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A needs assessment for Hillview Middle School's STEM education program

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A needs assessment for Hillview Middle School's STEM education program

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Content Running head: MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 1

A NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR
HILLVIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL’S STEM EDUCATION PROGRAM

by

Christopher Mendoza

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2017

ã2017 Christopher Mendoza
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 2
Acknowledgements
I would first like to thank my family for providing me the support I needed to finish this
project. I would also like to acknowledge my faculty committee members, Dr. Sinatra, Dr.
Rueda, and Dr. Freking for all of the patience and guidance I received throughout this process.
Finally, I would like to thank the Hillview students and staff for inspiring me each day to become
a better educator.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 3
Table of Contents
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………… 5
List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………... 7
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………. 8
Chapter One: Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 9
Background of the Problem………………………………………………………... 9
Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………….. 11
Purpose of the Project……………………………………………………………… 13
Organization of the Needs Assessment……………………………………………. 13
Significance of the Needs Assessment…………………………………………….. 14
Chapter Two: Literature Review…………………………………………………………... 15
Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 15
STEM Education…………………………………………………………………… 16
Types of STEM Schools…………………………………………………… 18
Selective STEM schools…………………………………………… 18
Inclusive STEM schools…………………………………………… 19
Career and technical education schools……………………………. 19
Comprehensive schools……………………………………………. 20
Characteristics of Effective STEM Schools……………………………….. 20
Instructional practices……………………………………………… 20
Staff capacity………………………………………………………. 22
Curriculum…………………………………………………………. 23
School facilities and structures…………………………………….. 24
In-School STEM Program Needs Assessments……………………………. 25
Summary…………………………………………………………………………… 25
Chapter Three: Methodology………………………………………………………………. 27
Needs Assessment………………………………………………………………….. 27
Pre-Assessment…………………………………………………………….. 27
District and school background……………………………………. 28
Assessment………………………………………………………………… 30
Post-Assessment…………………………………………………………… 32
Instruments and Sources of Data………………………………………………….. 32
Parent Interviews…………………………………………………………... 32
Staff Surveys………………………………………………………………. 33
Procedure…………………………………………………………………………... 35
Initial Contact……………………………………………………………… 35
First Meeting……………………………………………………………….. 35
Second Meeting……………………………………………………………. 36
New Principal………………………………………………………………. 36
Institutional Review Board………………………………………………… 36
Parent Interviews…………………………………………………………... 36
Staff Surveys………………………………………………………………. 37
Teacher surveys……………………………………………………. 37
Administrator surveys……………………………………………… 38
Data Analysis………………………………………………………………. 38
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 4
Chapter Four: Findings…………………………………………………………………….. 40
Parent Interviews…………………………………………………………………... 40
Parent Perceptions and Understanding of the Declining Enrollment
Problem…………………………………………………………………….. 41
Safety issues………………………………………………………... 43
EWCSD academic competition……………………………………. 45
Lack of band……………………………………………………….. 46
Competing schools in adjacent district…………………………….. 47
Parent Perceptions and Understanding of STEM Education………………. 48
STEM program influence on enrollment…………………………... 49
Future jobs…………………………………………………………. 52
Preparation for high school and college……………………………. 53
Value of STEM to parent…………………………………………... 54
Perception that STEM is male-oriented……………………………. 57
Survey Data………………………………………………………………………… 58
STEM Related Instructional Practices……………………………………... 59
HMS Staff Capacity to Implement STEM…………………………………. 66
STEM implementation preparedness………………………………. 66
Teaching credential………………………………………………… 67
STEM professional development…………………………………... 68
STEM Curriculum…………………………………………………………. 70
HMS STEM Organizational Facility and Structures………………………. 72
Teacher level of satisfaction with support…………………………. 72
Challenges to implementing STEM………………………………... 76
STEM safety……………………………………………………….. 79
Chapter Five: Discussion…………………………………………………………………... 82
Summary of Findings……………………………………………………………… 82
Parent Perceptions of the Declining Enrollment Problem at HMS………... 83
Parent Perceptions and Understanding of STEM Education………………. 84
Teacher STEM Related Instructional Practices……………………………. 85
HMS Staff Capacity to Implement STEM………………………………… 86
STEM Curriculum…………………………………………………………. 87
HMS Facilities and Structures……………………………………………... 87
Limitations and Implications………………………………………………………. 87
Interview Limitations……………………………………………………… 87
Teaching Staff and Administrative Staff Survey Limitations……………… 88
Recommendations………………………………………………………………….. 88
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 95
References………………………………………………………………………………….. 97
Appendix A: Parent Interview Protocol…………………………………………………… 104
Appendix B: Teaching Staff Survey………………………………………………………. 105
Appendix C: Administrative Staff Survey…………………………………………………. 108
Appendix D: Parent Survey Information Sheet……………………………………………. 111
Appendix E: Staff Survey Information Sheet……………………………………………… 113
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 5
List of Tables
Table 1: Teacher Survey Questions and Associated STEM Domains……………………... 34
Table 2: Administrator Survey Questions and Associated STEM Domains………………. 35
Table 3: Parent Responses: Reasons for Leaving HMS for Other Schools………………... 42
Table 4: Parent Responses to Question #5…………………………………………………. 49
Table 5: Comparison of STEM Teachers’ Perception of Instructional Practices
to non-STEM Teachers’ Perceptions of Instructional Practices.…………………... 61
Table 6: Comparison of HMS Administrative Staff’s Perception of the Teachers’
Instructional Practices to HMS Teaching Staff’s Perceptions of their
Instructional Practices………………………………………………………….….. 64
Table 7: Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction of Support Received
by Administrators to Implement STEM with the Administrative Perception
of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction…………………….……………………… 73
