Abstract:
A female’s college and career goals may ultimately be restricted by declining interest and achievement in mathematics that originates during her pre-high school years. This researcher examined how a piloted pre-engineering program in one eighth grade middle school team impacted adolescent girls’ interest and achievement in mathematics. The results suggest that Project Lead The Way (PLTW) impacted both boys’ and girls’ interest and achievement in mathematics. In five of seven attitude scales, PLTW hada positive effect on gender that was not paralleled in the control group. When achievement was considered, differences in growth levels between the two groups were statistically significant in six of the 11 standards in the experimental group. As this educational research was undertaken to assist local decision makers in supporting or opposing a district adoption of PLTW for all middle school students, effectively communicating the results to the various stakeholders in an engaging, useful manner was paramount.
