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PurposeThe purposes of this study were to describe the roles mentors enacted as part of an afterschool science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program and how those roles varied across three sites and to explain those differences.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a comparative case study design and collected data primarily from interviews with program mentors and observations of the sessions.FindingsThe authors found that the mentors played four roles, depending on the school site: teachers, friends, support and role models. Mentors interpreted cues from the environment in light of their own identities, which ultimately led them to construct a plausible understanding of their roles as mentors.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors identify four mentoring roles that are somewhat consistent with prior research and demonstrate that the roles mentors enact can vary systematically across sites, and these variations can be explained by sensemaking. This study also contributes to research on mentoring roles by elaborating each identified role and offering a framework to explain variability in mentor role enactment.Practical implicationsThe authors recommend that mentoring program directors discuss the roles that mentors may enact with mentors as part of their training and that they engage mentors in identity work and also recommend that program managers create unstructured time for mentors to socialize outside STEM activities with their mentees.Originality/valueThis study contributes to mentoring research by using sensemaking theory to highlight how and why mentoring roles differ across school sites.

Existing inequalities in STEM-related vocational-technical education (VTE) programs are more prevalent than within 4-year programs. Situated in Chile, this study tests whether Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) adequately explains career development among students enrolled in STEM-VTE programs. In doing so, it also examines how external factors such as supports, barriers, and secondary track differentially affect career development by gender. Using a sample of 698 students in their second year of STEM-VTE studies, we confirmed that the SCCT model produced a good fit for the data in this alternative institutional setting. The findings also showed few gender differences in the effects of external factors on self-efficacy and career expectations, except for teaching support that substantially alters these cognitive factors to more extent among males than females. Moreover, although self-efficacy beliefs were similar between gender, gains in career expectations due to these beliefs are lower for female students. We conclude by discussing implications for future research and practice.

Using social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we examined the career development of students in sex-typed postsecondary Vocational Technical Education (VTE) programs in the Chilean context. We assessed the moderating effects of students’ socioeconomic background, sex, membership to the sex-atypical group, and the intersection of these attributes across SCCT measures and the model’s predicted relationships. The results showed that students in sex-atypical careers, particularly low-income students, perceived supports and barriers differently, and that supports and barriers have different effects on self-efficacy and outcome beliefs. We also found differences between female and male students in these careers path, which suggests that the former face more challenges. However, we also found that their career development process unfolds similarly, suggesting that strategies designed to support these groups may be equally helpful for female and male students. We discuss the findings in light of prior literature and offer practical implications for VTE institutions.

Little is known about why people decide to mentor in the context of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the motivations...

Across the United States, the rapid spread of “zero-tolerance” policies has generated a pipeline of youth from schools into prisons. Once youth reenter their community and home school, they often struggle to reintegrate. There is relatively little research about school reentry for juvenile justice–involved youth, and yet these students are at risk of low academic achievement, dropping out of school, and recidivism. We propose a conceptual framework for understanding the school reentry process, and then we use that framework to review existing research and suggests areas for future research. We discuss the areas where we found some research and those where we found little to no research. We suggest areas for future research and collaboration with practitioners.

Black and Brown men continue to be underrepresented in engineering. One explanation for the dearth of Black and Latino men in engineering is that engineering (and STEM) identity often is not inclusive of People of Color. As a result, Black and Brown boys may be less likely to become interested in STEM subjects. The purpose of this study, then, was to investigate how the components of one afterschool engineering program tap into engineering identity formation among fourth- and fifth-grade Black and Brown boys. Leveraging research on the STEM and engineering identity, we argue that the program and its key components play both constructive and protective roles. This study comprises a case study of an afterschool engineering program completing its third year of implementation at three elementary schools. Over four semesters, we recruited approximately 60 students from the three schools and 21 mentors to participate in the study. We collected data via one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and observations. We found that engineering design activities are constructive, offering the young Black and Brown boys opportunities to engage with the work of engineers. The mentors played constructive roles by recognizing the students’ engineering work. The mentors also played a protective role, buffering against identity interference and cultivating a sense of belonging. We conclude by discussing how the findings contribute to existing research on engineering identity and making recommendations for practice.

In an effort to increase college access and success rates, the state of Texas has expanded dual enrollment programs and Early College High Schools (ECHS) that provide students with the oppo...