Table 8: Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the School
Conditions that the Administrators Have Created to Support Students in
their Academic Achievement at HMS with the Administrative Perception
of the Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction………………………………………... 74
Table 9: Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the Level of
Academic Support that Students Receive in the STEM Areas with
Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction with the
Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction……………….. 75
Table 10: Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the Funding
for the STEM Classes at Hillview with the Administrative Perception of
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 6
Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction……………………………………………….. 75
Table 11: Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the
Amount of Space Students Have for Project Storage with the Administrative
Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction………………………………... 76
Table 12: STEM Teacher Challenges to Implement STEM……………………………….. 77
Table 13: Non-STEM Teacher Challenges to Implement STEM………………………….. 78
Table 14: Administrator Challenges to Implement STEM………………………………… 79
Table 15: Does HMS Have a Set of Official Laboratory Safety Procedures?....................... 80
Table 16: Do the Laboratory Settings at Hillview Have Enough Room for Safe
Student Work Spaces?............................................................................................... 81
Table 17: Recommendations for Action: Enrollment Issues………………………………. 89
Table 18: Recommendations for Action: STEM Program and Parents……………………. 90
Table 19: Recommendations for Action: STEM Program and HMS Staff………………... 93
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 7
List of Figures
Figure 1: Student enrollment at HMS over time…………………………………… ……... 29
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 8
Abstract
A needs-assessment of Hillview Middle School’s (HMS) Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) program was conducted with the intention of informing the East Whittier
School District (EWCSD) on how to create an effective STEM program and identify whether
STEM could attract parents back to the school. Through interviews of parents and surveys of
HMS teachers and administrators, this project collected data concerning (1) parent perceptions
and understanding of STEM, (2) parent perceptions and understanding of the declining
enrollment problem at HMS, (3) teacher STEM-related instructional practices, (4) HMS staff
capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (5) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (6)
HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM education. The needs of the
HMS STEM education program were identified and prioritized for recommendation for future
action.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 9
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Problem
Early exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is essential
to 21
st
century citizenship because it helps students develop the knowledge and skills
necessitated by the rapidly changing labor environment and global issues confronting people of
the 21
st
century (National Research Council, 2012b). Although STEM education is frequently
promoted to help the U.S. solve its economic problems and help gain a competitive edge over its
international rivals, global problems concerning alternative energy sources and human-
influenced climate change transcend borders and may not be fixed via intercontinental
competition. With rapid population growth and human environmental expansion, the 21
st
century
calls for global citizens with the periphery to see beyond the local and extend their perspective to
the global nature of our problems. For this reason, it is essential that 21
st
century people continue
to innovate and develop new technologies that will simultaneously solve our global problems,
create new jobs, and ultimately improve the quality of life of people throughout the world.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics and the U.S. Department of Labor (2013) has
projected that manufacturing jobs in the United States are projected to decrease from 2012 to
2022. With the high expense of labor in the United States, companies are choosing to
manufacture their products in cheaper labor markets outside of the U.S. The Bureau of Labor and
Statistics and the U.S. Department of Labor (2013) has also indicated that jobs requiring a
postsecondary education will grow at a faster rate and provide larger salaries than those that
require a high school diploma or less. With longer life expectancy of people, jobs in the
healthcare sector will experience the highest growth in the coming years. Moreover, with
technological innovation comes the arrival of new jobs and sectors of the labor market.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 10
These new jobs will require the 21
st
century skills acquired in STEM education settings.
Effective STEM education in K-12 settings provides opportunities for students to learn, practice,
and use the essential 21
st
century skills promoted by the National Research Council (2010,
2012b), North Central Regional Education Laboratory and Metiri Group (2003), Partnership for
21
st
Century Skills (2011), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2013b), organizations and research
groups charged with identifying the needs of the 21
st
century global workforce that will help
boost economies and social well-being. The 21
st
Century Knowledge and Skills commonly
promoted in these four different organizations include creativity and innovation, critical thinking
and problem solving, communication, collaboration, data analysis, adaptability, technology
skills, global and cultural awareness, and self-management.
Despite the economic super power status of the U.S., the K-12 American student has
continued to trail international competitors in STEM related academic subjects as evidenced by
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Provasnik et al., 2012) and Programme
for International Student Assessment (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, 2013a). Because of the consistent low performance of American students on these
international benchmarks, STEM education in the United States has been elevated to buzzword
status as the country looks to better prepare its students for international assessments and 21
st

