Engineering in the K-12 STEM Standards of the 50 U.S. States: An Analysis of Presence and Extent

BACKGROUND Federal initiatives promoting STEM education to bridge the achievement gap and maintain the nation's creative leadership inspired this study investigating engineering content in elementary education standards. The literature review concluded that common national P-12 engineering education standards are beneficial, particularly when amplified by the common core standards movement. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS) Compilation and analysis of engineering present in states' academic standards was performed to determine if a consensus on the big ideas of engineering already exists and to organize and present those big ideas so that they can be infused into state or national standards. DESIGN/METHOD Extensive examination and broad coding of mathematics, science, technology and vocational/career standards in all 50 states identified instances of engineering content in existing standards. Explicit coding categorized engineering-relevant standards by subject area. Manual and electronic content analysis identified key engineering skills and knowledge in existing standards. Inter-rater reliability verified consistency among five individuals through descriptive statistical measures. RESULTS Engineering skills and knowledge were found in 41 states' standards. Most items rated as engineering through strict coding were found in either science or technology and vocational standards. Engineering was found in only one state's math standard. Some states explicitly mentioned engineering standards without any specifics. A consensus of big ideas found in standards is provided in the discussion. CONCLUSIONS While engineering standards do exist, uniform or systematically introduced engineering standards are less prevalent. Now is the time to move forward in the formation of national standards based on the state standards identified in this study.