Our nation has declining participation in science and technology fields, even though in the United States we have seen an astounding collection of innovations in technology, communication, the Internet, and financial products. This lack of participation is even more noticeable for students with learning disabilities (SWLD) when compared to general…

Over the years, the evolution of science along with technology, engineering, and mathematics has been noticeably evident while science education, on the other hand, has shown little development. The research study aimed to investigate future change initiative implementation in secondary science curricula. In addition, the purpose of the research…

Visual-spatial literacy is an essential component to developing STEM literacy, which is a primary focus of the three-dimensional Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) framework for science education. Because scientific data is frequently communicated through visual representations, it is important for members of the current science and…

Science reforms in the United States' education systems have been ongoing for over the last 50 years. These reforms are continually revised in response to the demand to increase employment in STEM careers. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) released in 2013 are the most recent standards-based science reform effort created using years of…

This ex-post facto quantitative study examined how a comprehensive STEM education program impacts high school students' ACT math and science scores as well as their attitudes toward STEM. Using data from one STEM-designated school, the researcher examined ACT math, science, and STEM results for students who took the ACT in the Spring of 2024,…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is of global focus, demanding qualified mathematicians, technologists, engineers, and scientists from diverse settings. Addressing the STEM academic achievement gaps among secondary students from marginalized backgrounds is a central concern and focus addressed in my research because of…

This paper is about leveraging cultural ways of knowing such as ethnobotany in order to increase STEM engagement in Chicanx populations. The novel Community Learning and Ecological Sustainability Paradigm (CLESP) framework utilized in this study combines social justice, Chicana feminist epistemology, land-based pedagogy, critical place-based…

Scholars continue to propose that students develop scientific literacy and 21st century competencies through student-centered reform-based science instruction with the teacher as the main facilitator of learning (Maeng et al., 2018). The National Science Teaching Association (2018) called for high-quality science instruction that builds on…

Throughout the years, there has been a reduction of graduates entering and pursuing careers within the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) fields. Thus, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), now called the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (NJSLS-S) developed a rigorous program of standards for students to…

This dissertation examines two key axes of inequality in higher education -- gender and socioeconomic status (SES) -- in terms of differences in college persistence and college major using the nationally-representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. While gender differences in terms of STEM majors has been oft-studied, this dissertation…

There is a dominant Discourse that juxtaposes science and Black cultures. This Discourse limits who can be a scientist and creates a racist, seemingly objective landscape in which Black individuals must persevere. This study examines how Black learners perceive their developing racial, scientific, and positional identities within a Black-centered…

This dissertation investigates the impact of attending a STEM-designated elementary school on students' math, ELA (English Language Arts), and science achievement and growth scores. As technology continues to advance in education, educators are exploring innovative instructional methods. With a concerning decline in math proficiency nationwide,…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instruction in the United States has been a major focus of educational reform since the release of the PISA rankings in 2000, which showed that the U.S. was behind many other countries on the international stage in the areas of Science and Math. Students are also leaving the "STEM…

In the collectivistic Thai society, oppressions are considered societal taboos that teachers rarely talk about in schools despite many oppressive events that happened in the past few decades (e.g., the 1976 student massacre and other political unrests). Science education in Thailand heavily emphasizes technical knowledge and rote memorization --…

Elementary schools face pressures to substantially increase student achievement in all subjects with limited time in the school day. In particular, science struggles to gain instructional momentum due to many internal and external factors. The school district of Wynne (pseudonym), located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, has generational…