The purpose of this study is to compare the college enrollment and STEM college major choice rates of graduates of a STEM-focused charter school system to those of students who graduated from traditional public schools in the state of Texas and the USA for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented groups. In addition, the factors students perceived as important in their STEM career selection were examined. Participants were Harmony Public Schools (HPS) alumni who graduated between year 2002 and 2016. Data were collected through annual and additional surveys via e-mails and Facebook. Data were analyzed descriptively to answer the research questions. It was found that HPS had significantly higher college enrollment rates in all minority groups including female, African American, Hispanic, and low-SES when compared to public school students in the state of Texas and the USA. The second research question revealed that HPS graduates’ STEM major choice rates were significantly higher than their counterparts in the state of Texas and the USA in all subgroups including female and students of color. Students’ self-interest, teachers, and parents were found to be the top three factors that students thought affected their major choice.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which traditional and alternative preparation programs differ in terms of their program components, as well as whether program type was related to different levels of self-efficacy in novice reading teachers. This exploratory study collected data from 83 novice elementary reading teachers in a large urban district in Texas. We answered the research questions using t tests and correlation analysis. The results indicated that traditionally prepared teachers reported significantly higher levels of exposure to literacy teaching skills across their coursework and field work as well as higher levels of self-efficacy. We also found a significant but weak relationship between teachers’ level of self-efficacy and the level of literacy exposure they had in their coursework, and a significant and moderate relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and the level of literacy exposure they had through their field experiences.

The purpose of this study is to explore the validity and reliability of the School Participant Empowerment Scale amongst science and mathematics teachers. Using a sample of 257 elementary and secon...

This study sought to explain student success at an Early College High School. Guided by previous research on Early College High Schools as well as by the construct of educational resiliency, 28 students were interviewed in focus groups. Through the analysis, we uncovered the key role that educational resilience played in their success as the students leveraged their own individual and social assets to adapt to the challenges they faced. The school setting itself also served to cultivate their resilience. We also heard from students about their ongoing struggles with sleep and anxiety. The study has implications for research on Early College High Schools and similar school settings, as well as for research on educational resilience.

Among the many challenges facing public schools are high levels of principal turnover. Given the important role that principals play and are expected to play in the improvement process, concerns about principal turnover have resulted in a growing body of research on its causes and consequences. The purpose of this review is to take stock of what we have learned about the sources and consequences of principal turnover and to identify what gaps remain. The final review included 36 empirical studies. It discusses and categorizes findings relating to the determinants and consequences of principal turnover. The review concludes with a discussion about the implications of those findings and the areas and kinds of research still needed.

Accountability policies assume that educators will use student data to improve student learning, but data use in practice has turned out to be harder than theorized. The purpose of this article was to examine how science teachers in Grades 5 to 8 used data in their classrooms. Utilizing sensemaking theory, we found that teachers decided how to use data based on district and school policies and expectations around assessment and data use, balancing those messages with their own understandings of science education. In practice, this led to the privileging of certain kinds of assessment and data use at the expense of others.

A key assumption of accountability policies is that educators will use data to improve their instruction. In practice, however, data use is quite hard, and more districts are looking to instructional coaches to support their teachers. The purpose of this descriptive analysis is to examine how instructional coaches in elementary and middle school science across 3 school districts worked with science teachers around data use. Science teachers and instructional coaches were interviewed about their data use practices and preferences. The findings highlight that coaches play diverse roles in supporting teachers, and that teachers’ data use practices closely align with coaches’ practices and preferences. The discussion concludes with implications for our understanding of data use in specific content areas and for future research.

Some postulate that social media tools, such as Twitter, might be used to support educator professional learning. Drawing upon interviews and tweets from 17 school administrators, this study examined the factors and consequences of administrators’ Twitter use. It finds that administrators’ understandings and uses of Twitter changed over time, subject to influences such as interactions with colleagues, one's sense of online visibility, and abilities to develop workarounds for Twitter's limitations. The discussion explores issues relating to the future of educators’ social media use, as well as how to theorize about the implementation and adoption of technologies in education.

