Project Lead the Way Students Score Lower in Math and Science Than Non- Project Lead the Way Students says Leading Engineering Education Researchers

There has been much talk and discussion about the incorporation of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) in schools around the country as well as in the Hoboken Public Schools. Certainly trying to incorporate engineering into the STEM curriculum is noteworthy and Project Lead the Way is a successful company which markets it curriculum to school districts around the country. There is certainly a great deal of enthusiasm for this program. Publicizing the purchase and incorporation of Project Lead the Way is an interesting way to give the impression that rigorous STEM education is taking place. But what does the research tell us about Project Lead the Way?

I thought it might be worthwhile sharing some actual peer reviewed research that was conducted on students in Project Lead the Way classrooms and a comparison group. This research was not conducted nor funded by Project Lead the Way - rather it was funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation (EEC-0648267) for the AWAKEN Project: Aligning Educational Experiences with Ways of Knowing Engineering. The NSF is very interested in quality K-16 engineering education.

Noteworthy also is that the work I am reporting was published by the leading journal in the field of engineering education in the world-- The Journal of Engineering Education or JEE. The article is titled Pre-College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Pre-college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics and is authored by Tran and Nathan.


Summary of the Results: 

"Students enrolled in PLTW foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience." -Tran and Nathan (Journal of Research in Engineering Education)

For the Full Paper Click HERE

TITLE: Pre-College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Pre-college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics

Abstract

Background
The U.S. has experienced a shift from a manufacturing-based economy to one that overwhelmingly provides services and information. This shift demands that technological skills be more fully integrated with one's academic knowledge of science and mathematics so that the next generation of engineers can reason adaptively, think critically, and be prepared to learn how to learn.

Purpose (Hypothesis)
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) provides a pre-college curriculum that focuses on the integration of engineering with science and mathematics. We documented the impact that enrollment in PLTW had on student science and math achievement. We consider the enriched integration hypothesis, which states that students taking PLTW courses will show achievement benefits, after controlling for prior achievement and other student and teacher characteristics. We contrast this with alternative hypotheses that propose little or no impact of the engineering coursework on students' math and science achievement (the insufficient integration hypothesis), or that PLTW enrollment might be negatively associated with student achievement (the adverse integration hypothesis).

Design/Method
Using multilevel statistical modeling with students (N = 140) nested within teachers, we report findings from a quantitative analysis of the relationship between PLTW enrollment and student achievement on state standardized tests of math and science.

Results
While students gained in math and science achievement overall from eighth to tenth grade, students enrolled in PLTW foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience. The findings do not support the enriched integration hypothesis.