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Creating Inclusive PreK–12 STEM Learning Environments

Brief CoverBroadening participation in PreK–12 STEM provides ALL students with STEM learning experiences that can prepare them for civic life and the workforce.

Author/Presenter

Malcom Butler

Cory Buxton

Odis Johnson Jr.

Leanne Ketterlin-Geller

Catherine McCulloch

Natalie Nielsen

Arthur Powell

Year
2018
Short Description

This brief offers insights from National Science Foundation-supported research for education leaders and policymakers who are broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM). Many of these insights confirm knowledge that has been reported in research literature; however, some offer a different perspective on familiar challenges.

Supporting Secondary Teachers’ Interest in Adopting Climate-Related Curricular Resources

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide guidance for climate education and scientific epistemology in secondary schools. This includes tools like climate models and observational data to help students understand global climate patterns. Despite this, teachers often have limited access to standards-based instructional resources on Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC).

Author/Presenter

Silvia-Jessica Mostacedo-Marasovic

Brenda Costello

Amanda A. Olsen

Cory T. Forbes

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide guidance for climate education and scientific epistemology in secondary schools. This includes tools like climate models and observational data to help students understand global climate patterns. Despite this, teachers often have limited access to standards-based instructional resources on Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC). In 2022, we implemented a one-week national professional development program (PDP) for secondary teachers introducing two NGSS-aligned climate-related curricula: i) the EzGCM global climate model for students, and ii) carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. Our study explored, i) what demographic factors are associated with teachers’ assessments of these resources? and ii) what criteria do teachers consider when evaluating the potential adoption of climate-related curricula?

Supporting Secondary Teachers’ Interest in Adopting Climate-Related Curricular Resources

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide guidance for climate education and scientific epistemology in secondary schools. This includes tools like climate models and observational data to help students understand global climate patterns. Despite this, teachers often have limited access to standards-based instructional resources on Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC).

Author/Presenter

Silvia-Jessica Mostacedo-Marasovic

Brenda Costello

Amanda A. Olsen

Cory T. Forbes

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide guidance for climate education and scientific epistemology in secondary schools. This includes tools like climate models and observational data to help students understand global climate patterns. Despite this, teachers often have limited access to standards-based instructional resources on Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC). In 2022, we implemented a one-week national professional development program (PDP) for secondary teachers introducing two NGSS-aligned climate-related curricula: i) the EzGCM global climate model for students, and ii) carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. Our study explored, i) what demographic factors are associated with teachers’ assessments of these resources? and ii) what criteria do teachers consider when evaluating the potential adoption of climate-related curricula?

Developing a Visual Model to Represent the Implementation of an Ambitious Mathematics Program

We describe the development of a visual model to represent the implementation of an ambitious mathematics program, which serves as an example of a complex educational reform. Visual models can be both conceptual and empirical, representing aspirational and theoretical perspectives while simultaneously incorporating empirical details specific to the context. Integrating conceptual and empirical aspects leads to tensions in managing the complexity of the model. Our process began with a simple model that guided our empirical work, which involved qualitative analysis.

Author/Presenter

Jeffrey Choppin

Saliha Al

Junnan Li

Charles E. Wilkes II

Ernesto Daniel Calleros

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

We describe the development of a visual model to represent the implementation of an ambitious mathematics program, which serves as an example of a complex educational reform.

Learning Science and Engineering by Designing Sustainable Houses

Science and engineering offer ways to maintain the thermal comfort of our homes while minimizing impacts on the environment. This article introduces the Energy-Plus House Design Project, an NGSS-aligned curriculum unit developed to inspire and prepare high school students for tackling this challenge. In this project, students learn and practice science and engineering by designing a house that generates more renewable energy than it consumes over the course of a year (hence known as an energy-plus house).

Author/Presenter

Elena Sereiviene

Xiaotong Ding

Rundong Jiang

Dylan Bulseco

Charles Xie

Year
2025
Short Description

Science and engineering offer ways to maintain the thermal comfort of our homes while minimizing impacts on the environment. This article introduces the Energy-Plus House Design Project, an NGSS-aligned curriculum unit developed to inspire and prepare high school students for tackling this challenge. In this project, students learn and practice science and engineering by designing a house that generates more renewable energy than it consumes over the course of a year (hence known as an energy-plus house).

Learning Science and Engineering by Designing Sustainable Houses

Science and engineering offer ways to maintain the thermal comfort of our homes while minimizing impacts on the environment. This article introduces the Energy-Plus House Design Project, an NGSS-aligned curriculum unit developed to inspire and prepare high school students for tackling this challenge. In this project, students learn and practice science and engineering by designing a house that generates more renewable energy than it consumes over the course of a year (hence known as an energy-plus house).