century citizenship.
Proactive Local Education Agencies (LEAs) have recognized that with the end of No
Child Left Behind (NCLB), a new era of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will change the educational landscape for schools by
embedding the need for 21
st
century skills in the new academic standards required of our current
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 11
students. Because of this, LEAs have been adapting to the current environment by promoting
STEM education programs in their schools that will better prepare their students for the future. In
addition to providing students with a modern education that promotes 21
st
century knowledge
and skills, LEAs are utilizing STEM education programs to attract parents from within district
maps as well as surrounding districts by offering something different from the status quo. With
longer human life expectancy and teacher pensions putting a strain on state and LEA budgets
like the East Whittier City School District (EWCSD) (Herrera, 2014), LEAs are also competing
for Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funds with other nearby LEAs and cannot afford to
experience declines in student enrollments due to inter-district transfers.
Statement of the Problem
LEA’s like the EWCSD are looking to adapt to the 21
st
century needs of their students
while at the same time address an enrollment decline at one of three middle schools in their
district. Since 2009, Hillview Middle School in the East Whittier City School District (EWCSD)
experienced a steady decline in enrollment that created a crisis for the EWCSD. Utilizing intra-
district transfers, many parents have been increasingly electing to send their children to the other
two middle schools in the district instead of HMS and some have gone so far as using inter-
district transfers to leave the district. Commissioned by the EWCSD, Thomas DeLapp of
Communications Resources for Schools—a K-12 educational consultant specializing in
numerous services including public relations and crisis intervention—conducted a study aimed at
understanding this phenomenon. After interviewing various stakeholders including HMS staff,
EWCSD office staff, and HMS parents, he concluded that there were a variety of factors that
contributed to the declining enrollment problem. Some of these factors included the school’s
appearance, parent relations with school staff, lower academic achievement, parent perceptions
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 12
of school safety, and a negative reputation in the community. On May 12, 2014, Thomas DeLapp
presented these findings to the HMS staff and then to the school board later that day with
recommendations on how to go about transforming the school. Some of these recommendations
included repainting the school and classrooms, reorganizing the front office for a more
welcoming atmosphere, conducting an organized effort of spreading positive publicity about the
school, establishing a parent center operated by a community liaison, and creating an academic
program such as a STEM program that could attract parents back to the school (Fullam, 2014).
Given the declining enrollment problem at HMS, the EWCSD has acted on these
recommendations and is looking to create an educational program at HMS that will attract
students and parents back to the school while simultaneously providing HMS students an
education that caters to the needs of 21
st
century citizens. The EWCSD is interested in creating a
STEM program at HMS that will fulfill the needs of the community and the students of HMS.
The goal of this project was to identify the specific needs required to address the enrollment
problem at HMS and the needs of the school as it pertains to implementing an effective STEM
program. Utilizing Altschuld and Kumar's (2010) generic needs assessment model, this project
looked to identify needs of the school by examining the current state of the school as it pertains
to STEM education and STEM’s ability to attract parents to the school, and compare it against
where the school should be in regard to STEM. By identifying the gap, a needs-assessment was
conducted that could inform the EWCSD how to go about satisfying the needs of various
stakeholders in the organization: the students’ STEM educational needs, the parents’ needs as it
pertains to STEM and school choice, the teachers’ needs pertaining to effective STEM
implementation, and the administrators’ needs in relation to the support they provide for
effective STEM implementation.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 13
Purpose of the Project
Utilizing interviews of parents and surveys of HMS teachers and administrators, a needs
assessment was conducted focusing on (1) parent perceptions and understanding of the declining
enrollment problem at HMS, (2) parent perceptions and understanding of STEM education, (3)
teacher STEM-related instructional practices, (4) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to
implementing a STEM program, (5) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (6) HMS organizational
facilities and structures as they relate to STEM. This data was used to identify needs of the
various stakeholders—students, parents, teachers, and administrators—and provide the EWCSD
and HMS recommendations for future action in creating an effective STEM program at HMS
that can attract parents to the school.
Organization of the Needs Assessment
With the EWCSD in the beginning stages of creating a STEM education program at
HMS, this project followed the generic needs assessment model as defined by Altschuld and
Kumar (2010) by aiming to identify what is needed to create an effective STEM program at the
site that could potentially attract parents to HMS. In order to help HMS bridge the gap between
its current state and an ideal STEM program, a review of STEM education literature concerning
(1) current STEM education needs assessment models, (2) teacher STEM-related instructional
practices, (3) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (4) STEM
curriculum at HMS, and (5) HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM
was conducted. Multiple instruments—interview questions and surveys—were generated to help
identify the needs of the site. Using this data, the STEM program needs were prioritized and a
framework for future action towards becoming an effective STEM program were recommended.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 14
Significance of the Needs Assessment
Despite the availability of STEM education needs assessment tools focused on out-of-
school settings such as after-school programs, there is a lack of needs assessment tools
concerning the creation of STEM programs for the traditional school day. Because of this gap in
the literature, this needs assessment contributed to this niche field of knowledge concerning in-
school needs assessments for districts looking to create effective in-school STEM education
programs for schools that are experiencing declining enrollment. Additionally, this project will
help the EWCSD and other school districts to understand the initial factors and steps required of
creating their own in-school STEM program, which could help school districts implement STEM
education programs and expose more students to a STEM-oriented 21
st
century education.
Given the fact that half of the students at HMS are female and that 86% of student body
is Latino, effective STEM implementation at the school could have a positive impact on these
underrepresented subgroups by encouraging them to become STEM majors and enter the STEM
workforce as adults.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 15
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
As schools are looking to adapt to 21
st
century educational demands, STEM has become
a trending topic in K-12 education. Due to the lack of operational definition of the acronym
STEM (Breiner, Harkness, Johnson, & Koehler, 2012), there is confusion in how STEM schools
are defined and this may leave LEAs and schools perplexed as to what a STEM education
entails. The National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council (2014) have
recommended that a common language of describing STEM education needs to be established. It
would seem obvious that STEM-focused schools incorporate science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics as the acronym would suggest, however, LEAs that are eager to develop STEM
programs for their schools may wonder when they are deserving of the label “STEM school.”
Science, technology, and mathematics are already incorporated into middle schools around the
