Karen D. Jacobs, Ph.D.

The study examines the perspectives of school district leadership, principals, science instructional specialists, science teachers, and students about factors associated with increasing student achievement in science by infusing science curricula in Grades 5-8 with STEM methodologies and connections to scientists in the field. The focus of the study was to determine which variables, in conjunction with district-designed structures, attributed to a significant gain in student achievement after one year of implementation.