Author/Presenter

Elena Sereiviene

Xiaotong Ding

Rundong Jiang

Dylan Bulseco

Charles Xie

Year
2025
Short Description

Science and engineering offer ways to maintain the thermal comfort of our homes while minimizing impacts on the environment. This article introduces the Energy-Plus House Design Project, an NGSS-aligned curriculum unit developed to inspire and prepare high school students for tackling this challenge. In this project, students learn and practice science and engineering by designing a house that generates more renewable energy than it consumes over the course of a year (hence known as an energy-plus house).

Fostering Critical Consciousness: A Systematic Review of K-12 Teachers’ Integrations of Sociopolitical Issues in Science and Mathematics Classrooms

Efforts towards providing inclusive science and mathematics education for marginalized students are increasingly found in literature advocating for equity-oriented instruction through supporting students’ critical consciousness. Despite a growing body of research centering on teachers’ development of culturally relevant pedagogies, studies examining how teachers support students’ critical consciousness development are scarce in the context of science and mathematics education.

Author/Presenter

Sheila K. Castro

Julie C. Brown

Kent J. Crippen

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Efforts towards providing inclusive science and mathematics education for marginalized students are increasingly found in literature advocating for equity-oriented instruction through supporting students’ critical consciousness. Despite a growing body of research centering on teachers’ development of culturally relevant pedagogies, studies examining how teachers support students’ critical consciousness development are scarce in the context of science and mathematics education. Thus, this systematic review uses empirical literature on critical consciousness to explore teachers’ experiences integrating sociopolitical issues into their science and mathematics classrooms.

Expanding Uses of the STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP): Secondary Science Teachers’ Reflections on Integrated STEM Practice

There are few guidelines related to how to implement integrated STEM education in the K-12 science classroom. It is important that teachers have opportunities to reflect on integrated STEM instruction when implemented so that they may further develop their practice. This research aimed to understand how the STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP) may be used as a way for teachers to reflect on their integrated STEM practice.

Author/Presenter

Emily Dare

Joshua Ellis

Christopher Irwin

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

There are few guidelines related to how to implement integrated STEM education in the K-12 science classroom. It is important that teachers have opportunities to reflect on integrated STEM instruction when implemented so that they may further develop their practice. This research aimed to understand how the STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP) may be used as a way for teachers to reflect on their integrated STEM practice. This exploratory case study was designed to better understand secondary science teachers’ reflections on the STEM-OP by addressing the following research questions: 1) What are secondary science teachers’ reflections on integrated STEM practices as measured by the STEM-OP? and 2) In what ways do secondary science teachers envision using the STEM-OP as a tool in their practice?

STEM Teacher Characteristics and Mobility: Longitudinal Evidence from the American Midwest, 2010 Through 2023

This study examines the demographics, qualifications, and turnover of STEM teachers in Kansas and Missouri—two contiguous, predominantly rural states in the Midwestern region of the United States. The existing literature lacks detailed insights regarding U.S. STEM teachers, especially with recent economic and social changes over the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is particularly limited evidence regarding STEM teachers in the U.S. Midwest.

Author/Presenter

Chanh B. Lam

Yujia Liu

J. Cameron Anglum

Tuan D. Nguyen

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

This study examines the demographics, qualifications, and turnover of STEM teachers in Kansas and Missouri—two contiguous, predominantly rural states in the Midwestern region of the United States. The existing literature lacks detailed insights regarding U.S. STEM teachers, especially with recent economic and social changes over the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is particularly limited evidence regarding STEM teachers in the U.S. Midwest. Utilizing large-scale administrative longitudinal data, we filled part of this gap by documenting the characteristics and turnover patterns of STEM teachers in Kansas and Missouri over a 13-year period, from 2010 through 2023.

Noticing in the Midst of Building on a Critical Event

Research on teachers’ noticing of student mathematical thinking has typically focused on how a teacher attends to, interprets, and determines a response to an individual student contribution in isolation from the broader mathematical classroom context. This research focus is not nuanced enough, however, to fully account for the complex noticing required of a teacher engaged in responsive teaching. To support teachers in enacting responsive teaching, it is important to have a way to distinguish high-leverage student contributions from among the many contributions available to a teacher.

Author/Presenter

Shari L. Stockero

Laura R. Van Zoest

Keith R. Leatham

Blake E. Peterson

Year
2025
Short Description

Research on teachers’ noticing of student mathematical thinking has typically focused on how a teacher attends to, interprets, and determines a response to an individual student contribution in isolation from the broader mathematical classroom context. This research focus is not nuanced enough, however, to fully account for the complex noticing required of a teacher engaged in responsive teaching. To support teachers in enacting responsive teaching, it is important to have a way to distinguish high-leverage student contributions from among the many contributions available to a teacher. We draw on a previously developed framework to help teachers identify such contributions, those referred to as a mathematically significant pedagogical opportunity to build on student thinking (MOST).