United States, therefore most schools already incorporate three of the four letters in the STEM
acronym: Science, Technology, and Mathematics. How much engineering would have to be
taught for the school to earn the full STEM school title is a question that remains unanswered.
Other confusing factors include the use of Art in the acronym STEAM education. As a result of
the uncertainty defining STEM schools, the literature comparing the value of STEM to non-
STEM middle schools is sparse. Presently, the STEM label appears to be one that can only be
scrutinized and held accountable by the members of the school community. With the research of
STEM education as a collective acronym still emerging, this literature review will explore the
definition of STEM education, existing literature of STEM school types as described by the
National Research Council (2011b), and the characteristics of effective STEM schools by
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 16
looking at instructional practices, curriculum, school staff capacity, and facilities and structures
as they relate to STEM education.
STEM Education
In K-12 education, the STEM subjects, with the exception of engineering, have been
traditionally taught in K-12 settings utilizing a more disciplinary model. Students would learn
mathematics in mathematics class, biology in biology class, and so on. Contrary to this, the
NGSS and the CCSS (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of
Chief State School Officers, 2010; NGSS Lead States, 2013) aim to take a more cross-
disciplinary approach by integrating these STEM disciplines so that students can have a more
global and holistic perspective about the world to solve real-world problems. The NGSS
continues to include the traditionally taught middle school sciences—biological science, physical
science, Earth science—but it now includes engineering. Where in the past science was taught
using a disciplinary model, it now gives middle schools the opportunity to take a multi-
disciplinary approach by integrating the different sciences and engineering within a single grade
level. Encouraging students to think holistically about integrated STEM systems, NGSS focuses
on how engineering, technology, and science have an influence on our society and the natural
world. Through inquiry-driven instruction and the use of 21
st
century skills, students will have
opportunities to integrate STEM by using multi-disciplinary scientific principles and
mathematics to solve engineering problems while utilizing technology.
The CCSS also promotes the integration of science and technology within the English
Language Arts (ELA) standards. Unlike the previous ELA standards, the ELA CCSS emphasize
the importance of K-12 science education. As seen in the ELA CCSS, a shift from literary fiction
towards evidence based reading, writing, and speaking as seen in the field of science has been
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 17
made. Rather than having students communicate their views based upon prior experience and
personal opinion, students are now expected—as in the field of science—to ground their writing
in evidence gathered from reliable text in order to better persuade and inform readers.
Additionally, ELA CCSS has shifted the reading focus from fiction towards non-fiction text as
seen in science, social studies, and technical literature. By utilizing non-fictional text, this shift
was made in order to help students learn to independently build up their knowledge, which will
prepare them for college, career, and life. Finally, both ELA CCSS and mathematics CCSS
emphasize the importance of STEM by embedding the use of technological skills in the
standards.
Due to a shift in the United States from low skill to high skill jobs, especially those
involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the NGSS also aim to prepare
students for college, career, and life by emphasizing the need for scientific and technological
literacy in modern society (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Additionally, the NGSS emphasize that
science and mathematics literacy should not just be a focus for those entering STEM careers; it is
essential to everyone’s lives because we all have to make calculated decisions about things such
as healthcare and retirement planning.
The current educational landscape is one of transition, especially in the area of
accountability. During the NCLB era, school accountability measures focused primarily on
student state test scores in ELA and mathematics. The new accountability formulas that are
currently being derived are going to be more holistic in nature by valuing access to academic
courses that provide pathways to college and career, the implementation of new academic
standards such as CCSS, school climate, student academic achievement, etc. (Fensterwald,
2015). This is allowing LEAs to shift their priorities to college and career-focused STEM
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 18
education. If EWCSD is interested in transforming HMS into a STEM school, there are variety
of STEM school types that the EWCSD can consider.
Types of STEM Schools
Despite the recent movement of the K-12 sector towards STEM education, forward
minded K-12 LEAs have been emphasizing STEM education in their schools for many years.
The National Research Council (2011b) has identified four different types of STEM schools in
the United States: selective STEM schools, inclusive STEM schools, schools and programs with
STEM oriented career and technical education, and STEM programs in comprehensive schools
that are not STEM focused. Although the literature on types of STEM schools focuses on high
school STEM education, this information could help guide LEA’s interested in creating a STEM
middle school such as HMS.
Selective STEM schools. Selective STEM schools usually have application processes for
students that limit enrollment to highly motivated students. Providing a comprehensive STEM
education, these schools encourage students to pursue STEM majors in college and STEM
careers. Although there is little research comparing the contributions that selective STEM
schools make over a traditional high school (Subotnik, Tai, Rickoff, & Almarode, 2010),
students in selective STEM schools that participate in internships/mentorships, experience
feelings of belonging, and make cross curricular connections will be more likely to complete a
STEM major in college (Subotnik, Tai, & John, 2011). More so, students at selective STEM
schools that conduct original research projects are twice as likely to complete a STEM major in
college than students who do not conduct original research. If the EWCSD were to use this
model for HMS, the school would have to be closed and reopened with new enrollment rules and
this could be difficult to successfully implement.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 19
Inclusive STEM schools. Unlike selective STEM schools, inclusive STEM schools do
not have exclusionary admission requirements. According to a study conducted by Young,
House, Wang, Singleton, and Klopfenstein (2011), these are traditional schools that have adopted
a STEM focus that provide students with opportunities to engage in STEM while simultaneously
providing adequate academic support. They found that students in Texas inclusive STEM
schools had higher state mathematics and science test scores, displayed lower rates of
absenteeism, and they took more advanced courses than their counterparts. These schools also
increased school planning due to the STEM program, provided strong academic supports at the
school, had smaller school sizes, and were provided strong support from the district. Relevant to
HMS’s current problem, Young et al. (2011) also reported that families made an active choice to
enroll their children in these inclusive STEM schools as a result of their attraction to the college
prep curriculum, the safe environment, the ability to escape their neighborhood school with a bad
reputation, and the opportunity for their children to use more technology. Unfortunately, this
self-selection of the parents as acknowledged by the researchers sheds some doubt on the
positive results of the study. Given the ability of inclusive STEM schools to potentially raise
academic achievement and at the same time attract parents, the EWCSD may want to consider
this inclusive model for HMS.
Career and technical education schools. The third type of STEM school is focused on
career and technical education (CTE), commonly known as a CTE school. These schools prepare
