ITEST Resources

Beginning in 2009, the ITEST resource centers (LRC and STELAR) asked active ITEST projects to report their use of externally developed and reliable instruments to collect data on their project outcomes. The STELAR website now houses a database of instruments. All of the instruments listed were used to some extent by at least one ITEST project. The ITEST project is listed under the "Related Projects" heading on the instrument's page. Only instruments that could be located online are included in the database. To locate the instrument database, go to the Resources page on the STELAR website and

The 2002 User Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation was developed to provide managers working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a basic guide for the evaluation of NSF’s educational programs. It is aimed at people who need to learn more about both what evaluation can do and how to do an evaluation, rather than those who already have a solid base of experience in the field. It builds on firmly established principles, blending technical knowledge and common sense to meet the special needs of NSF and its stakeholders. The Handbook discusses quantitative and qualitative evaluation

The Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development describes the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s and the U.S. Department of Education (ED)’s shared understandings of the roles of various types or “genres” of research in generating evidence about strategies and interventions for increasing student learning. These research types range from studies that generate the most fundamental understandings related to education and learning (for example, about brain activity), to research that examines associations between variables, iteratively designs and tests components of a strategy or

The National Science Board (NSB, Board) examined recent STEM workforce studies and debates, consulted numerous experts, and explored data in our 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators report to develop insights that could facilitate more constructive discussions about the STEM workforce and inform decision makers.

Technology applications aligned with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workplace practices can engage students in real-world pursuits but also present dramatic challenges for classroom implementation. We examined the impact of teacher professional development focused on incorporating these workplace technologies in the classroom. Because existing measures primarily use only presence or type of technology as proxies for implementation quality, we developed an expanded framework that incorporated (a) the type of technology used; (b) the degree of alignment to STEM practices; (c)

The STEM 3D approach draws on evidence-based research demonstrating the proven ability of informal environments to act as an entry point to STEM and 21st Century skills for elementary-aged youth, as well as the value of involving significant adults and local communities when providing STEM learning opportunities for minority youth.

This article goes over eight tips to help educators integrate STEM into their curriculum.

This document includes six checklists created by the Evaluation Resource Center for Advanced Technological Education (EvaluATE). These checklists may be used by researchers and evaluators to check for adherence to the National Science Foundation's Common Guidelines.

This document created by the Center for Innovative Research in Cyberlearning (CIRCL) provides background information on cyberlearning, answering what, why, and how.