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In section two of a 2002 amendment on the Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Improvement Act, congress stated "A workforce that is highly trained in science...is crucial to generating the innovation that drives economic growth..." (Committee on Science, 2002). Given the growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and the exodus of aging and highly skilled workers from these fields as projected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), fulfilling this order is likely to be challenging. In 2005, The BLS projected that between 2004 and 2014, employers in the United States would be hiring 2.5 million STEM workers (BLS, 2005). Despite this looming deficit, some STEM fields in the United States are actually graduating fewer bachelor's degree students than 20 years ago (NSF, 2006). In 2004, 64,675 students earned engineering bachelor degrees compared to 76,153 in 1984. Bachelor's degrees in Physical sciences totaled 14,240 in 2004, while they reached 15,831 in 1984. This emphasizes the importance of increasing student interest in science in order to ensure we will be capable of filling the projected openings and maintaining competitive in the global market.

This paper focuses on the influence of high school science class size on students' achievement in introductory college science courses and on the variation of teacher practice across class size. Surveys collected information about high school science class experiences from 2754 biology, 3521 chemistry, and 1903 physics students across 36 public and 19 private institutions from 31 different states. The first analysis includes a cross-tabulation of 6 different class sizes and the frequencies of teacher practices reported by students. The second analysis includes a multiple linear regression of class size and student achievement. Results show no differences for pedagogy and student achievement until class sizes fall to 10 or fewer students. These findings suggest that incremental reductions in class size are likely not to have a significant impact on later student achievement. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 5 footnotes.)