students for careers in STEM fields by motivating them through real-world STEM application.
Utilizing a specific model of teaching mathematics in CTE schools that requires teacher
collaboration, understanding of mathematics as a practical skill, and capitalizing on moments to
integrate mathematics into lessons, students have shown to have higher scores on standardized
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 20
tests of mathematics (Stone III, Alfeld, & Pearson, 2008). This model is traditionally used at the
high school level and would require research to determine if it would be effective at the middle
school level.
Comprehensive schools. Presently, there are very few comparisons between the three
STEM school types listed above to the fourth type; regular comprehensive schools that happen to
incorporate STEM. Comprehensive schools do not explicitly focus their efforts on one specific
subject area and instead encourage high academic achievement within all areas. However,
advanced placement (AP) and international baccalaureate (IB) programs within these schools are
areas where STEM is more emphasized. Given HMS’s STEM elective course offerings, HMS
can be considered a comprehensive school that offers STEM classes; however, if HMS were to
develop a centralized STEM plan for the entire school, it could become an inclusive STEM
school as described earlier.
Characteristics of Effective STEM Schools
Building upon the NRC’s (2011a) report on identifying effective approaches in STEM
education, this section of the literature review will focus on identifying instructional practices,
teacher capacity, curriculum, and facilities and structures as they relate to effective STEM
education practices. If HMS can utilize the information described in the literature concerning
effective STEM practices, it will better serve the 21
st
century needs of its students. These
practices are described below.
Instructional practices. Teacher instructional practices are an essential component to a
student’s academic achievement. Throughout non-STEM (Dochy, Segers, & Buehl, 1999;
Shulman, 1987) and STEM education literature (National Research Council, 2012a, 2012b; Rivet
& Krajcik, 2008), there is evidence that students increase their academic achievement when they
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 21
access prior knowledge and experiences. When teachers tap into students’ prior knowledge,
students engage in generative processing where they relate their prior knowledge to the new
material being taught and construct meaning of the new material (Moreno & Mayer, 2007). The
NRC (2011a, 2012a) recommends that STEM schools build upon these prior experiences by
engaging students in practices of science while simultaneously making sure that the students are
interested in the material being learned.
Inquiry-driven instruction provides students with opportunities to engage in authentic
science experiences. With higher levels of student interest, inquiry-driven instruction can
increase student motivation and attitudes in STEM (Gibson & Chase, 2002). Other forms of
inquiry-driven instruction such as Project-Based Learning (PBL) aim to build upon student prior
knowledge and experiences. According to the Buck Institute of Education (Buck Institute for
Education, 2014), PBL instruction is a teaching method that starts with an open-ended question
that is relevant to student lives and plants a seed of interest in students that will motivate them to
pursue knowledge through inquiry. This type of questioning helps set up students to do their own
investigations in an attempt to answer their question and achieve higher levels of motivation and
attitude, which has been linked to higher academic achievement in mathematics (Yetkiner,
Anderoglu, & Capraro, 2008). Much like the STEM focus of CTE schools (Stone III et al.,
2008), this form of inquiry-driven instruction provides students an opportunity for students to
attempt to solve relevant real-life problems as a means of increasing student understanding of
STEM relevance to their everyday lives. Additionally, it gives students opportunities to master
21
st
century skills in communication, problem solving, and technology (Bell, 2010). Because
sustained interest in science can be dependent on how student experiences in the classroom
connect with the future vision of themselves (Basu & Barton, 2007), it comes as no surprise that
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 22
the NRC (2012a) recommends that STEM classroom experiences must connect with student
interests, student experiences, and utilize developmentally appropriate questions that will drive
the inquiry process forward.
In addition to student-centered learning environments, effective STEM schools encourage
students to pursue STEM related careers because it helps students develop a view of their future
self (Tai, Liu, Maltese, & Fan, 2006). Other ways that students became motivated to enter
careers in STEM involved playing games where students role-played as scientists (Miller,
Chang, Wang, Beier, & Klisch, 2011).
Staff capacity. A teacher’s content knowledge is an extremely important component of
effective education (Shulman, 1987), especially STEM education (National Academy of
Engineering & National Research Council, 2014; National Research Council, 2011a, 2011b).
According to the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (Banilower et al.,
2013), most teachers in elementary and middle schools did not major in science or mathematics
during their undergraduate studies, which calls into question their level of STEM content
knowledge. Many teachers in California middle schools have specialized single-subject science,
mathematics, and technology teaching credentials, however many others have multiple-subject
teaching credentials that do not specialize in one discipline. This may be required of elementary
school teachers who need to teach all disciplines, although, a STEM middle school teacher
would be more effective if they specialized in a specific content area, especially when supported
with professional development that focused on the teacher’s knowledge and abilities in that
particular subject (National Research Council, 2012a).
With a general lack of content knowledge for most teachers regarding STEM education,
providing STEM and non-STEM teachers with repeated opportunities for professional
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 23
development within STEM content areas is recommended for an effective STEM education
program (National Academy of Engineering & National Research Council, 2014; National
Research Council, 2012a). This professional development should be sustained over a long
interval for it to be most effective.
Curriculum. In alignment with the NRC (2011a) recommendations, studies show that
science curriculum must be focused and organized in a way that supports student learning (Geier
et al., 2004; Tal, Krajcik, & Blumenfeld, 2006). With the upcoming implementation of the NGSS
and CCSS, most schools around the country will have a framework to guide them in creating and
choosing STEM curriculum. Moreover, the newly developed CCSS and NGSS assessments will
provide the accountability that is required for effective STEM education as described by the
NRC (2011a) report. With the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) multiple choice test era being
substituted for computer based performance assessments, the new CCSS and NGSS will guide
students towards a greater depth and less breadth of knowledge than the past (National Research
Council, 2014), which has been described as having a positive effect on STEM learning
(National Research Council, 2011a; Provasnik et al., 2012), including improved performance on
international assessments (Provasnik et al., 2012). This would also allow teachers more time to
help teachers integrate the content within other aspects of the subject matter discipline, which
would increase the rigor of the STEM curriculum as recommended by Young et al. (2011).
While increasing the rigor of the curriculum helps to increase the levels of expectation
that are associated with an effective STEM program, STEM schools need academic supports
such as tutoring, academic advisory committees, college prep (SAT test prep, resumes and
personal statements, financial aid application), that build a connection between the student and
the school (Young et al., 2011).
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 24
Lastly, it has been found that with adequate administrative support, a focused curriculum,
and with teacher capacity building, inquiry-based science instructional practices can lead to
