The NAEP EDM Competition required participants to predict efficient test-taking behavior based on log data. This paper describes our top-down approach for engineering features by means of psychometric modeling, aiming at machine learning for the predictive classification task. For feature engineering, we employed, among others, the Log-Normal…

Striving to remain a global leader in innovation, the United States continues prioritizing broadening participation in engineering and other STEM fields. For this reason, STEM outreach programs are increasingly popular and vital. However, few programs offer such outreach experiences at a large, national scale and intentionally situate those…

Today's world is shaped by technology and products engineered to serve society's needs and wants. The knowledge and skills required to develop and use these products are changing at an exponential rate (NASE&M, 2017; NRC, 2011). In order to understand and meet future challenges, it is vital that the United States produce technology- and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between technology and engineering instruction and technology and engineering literacy in grades K-8. The factors identified and used for the purpose of this study were gender, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and important modes of technology and engineering instruction. These factors…

Technology and engineering are increasingly being incorporated into school coursework, ranging from instruction on the use of computers and information technology within school subjects to classes that examine the role of technology in society, or courses that teach engineering design. Information communication technologies have become integral…

States' efforts to incorporate technology and engineering into K-12 science instruction appear to be bearing fruit: More than five years after states began adopting K-12 science standards that feature technology and engineering, eighth graders have notched higher scores on a national assessment of those subjects. This Policy Brief presents…

Students' activities in game/scenario-based tasks (G/SBTs) can be characterized by a sequence of time-stamped actions of different types with different attributes. For a subset of G/SBTs in which only the order of the actions is of great interest, the process data can be well characterized as a string of characters (i.e., action string) if we…

This is an abridged version of the full assessment framework, written for a general audience. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as The Nation's Report Card, informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of…

When science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is discussed in the K-12 sphere, it often seems like shorthand for mathematics and science, with perhaps a nod to technology and even less, if any, real attention to engineering. But recent developments signal that the "e" in STEM may be gaining a firmer foothold at…

Today's high school science teachers find themselves in a period of transition. For the past decade there have been calls for replacing a narrow focus on science education--the traditional courses in physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth and space science--with a broader curriculum on STEM (that is, the four allied fields of science, technology,…

Due to the growing importance of technology and engineering in the educational landscape, and to support America's ability to contribute to and compete in a global economy, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) initiated development of the first NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) Assessment. Relating to national efforts in…

Despite being the inventing country of the Internet, the US is not satisfied with its current state in Internet speed and broadband adoption. Although, more students, teachers and researchers in the US use Internet than any other country in the world, it is not satisfactory for the US educators and legislators to maintain US competitiveness in the…

Effective evidence-based action requires getting the right data into the right hands at the right time to help make decisions. The Data Quality Campaign (2011) has provided suggestions to state education agencies for effectively using data within state longitudinal data systems. One suggestion is to identify "the variety of ways available…

"Science and Engineering Indicators" (SEI) is first and foremost a volume of record comprising the major high-quality quantitative data on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise. SEI is factual and policy neutral. It does not offer policy options, and it does not make policy recommendations. SEI employs a variety…

With the support of the Noyce Foundation, National 4-H Council has contracted with Policy Studies Associates (PSA) to evaluate the implementation of the 4-H Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Initiative. The goals of this initiative are to increase the number and quality of science, engineering, and technology programs that 4-H offers…