By engaging students in everyday issues and events, STEM education can contribute to the development of citizens who are equipped to make the world a better place. However, students' STEM learning with this focus requires teachers to identify age and context appropriate issues. Student investigation of local issues and events can be motivating for…

Using register data and linked student-level sociometric survey data from the Netherlands, this study examines whether the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schooling outcomes (track recommendation and track enrollment in the seventh and ninth grades) is conditional on students' academic and social embeddedness in the school setting. We estimated…

Early adolescents, particularly from underrepresented or marginalized communities, may feel disconnected from school science leading to a lack of engagement. The lack of connection between their out of school experiences and school science may lead them to devalue science. This study examines interviews with 56 middle school students and 12…