higher scores on standardized tests in science for traditionally underperforming urban students
(Geier et al., 2004).
School facilities and structures. Combined with professional development, it is
recommended that in areas such as science that school administrators create the types of school
conditions that support student academic achievement. High school facilities are more likely to
have science labs and other resources that would support STEM learning, whereas middle
schools tend to be lacking. The report presented by SuccessLink (2007) concerning the state of
school labs in in the Kansas City region sheds light on some of the concerns an LEA may have to
address when starting a STEM program: current safety procedures, laboratory space and storage,
use of laboratory equipment, numbers of students in lab settings, and lack of guidelines for
laboratory use. In order to address these concerns, researchers such as Lynch, Pyke, and Grafton
(2012) have recommended that science courses are sustainably funded to remain effective. LEAs
must also focus on assuring equal access to STEM learning opportunities for students of lower
socioeconomic status because they tend to have less qualified teachers, experience less academic
rigor, and less access to laboratory resources, contributing to the academic achievement gap
(National Research Council, 2012a).
During the NCLB era, schools were likely to devote less instructional time to science
than ELA and mathematics because they had little effect on the federal accountability
measures—Annual Yearly Progress requirements—that the schools were judged on. As schools
transition to CCSS and NGSS, they must adjust their practices and devote more instructional
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 25
time to science in order to improve STEM education, especially in the elementary school years
where interest in science careers may originate (National Research Council, 2012a).
In-School STEM Program Needs Assessments
Knowing that I would be conducting a needs-assessment concerning the effective
implementation of STEM at HMS, I searched for any in-school STEM program needs-
assessment tools within the academic literature. Given the recommendations for effective STEM
implementation found in the literature described above, I did not find any needs-assessments that
would fit the specific requirements of this project. However, I did find an after-school STEM
program needs-assessment tool created by the California AfterSchool Network & California
STEM Learning Network (2014) that contained the domains of STEM needs I was interested in
assessing. Comparing it against the recommended STEM practices found in this literature
review, it contained many survey questions concerning (1) teacher instructional practices, (2)
staff capacity, (3) curriculum, and (4) school facilities and structures that I could use or adapt to
meet the needs of my assessment, however it was a very exhaustive survey that would require a
lot of time for one person to fill out. For this reason, it was impractical to utilize this exact needs-
assessment tool with the HMS staff members and would require me to create my own for this
project.
Summary
Based upon the four domains of effective STEM implementation described in this
literature review— (1) instructional practices, (2) staff capacity, (3) curriculum, and (4) school
facilities and structures—HMS has an opportunity to transform itself from a comprehensive
school that already contains STEM elements into an inclusive STEM school that has a
centralized mission to embed effective STEM practices throughout the school day. In order for
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 26
HMS to provide an effective 21
st
Century STEM education to its students that will motivate and
encourage students to pursue STEM in college and career, the EWCSD will need to know how to
go about creating conditions that will help teachers to effectively teach STEM. First, teachers
will need to know how to utilize inquiry driven instruction that draws upon student prior
knowledge because it will motivate students to pursue STEM knowledge, STEM majors, and
STEM careers. Second, STEM and non-STEM teachers must be adequately trained in the NGSS
and CCSS to get a better understanding of how to integrate STEM into all aspects of the HMS
curriculum. Third, the EWCSD must utilize STEM credentialed teachers for STEM oriented
courses in order to improve STEM instruction. Additionally, professional development of STEM
and non-STEM teachers must be frequent and sustained over a long interval in order to improve
the STEM program. Finally, school facilities and structures must provide staff and students with
optimal conditions for STEM learning. Administrative support, student-teacher ratios, safety
procedures, and classroom space must be adequate for schools to have an effective STEM
program.
In order to determine where HMS currently stands as it pertains to these effective STEM
practices and decide what it needs to improve, a needs assessment was developed utilizing
Altschuld and Kumar’s (2010) generic needs assessment model. This would help determine
where changes needed to be made at HMS to create an effective STEM program.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 27
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Due to the declining enrollment problem at HMS, using a needs assessment approach I
gathered data concerning the potential of a STEM program in attracting parents and their
children back to the school. Additionally, the EWCSD is interested increasing the effectiveness
of STEM implementation at HMS and is looking to understand what it needs in order to make
this happen. This needs assessment addressed six separate areas at HMS that inform the future
action of creating a STEM program, (1) parent perceptions and understanding of STEM, (2)
parent perceptions and understanding of the declining enrollment problem at HMS, (3) teacher
STEM-related instructional practices, (4) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a
STEM program, (5) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (6) HMS organizational facilities and
structures as they relate to STEM.
Needs Assessment
The generic needs assessment model used in this project is an adapted version of the
generic model created by Altschuld and Kumar (2010). The needs assessment was conducted in
three phases: pre-assessment, assessment, and post-assessment. Because I alone would be
conducting this needs assessment, I could not form a Needs Assessment Committee during the
pre-assessment phase.
Pre-Assessment
According to Altschuld and Kumar (2010), when conducting the pre-assessment, it is
important to get organized and determine what is already known about the areas of concern, in
this case, the needs of an effective STEM program at HMS. As an internal facilitator, teacher
working at HMS, this helped provide a variety of insider information about the STEM education
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 28
concerns. In this case, I took a look at the school district’s background and demographic
information and a prior study conducted concerning the HMS enrollment problem.
District and school background. The East Whittier City School District is made up of a
total of ten elementary schools and three middle schools. The site of the project, HMS, is located
in the East Whittier City School District located within the southeastern sector of the city. During
the 2013-2014 school year, Hillview Middle School was made up of a student body that was
86% Latino, 9% White, 2% Asian, 1% Filipino, 1% Black, and 1% Native American. English
Learners only made up 12% of the population, which is normally closer to 20% in past years.
Because HMS has a student body made up of around 90% underrepresented minorities and 50%
females, HMS has a unique opportunity to influence these underrepresented STEM subgroups to
become STEM majors and join the STEM workforce later in life, bringing diversity and new
perspectives to STEM fields.
Due to the school district zoning maps, HMS draws its students from the lower income
areas of the EWCSD map. Because of this, 68% of HMS students were eligible for the federally
funded Free or Reduced Price Meal program during the 2013-2014 school year in comparison to
46% at GMS and 56% at EWMS. In 2017, this demographic information continues to be
relatively the same.
As seen in Figure 1, Hillview Middle School’s student body has been declining rapidly
since the 2009-2010 school year. Enrollment numbers for each incoming 6
th
grade class declined
up until 2016-2017.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 29

