evidence on the effectiveness of STEM high schools that accept students on the basis of interest rather than test scores.
iSTEM investigates the effectiveness of inclusive STEM high schools as a strategy for increasing the number and diversity of students pursuing higher education and careers in STEM fields.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Digital Promise and SRI Education are combining information from state academic records and the iSTEM student survey to compare outcomes for similar groups of students who attended either an inclusive STEM high school or a school without a STEM focus. We are finding positive impacts on advanced STEM coursetaking and STEM career interest in high school. Our first analyses of postsecondary outcomes for 23 Texas STEM high schools suggest that attending one of them doubled the odds of entering a STEM bachelor’s degree program for students overall, for Hispanic students, and for females.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant 1817513. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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