Reports and Studies

STATS ON STEM
NMSI’s Laying the Foundation division has produced a new fact sheet with key STEM statistics and citations that should be a helpful resource for anyone interested in STEM education.

PASADENA CASE STUDY SHOWS LTF BOOSTS AP SCHOLARS
The Pasadena school district’s success with the Laying the Foundation training makes a great case study of how effective teacher training can raise achievement.  Here’s a one-page summary of the Pasadena experience.

THE EFFECTS OF AN INCENTIVE-BASED HIGH-SCHOOL INTERVENTION ON COLLEGE OUTCOMES
Kirabo Jackson analyzes the longer-run effects of a program that pays both 11th and 12th grade students and teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Using a difference-in-difference strategy, he finds that affected students of all ethnicities attend college in greater numbers, have improved college GPAs, and are more likely to remain in college behind their freshman year.

RISING ABOVE THE GATHERING STORM
Rising Above The Gathering Storm is a report from the prestigious National Academies in 2005 that warned the nation about the dangers of falling behind the world in math and science education. This was the inspiration for the founding of the National Math and Science Initiative, a proactive new non-profit organization dedicated to helping U.S. educators and students regain the competitive edge in math and science.

CHANGING THE CONVERSATION
Changing the Conversation is a vital tool for improving the public image of engineering and outreach efforts related to engineering. It is a book which provides actionable strategies and market-tested messages for presenting a richer, more positive image of engineering. It presents and discusses in detail market research about what the public finds most appealing about engineering as well as what turns the public off.

AN INVESTIGATION OF COLLEGE PERFORMANCE OF AP AND NON-AP STUDENT GROUPS
This study sought to perform a global assessment of the performance of students in the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Program compared to non-AP students on a number of college outcome measures. Ten AP Exams and six aggregated AP subject areas were examined in this two-phase study of students in four entering classes (1998-2001) at the University of Texas at Austin.

TAKING SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS TO SCALE
This guide, prepared by NMSI Chief Program Officer John Winn, explains how discipline can be injected into the process of multiplying proven programs.

BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
A REPORT TO THE NATION FROM THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
This report holds that America’s students must improve their performance in math and science in order to succeed in today’s world and for the U.S. to stay competitive in the global economy. It also argues that the most direct route to improving math and science achievement for all students is better math and science teaching.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: THE BACKBONE OF AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS AND INNOVATION
This report from the Council of Graduate Schools Advisory Committee on Graduate Education and American Competitiveness outlines the critical role of graduate education in enhancing U.S. competitiveness and innovation.

THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY: IS THE UNITED STATES LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE?
The 2005 report published by The Task Force on the Future of American Innovation assesses the standing of the U.S. in science and technology on several benchmarks, including education, the science and engineering workforce, scientific knowledge, innovation, investment and high-tech economic output. The Task Force’s findings suggest that the advantage of the U.S. is quickly eroding, and our global competitors may soon overtake us.

LAUNCHING THE 21ST CENTURY AMERICAN AEROSPACE WORKFORCE
The long-term vitality of the U.S. aerospace workforce is a priority issue for AIA. This report is a starting point for the aerospace industry to collectively recommend and develop solutions to overcome the problem. And it is an invitation for government and like-minded stakeholders to partner with us in designing those solutions.

5TH ANNUAL AP REPORT TO THE NATION
The 5th Annual AP Report to the Nation, released in February 2009, uses a combination of state, national and AP Program data to provide each U.S. state with the context it can use to celebrate its successes, understand its unique challenges, and set meaningful, data-driven goals to prepare more students for success in college.

THE HAMILTON PROJECT
IDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE TEACHERS USING PERFORMANCE ON THE JOB
Recent research suggests that paper qualifications have little predictive power in identifying effective teachers. The Hamilton Project proposes federal support to help states measure the effectiveness of individual teachers - based on their impact on student achievement, subjective evaluations by principals and peers, and parental evaluations.

AN EVALUATION OF TEACHERS TRAINED THROUGH DIFFERENT ROUTES TO CERTIFICATION
This report compares the achievement of elementary school students in the same grade, at the same school who were randomly assigned to teachers who chose to be trained through different routes to certification - traditional education school routes and alternative routes. The evaluation found that students of teachers who chose to enter teaching through an alternative route did not perform statistically different from students of teachers who chose a traditional route to teaching.

STUDENTS WHO STUDY SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) IN POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
Using data from the 1995-96 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01), this Statistics in Brief focuses on undergraduates who enter STEM programs and examines their characteristics and postsecondary outcomes (persistence and degree completion) several years after beginning postsecondary education.

RISING ABOVE THE GATHERING STORM
Rising Above The Gathering Storm is a report from the prestigious National Academies in 2005 that warned the nation about the dangers of falling behind the world in math and science education. This was the inspiration for the founding of the National Math and Science Initiative, a proactive new non-profit organization dedicated to helping U.S. educators and students regain the competitive edge in math and science.

CHANGING THE CONVERSATION
Changing the Conversation is a vital tool for improving the public image of engineering and outreach efforts related to engineering. It is a book which provides actionable strategies and market-tested messages for presenting a richer, more positive image of engineering. It presents and discusses in detail market research about what the public finds most appealing about engineering as well as what turns the public off.

AN INVESTIGATION OF COLLEGE PERFORMANCE OF AP AND NON-AP STUDENT GROUPS
This study sought to perform a global assessment of the performance of students in the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Program compared to non-AP students on a number of college outcome measures. Ten AP Exams and six aggregated AP subject areas were examined in this two-phase study of students in four entering classes (1998-2001) at the University of Texas at Austin.

TAKING SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS TO SCALE
This guide, prepared by NMSI Chief Program Officer John Winn, explains how discipline can be injected into the process of multiplying proven programs.

BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
A REPORT TO THE NATION FROM THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
This report holds that America’s students must improve their performance in math and science in order to succeed in today’s world and for the U.S. to stay competitive in the global economy. It also argues that the most direct route to improving math and science achievement for all students is better math and science teaching.

LOSING THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?
THE CHALLENGE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES
Losing the Competitive Advantage? explores the challenges the U.S. currently faces and alerts audiences that America’s edge, particularly in science and technology, is increasingly at risk.

MEASURING THE MOMENT: INNOVATION, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS
In this document, the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation updates The Knowledge Economy, by providing the latest available information on the benchmarks cited in the previous report and citing new benchmarks. Measuring the Moment confirms that the problems described in The Knowledge Economy were not one-time findings but are long term trends.

NATIONAL DEFENSE EDUCATION AND AMERICA’S INNOVATION INITIATIVE
MEETING AMERICA’S ECONOMIC AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The 2006 report from the Association of American Universities offers specific recommendations on the contributions universities can and should make by improving research and education to improve America’s competitiveness and security.