Utilizing intra-district transfers, many parents have been increasingly electing to send
their children to the other two middle schools in the district instead of HMS while some have
chosen to leave the district. Commissioned by the EWCSD, Thomas DeLapp of Communications
Resources for Schools—a K-12 educational consultant specializing in numerous services
including public relations and crisis intervention—conducted a study aimed at understanding this
phenomenon. After interviewing various stakeholders including HMS staff, EWCSD office staff,
and HMS parents, he concluded that there were a variety of factors that contributed to the
declining enrollment problem. Some of these factors included the school’s appearance, parent
relations with school staff, parent perceptions of school safety, and a lack of positive publicity
being spread to the community that would counter the negative reputation associated with the
school. On May 12, 2014, Thomas DeLapp presented these findings to the HMS staff and then to

Figure 1. Student enrollment at HMS over time.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 30
the school board later that day with recommendations on how go about transforming the school
(East Whittier City School District, 2014a). Some of these recommendations included repainting
the school and classrooms, reorganizing the front office for a more welcoming atmosphere,
conducting an organized effort of spreading positive publicity about the school, establishing a
parent center operated by a community liaison, and creating a magnetizing academic program
such as a STEM program that will attract parents back to the school. On June 9, 2014 at a public
school board meeting, superintendent Mary Branca presented EWCSD’s proposal for acting on
Thomas DeLapp’s recommendations (East Whittier City School District, 2014b). Approved by
the board, EWCSD approved the transfer of $620,000 from Fund #40—special reserve for
capital outlay projects(California Education Code Section 42840-42843, n.d.)—to be in HMS’s
general fund for the complete overhaul of HMS. Although a majority of these funds have been
used to improve the aesthetic appearance of the school, the EWCSD administration and school
board has publicly made a verbal commitment to improve the academics at HMS. With the 2014-
2015 school year student enrollment numbers at 676 students, the EWCSD was interested in
creating a magnetizing education program that will help encourage families in Whittier to send
their children back to HMS. Starting in the 2014-2015 school year, EWCSD started allocating
$30,000 a year towards STEM education at their three middle schools.
Assessment
The background information acquired during the pre-assessment was not enough to
establish the needs required to effectively implement STEM at HMS and a more in-depth
examination was required. Since EWCSD is promoting STEM at HMS, the current state of HMS
as it pertains to STEM implementation needed to be determined and compared against what it
should look like in the future for it to be effective. The purpose of this assessment was to
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 31
determine the needs of parents as it pertains to attracting them with STEM and identifying what
HMS needs to implement an effective STEM program that meets students’ academic needs. The
needs to fulfill this can be broken down into three different levels of needs: parents and students
who are being served by HMS represent the Level 1 needs, teaching staff that provide direct
service to the students and parents represent Level 2 needs, and a combination of administrative
staff, resources, and facilities represent Level 3 needs. Ultimately, the Level 1 needs are the
priority since EWCSD and HMS are there to serve the students and the parents.
Students and parents represent the Level 1 needs for this assessment about STEM at
HMS. In order to identify the needs of the parents, interviews were conducted in order to
understand (1) parent perceptions and understanding of STEM, (2) parent perceptions and
understanding of the declining enrollment problem at HMS. Although EWCSD is promoting
STEM at HMS and investing in STEM, these parent interviews sought to get a better
understanding of the highly involved parents at the site to provide insight as to why parents were
choosing to send their children to other schools in the surrounding area and to whether or not
STEM could be used to retain or attract parents to HMS.
Next, I assessed students’ academic needs as it relates to STEM. Students’ STEM needs
are often determined by how teachers implement STEM and how administrators provide the
supportive structure for effective STEM practices. Teaching staff and administrative staff were
surveyed in order to determine what teachers and administrators need to implement an effective
STEM program at HMS. The four areas assessed included (1) teacher STEM-related
instructional practices, (2) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program,
(3) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (4) HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate
to STEM.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 32
Post-Assessment
Finally, the background information, interview data, and survey data was then used to
sort and analyze the needs of HMS as it pertains to implementing STEM and a proposed action
plan was developed to address the needs. This will be further discussed in Chapter 5.
Instruments and Sources of Data
The instruments and sources of data used during the assessment phase of the needs
assessment will be discussed in further detail below.
Parent Interviews
In order to get a better understanding of parent perceptions and understanding of STEM
education and the declining enrollment problem at HMS, the questions listed in Appendix A
were used to conduct a semi-structured interview with nine parents of HMS students who
continue to send their children to the school. These interviews used a semi-structured format in
order to allow for more flexibility in asking probing questions. These probing questions were
designed to extract more data (Merriam, 2009) related to parent perceptions and understanding of
STEM education and the declining enrollment problem at HMS. The parents chosen to interview
were convenience-sampled by conducting a parent volunteer search via the HMS Parent Teacher
Association. These parents were chosen because they are part of an organization—the PTA—
that networks with other parents, giving them a potentially better understanding of what other
parents in the HMS community are thinking, especially those who opted to send their child to a
school other than HMS. Additionally, since they do interact with others in the community and
they have extra time to attend PTA meetings, they would be more likely to have the time to seek
out knowledge concerning the different middle school options for their child.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 33
Staff Surveys
Listed in Appendix B and Appendix C, a 22 question survey was administered to the
entire teaching staff and a 21 question survey was administered to the entire administrative staff
utilizing the website survey tool Qualtrics (http://www.qualtrics.com), in order to assess the
STEM program needs as they relate to (1) teacher STEM-related instructional practices, (2)
HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (3) STEM curriculum at
HMS, and (4) HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM. Borrowing
from a current needs-assessment tool concerning STEM education, the surveys used some of the
same questions in the California After School Network and California STEM Learning
Network’s (2014) out-of-school time (OST) needs assessment tool as shown below. For the
teaching staff survey, this included Question #3 (same as Question #37 of OST needs assessment
tool), Question #4 (same as Question #38 of OST needs assessment tool), Question #6 (same as
Question #35 of OST needs assessment tool minus service learning option), and Question #9
(same as Question #39 of OST needs assessment tool). For the administrative staff survey, this
included Question #1 (same as Question #37 of OST needs assessment tool), Question #2 (same
as Question #38 of OST needs assessment tool) and Question #8 (same as Question #39 of OST
needs assessment tool). Due to the busy nature of the HMS staff, all of the questions in the
surveys are multiple-choice in order to reduce the amount of time it takes to respond to the
survey and to increase the chance that staff members would complete the survey.
The teaching staff survey questions as seen in Appendix B were created to assess the
STEM needs of HMS within the four different STEM domains (See Table 1). Questions #7a,
#7b, #7c, #7d, and #7e and Questions #9a, #9b, #9c, #9d, and #9e are Likert-scale questions that
are boxed together in Appendix B.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 34
Table 1
Teacher Survey Questions and Associated STEM Domains
STEM Domains Question #’s
Instructional Practices 2, 4, 6, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e

