STEM Scale-Up program evaluation is very important because it allows Iowa STEM, Regional STEM Managers, educators and STEM Scale-Up program providers to see the impact the exemplary STEM programs are making in the lives of Iowa's students. Last year, a higher proportion of students who participated in a STEM Scale-Up program said they were “Very Interested” in all STEM-subject areas and in pursuing a STEM career compared to all students statewide. (See above.)
The evaluation includes a survey of educators who implemented a STEM Scale-Up program and compares STEM Scale-Up program student participants to all students statewide in STEM-related areas of interest and achievement on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP). The STEM Scale-Up program Educator Survey is collected annually from educators who implement a STEM Scale-Up program in their schools and organizations. The purpose of the survey is to gather information about STEM Scale-Up program implementation, working with the STEM Scale-Up program provider and outcomes of implementing a STEM Scale-Up program.
Questionnaire topics include:
- Views about the professional development (e.g. How well did the professional development meet your expectation for preparing you to implement your STEM Scale-Up program?);
- Feedback on working with the STEM Scale-Up program provider (e.g. To what extent was the STEM Scale-Up program provider responsive to questions and needs?);
- How the STEM Scale-Up program was implemented and any challenges or barriers to implementation;
- Educator perceptions and observations of student outcomes related to awareness, interest and achievement in STEM.
Instructions for STEM Scale-Up Program Evaluation
Overview of the STEM Scale-Up Program Evaluation
We want to hear from you! We value your feedback about your STEM Scale-Up Program and use the information to improve the programs from year to year. Even if you were not able to use your STEM Scale-Up program as planned, we still want to hear from you. Complete the two evaluation tasks expected of all educators under the award agreement for the STEM Scale-Up program through the Iowa STEM.
The deadline for both tasks is May 30.
- Educator Survey: The educator survey is to be completed at the end of the STEM Scale-Up program. An email invitation with link to the educator survey will be sent to you in the Spring. This link is unique to you to help us direct reminder emails and to stop additional reminders once you have completed the survey. To request a link, contact Justin Szabo, jszabo@iastate.edu.
- Student Participant List (Download Excel Template): The student participant list is to be completed at the end of the STEM Scale-Up program (access code is in your reminder emails).
A frequently asked question related to completing the STEM Scale-Up program evaluation is:
I implemented in [a library, day care, home school] and do not have students’ 10-digit state-issued student ID?
If able, please still upload a student participant list with as much information as available relative to the names, ages and school(s) attended of the youth who participated in the STEM Scale-Up program. If you do not have access to the student ID number, you may leave that column blank and fill out as much of the other columns as possible. Iowa Testing Programs either matches students by their ID number or by a combination of the other demographic information (e.g. student name, grade, school name). Iowa Testing Programs compiles the lists of all the students who took part in a STEM Scale-Up program and reports summarized results for the aggregated group of students who participated in STEM Scale-Up programs across the state (e.g., % male/female, race/ethnicity).
If the STEM Scale-Up program is implemented in a setting where student names were not collected (e.g. open houses, county fairs), a student participant list need not be submitted. Alternatively, please do the following: 1) on the Educator Survey, please describe how you implemented the STEM Scale-Up program in those settings by describing who attended and the estimated number of attendees, and 2) send an email request to csbr@uni.edu to be marked exempt from submitting a student participant list.
Additional information and detailed instructions can be found in the Overview of the STEM Scale-Up Program Evaluation document.
Questions about the Educators Survey? Contact Justin Szabo at jszabo@iastate.eduor 515-294-3265.
Questions about the Student Participant List? Contact Erin Heiden at csbr@uni.edu or 319-273-6506.
Iowa STEM Monitoring Project
Coordinated by the Center for Social and Behavioral Research at the University of Northern Iowa in collaboration with the Research Institute for Studies in Education at Iowa State University and Iowa Testing Programs at The University of Iowa