How States Compare on STEM Education

A new interactive national report shows how states are performing based on 10 different STEM benchmarks.

  • By Sara Friedman
  • 05/07/19

The STEM Opportunity Index, developed by the National Math and Science Initiative, SRI International and 100Kin10, looks at more than 100 public data sets and puts the results into an interactive map that compares how states are doing across 10 different conditions, practices and outcomes that demonstrate STEM success rates.

These indicators include policies and funding, teacher preparation, educator quality, instructional resources and STEM education outcomes. Data sets incorporated into the map include Next Generation Science Standards and ISTE standards adopted, proficiencies in math and reading for fourth and eighth graders from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and ACT test benchmark scores in STEM, science, English and reading.

How States Compare on STEM Education

Each of the indicators come from the STEM Success Framework, which is a guide help to states and school districts navigate equitable STEM teaching and learning. The framework consists of three sections: system contributors, conditions and practices and STEM outcomes.

"No one organization can ensure all students have the access and resources needed to thrive in STEM education," NMSI CEO Bernard Harris said. “We now look forward to adding more features and seeing how businesses, lawmakers, parents and other nonprofits use the tools to improve public STEM education."

NMSI said that by the end of the year school system and school-level data will be added to the STEM Opportunity Index.

The index can be accessed online now.

About the Author

Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.

Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.

Friedman can be contacted at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.

Click here for previous articles by Friedman.


Featured

  • Case Systems makerspace

    Case Systems Launches Line of K–12 Makerspace Installations

    Case Systems recently announced the launch of SALTO, a line of classroom fixtures and installations for K–12 learning spaces like STEM labs, art rooms, and makerspaces. The product line is designed to provide teachers with flexibility and adaptability, enabling them to shift between collaborative and individual learning environments.

  • Two professionals, one male and one female, discuss AI regulations in a modern office with holographic displays showing legal documents, balance scales, and neural network symbols.

    Congress Releases Recommendations for AI Governance

    The bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence recently released a report with recommendations to bolster American leadership in AI.

  • computer with a red warning icon on its screen, surrounded by digital grids, glowing neural network patterns, and a holographic brain

    Report Highlights Security Concerns of Open Source AI

    In these days of rampant ransomware and other cybersecurity exploits, security is paramount to both proprietary and open source AI approaches — and here the open source movement might be susceptible to some inherent drawbacks, such as use of possibly insecure code from unknown sources.

  • outline of a modern school building as glowing blue geometric shapes, surrounded by binary code streams, with golden orbs and lines representing funding, set against a dark gray gradient with faint grid patterns

    FCC Cybersecurity Pilot Participants Selected

    The Federal Communications Commission has officially selected the participants for its Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot, the three-year program exploring the use of Universal Service funds to improve school and library defenses against cyber attacks.