This study extends prior work on the college-going efforts of Latino boys and adolescents (Latinos) by examining the extent to which meeting with a school counselor is related to their college-going aspirations and whether they apply to and ultimately matriculate to college. The study utilizes social capital and social reproduction theories to hypothesize about school counselors’ role in Latinos’ postsecondary matriculation. Utilizing data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we used logistic regression to test the hypotheses that contact with a school counselor is related to an increased likelihood of intent to matriculate, application to 4-year institutions, and enrollment in college. We found that Latinos were just as likely as their White counterparts to aspire to college and just as likely to enroll if they applied. Moreover, those odds were not related to having visited a school counselor in ninth or 11th grade. We also found that Latinos who met with a school counselor in ninth grade were significantly less likely to apply to a 4-year institution while those who met with a counselor in 11th grade were significantly more likely to apply. We discuss the implications of our findings in light of existing research and make recommendations for future research and practice.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent that there is a typology of high schools based on their orientation toward STEM, as well as the extent to which school-level demographic variables and student high school outcomes are associated with subgroup membership in the typology, by analyzing data from a large nationally representative sample of high schools (n=940) from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) using latent class analysis (LCA). We used a three-step LCA approach to identify significantly different subgroups of STEM-oriented high schools, what covariates predict subgroup membership, and how subgroup membership predicts observed distal outcomes. We find that there are four significantly different subgroups of STEM-oriented high schools based on their principal’s perceptions: Abundant (12.3%), Support (23.3%), Bounded (10.1%), and Comprehensive (54.3%). In addition, we find that these subgroups are associated with school demographics, such as the percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, school locale, and control (public or private). Subgroup membership is also associated with student outcomes, such as postsecondary program enrollment and intent to pursue a STEM degree. Keywords: STEM Education, High Schools, Multivariate Analysis

Understanding how an educational intervention is implemented is essential to evaluating its effectiveness. With the increased use of digital tools in classrooms, however, traditional methods of measuring implementation fall short. Fortunately, there is a way to learn about the interactions that users have with digital tools that are embedded into the technologies themselves: user data. The purpose of this article is to outline ways in which researchers can harness learning analytics and user data to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of digital innovations and their impact on teaching and learning. We discuss four considerations for the integration of learning analytics and user data in implementation research, and we provide an example of integration from an evaluation of a digital science curriculum, STEMscopes.

This case study on nine bilingual teachers in Texas during their first year in a graduate education program examines both the development of critical consciousness among the educators and the ways in which critical consciousness shapes how these teachers come to understand their roles as teachers and leaders of a sociopolitically marginalized student group and community. Our analysis supports the proposition that teacher leadership programs can influence the development of social justice leadership, and it suggests that engaging teachers in certain types of structured learning opportunities can promote risk taking and a willingness to assume responsibility through the development of a sense of agency and efficacy.

Over the past several decades, policymakers have sought to address the problem of school failure by exposing traditional public schools to competitive market forces. In this analysis, we examine how two traditional public schools in a “high pressure/high choice” urban school cluster in Texas responded to a number of overlapping choice policies that have caused them to lose significant numbers of students. We explore how these two traditional public schools made sense of, and formulated a response to, their multiple “competitors,” how they balanced market pressures and the other external (accountability) pressures that they faced. In this analysis, we illustrate how competition does not always lead to significant or productive change in low performing schools.

For decades, policymakers and researchers have struggled to understand the reasons that schools in disadvantaged contexts have relatively more trouble responding successfully to reform demands. This analysis extends theory regarding the challenges of school change in disadvantaged contexts by illustrating how the internal resources that schools rely on to respond to external policy demands can be affected by the social contexts in which they are embedded. The article draws on data from a study of five high poverty high schools’ responses to the pressures of Texas’ high stakes accountability system. The case study data illustrate how a school’s social context can precipitate instability in some schools and relative stability in others, how organizational stability in turn can affect schools’ organizational social capital, and how organizational social capital can influence schools’ ability to respond to external policy demands.

This article contributes to our understanding of the gap in college access by examining (a) the extent to which and (b) how high school counseling focused on college broadens access. We extend Engberg and Gilbert’s typology of schools based on high school counseling norms and resources. Using recent data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we identified three types of schools: norm-driven, resource-rich, and divergent.

The effective use of student data has gained increasing attention in the past 10 years. Although district leaders would like to support data use and improvement, exactly how to go about such work systemically is often unclear. Accordingly, the aim of this chapter is to illuminate the inner workings of data use throughout a mid-sized school district. In doing so, we highlight issues in how data were used and supported, and provide discussion about how districts such as this one may improve data use throughout the district.