Evaluation Highlights

• Science-focused PD grew preschool teachers’ confidence incorporating science activities into their curriculum, increasing the frequency with which they did science with their students.
• Outreach and field trip programs supported preschool students’ cognitive development, specifically their skills attending, engaging, and persisting, as well as their science skills, curiosity, and vocabulary development.

Context

High-quality early childhood STEM education provides a foundation to build the knowledge and skills needed for critical thinking, pursuit of science, and civic engagement for the environment. Perceptions of belonging in science are formed early in a child’s education, making early access to STEM content and role models essential to cultivate a STEM identity.

Funded by Robin Hood, STEM Starters brings science learning to some of our youngest New Yorkers and their school communities. Since the founding of STEM Starters in 2023, we have supported hundreds of 3K students participating in science programs in their classrooms and field trips and family days at the Queens and Prospect Park Zoos. Concurrently, their teachers participate in workshops on science practices and receive kits full of science materials to bring science to life in their classrooms.

Our mixed-methods evaluation provides insight into the impacts of the program on students’ curiosity, knowledge, and science skills, and teachers’ self-efficacy teaching science. Approved by the WCS and NYC Public Schools Institutional Review Boards, we use student assessment data from STEM Starters and control group classes, teacher surveys, and WCS educator journal entries to measure program impacts.

Evaluation Questions

• How does STEM Starters’ combination of teacher training and student programs affect children's science curiosity, knowledge, and vocabulary?
• How does inquiry-driven professional development and reflection affect teachers’ ability to create effective science education opportunities for young learners?

Methods

The evaluation uses three datasets:

• Student assessment data for students in the STEM Starters program and students in a matched control group that did not receive STEM Starters programming. Outcomes are tracked in Teaching Strategies GOLD, an observational assessment system designed for early childhood.

• Teacher survey data on perceptions of student outcomes and self-efficacy teaching science.

• WCS educator observations collected in post-program journal entries.

Major Findings

Evaluation demonstrated strong positive impacts on students’ cognitive development, science skills, and curiosity, as well as teachers’ self-efficacy teaching science.

For students:

Hierarchical linear models nested by classroom found a significant positive effect of the STEM Starters curriculum for two Teaching Strategies GOLD objectives: Attends and engages and Persists. These models found a significant interaction effect of experimental condition on the relationship between pre- and post-scores, meaning that the experimental group had greater gains than the control group, indicating a positive response to the program. Students also developed their science skills over the course of the year, with particularly large growth in two areas that are well-aligned with the Year 2 STEM Starters curriculum: Uses scientific inquiry skills and Knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials.

All of the STEM Starters teachers agreed or strongly agreed that the programs increased their students’ curiosity about animals, and 95% agreed or strongly agreed that the programs encouraged their students to care more about animals.

For teachers:

Paired t-tests indicated that STEM Starters teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy increased between the fall and the spring; teachers felt more confident creating effective science lessons and modifyingscience lessons to work for their students.

Between the fall and spring, 41% of STEM Starters teachers reported an increase in the frequency that they did science activities in their classroom. In the aggregate, in the fall, 59% of teachers reported that their students did science activities at least several times per week compared to 68% in the spring.

Products

• Check out our Year 2 Summary here!