Staff Capacity 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e

Curriculum 4, 8, 10

Facilities and Structures 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e, 10, 11, 12

The administrative staff survey seen in Appendix C contained questions that were similar
to the teaching staff survey questions. The questions were designed to assess the needs of the
four STEM domains (See Table 2). The administrative survey also provides the administrators
with a tool to compare their perceptions of HMS as it pertains to STEM to that of their teachers.
Administrators provide the support to the teachers that allow them to effectively implement
STEM and this administrative survey was designed to determine if there were any discrepancies
between teacher and administrative staff perceptions about the successful implementation of
STEM. For example, if teachers do not feel they are adequately supported to implement STEM
but the administration believes that the teachers feel adequately supported, there is a gap that
needs to be addressed and this is an additional area the administrative survey was designed to
assess.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 35
Table 2
Administrator Survey Questions and Associated STEM Domains
STEM Domains Question #’s
Instructional Practices 2, 4, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e

Staff Capacity 1, 2, 3, 4, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 6, 11

Curriculum 2, 6, 8

Facilities and Structures 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 8, 9, 10

Procedure
Initial Contact
During the 2013-2014 school year, Genny Cadena, the HMS principal, and other staff
members at HMS were interested in developing new STEM curriculum for the school. As a
current member of the teaching staff of HMS and a student at USC interested in doing a STEM
program needs assessment for my dissertation, I had an informal conversation with the principal,
Genny Cadena, on February 18
th
, 2014 about the possibility of conducting a needs assessment of
HMS’s STEM program. We discussed the potential benefit the needs assessment might have in
helping develop a plan for future action. She liked the idea and explained to me that she could
put me in contact with district level administrators for official approval.
First Meeting
On February 26
th
, 2014 at 3pm, I held a formal meeting with EWCSD Superintendent
Dorka Duron, Director of Education Support Services Danelle Almaraz, and HMS Principal
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 36
Genny Cadena in order to confirm that EWCSD would approve of the STEM education program
needs assessment at HMS and that Genny Cadena would be in charge of relaying the information
to the district office as we proceeded forward.
Second Meeting
On June 6
th
, 2014, I held a formal meeting with HMS Principal, Genny Cadena, and USC
Dissertation Chairs, Dr. Robert Rueda and Dr. Gale Sinatra, concerning the dissertation process
and relevant project information. Dr. Robert Rueda and Dr. Gale Sinatra explained to Genny
Cadena how the dissertation process works at the University of Southern California and
discussed the timeline of the potential project. After Genny Cadena shared the needs of HMS as
they pertained to STEM education, all parties agreed that the project would be beneficial to the
school and that the project could be conducted at the site.
New Principal
Upon the resignation of Genny Cadena on July 3
rd
, 2014, Wendy Davio was appointed as
the principal of HMS and became the project liaison for the EWCSD office.
Institutional Review Board
After designing this HMS STEM program needs assessment, the project needed approval
from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for implementation because it collected data from
human subjects. An IRB application was completed and submitted to the IRB for review through
iStar. IRB approved the project on 10/27/2014 and it was conducted as described in Chapter 3
utilizing the documents seen in Appendix A-E.
Parent Interviews
Interviews of nine existing HMS parents were conducted using the interview protocol
located in Appendix A. Purposeful sampling was utilized in order to find parents that are
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 37
connected with the community and frequently communicate with other parents about HMS. For
this reason, I attended a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting upon permission of the PTA
and informed parents of the project. A request was made to parents interested in volunteering for
the interview process to share their perceptions and understanding of STEM and the declining
enrollment problem at HMS. Utilizing the HMS Parent Center and the HMS Meeting Room, this
sample of parents were given the information sheet shown in Appendix D and were privately
interviewed using the questions in Appendix A. With the permission of the parent, the interviews
were recorded using a recording device.
Staff Surveys
Upon approval by the EWCSD and the HMS principal, Wendy Davio, I informed all
HMS staff of the needs assessment at a school staff meeting. I then requested teacher and school
administrator volunteers to participate in the project via anonymous survey utilizing Qualtrics, an
online survey tool. All staff were given a document shown in Appendix E that notifies them of
the purpose of the project and the confidentiality of participating in the project. Afterwards, I
emailed all HMS teaching and administrative staff the links to the appropriate surveys.
Teacher surveys. The teaching staff were surveyed to assess the current instructional
practices of teaching staff as they relate to STEM education, school staff capacity as it relates to
STEM education, current STEM curriculum, and organizational facilities and structures as they
relate to STEM education. All teaching staff were emailed the link to the Qualtrics survey in
Appendix B.
Administrator surveys. HMS administrative staff were also given a survey as seen in
Appendix C in order to compare their perception of the current instructional practices of teaching
staff as they relate to STEM education, school staff capacity as it relates to STEM education,
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 38
current STEM curriculum, and their perception of the organizational facilities and structures as
they relate to the implementation of STEM education. Many of the questions will be similar to
the teacher survey and it will allow me to compare what the teachers feel they are doing as it
relates to STEM and the administrators’ perceptions of the teachers as it relates to the
implementation of STEM.
Data Analysis
Parent interview data was transcribed and coded for themes involving (1) the declining
enrollment problem at HMS (2) and parent perceptions and understanding of STEM. Directed
content analysis, a qualitative data analysis technique where text such as interview transcriptions
are read with initial variables in mind and themes are based upon prior research (Hsieh &
Shannon, 2005), was used to address the declining enrollment content. Directed content analysis
was very practical since there was a previous study done at HMS concerning the declining
enrollment and this prior research guided the pre-determined codes of the needs assessment in
this area. Additionally, since I had little understanding of parent’s perceptions and understanding
of STEM, I utilized initial coding to analyze parent interview data concerning their perceptions
and understanding of STEM. Initial coding is recommended for beginner researchers like myself
so that I could be more open to any direction the data could take me (Saldaña, 2009). This is
especially important since I am an internal facilitator that is more likely to have researcher bias
due to my position as a teacher at HMS. All of this data was compared and analyzed and
developed into overarching themes in order to help identify priorities and recommendations for
the level of STEM program pursuance at HMS to attract parents to the school.
The HMS staff were also surveyed in order to determine where the school stands as it
relates to STEM education to determine what it needs to become an effective implementer of
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 39
STEM. Rather than interview all of the HMS staff, they were surveyed to assess the current
status of STEM at HMS. The teaching staff survey data were disaggregated by teachers who self-
identified as those who primarily instruct STEM courses (STEM teacher) and those who do not
(non-STEM teacher). If HMS has the desire to integrate STEM into non-STEM classes, this
disaggregated data could help the administrators get a better understanding of these two groups
of teachers and disaggregate the needs as it relates to implementing STEM. The four types of
data that this needs assessment examined included (1) STEM-related instructional practices, (2)
HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (3) STEM curriculum at
HMS, and (4) HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM. The data
from both types of teaching staff were assessed for areas of STEM education needs and
recommendations for action based upon immediate need and ease of implementation are
included in Chapter 5.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 40
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
In order to help the East Whittier City District address the declining enrollment problem
at HMS, this project helped identify why enrollment is declining at HMS and what HMS needs
to do in order to create an effective STEM program that will attract parents and their children to
the school. I conducted a needs assessment that utilized parent interviews in order to collect data
concerning (1) parent perceptions and understanding of the declining enrollment problem at
HMS and (2) parent perceptions and understanding of STEM education. Although the East
Whittier City School District appears to be moving forward in creating a STEM program at HMS
by offering STEM-related elective classes at the school, this parent interview data is used in this
chapter to help identify whether a STEM program at HMS is the correct medium in which the
EWCSD can attract parents to the school. Additionally, this needs assessment aimed to identify
what HMS needs to create an effective STEM education program at the school. This was
accomplished by conducting a needs assessment that utilized a teaching staff survey and an
administrative staff survey to identify needs related to (1) teacher STEM-related instructional
practices, (2) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (3) STEM
curriculum at HMS, and (4) HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM.
Parent Interviews
Despite the fact that East Whittier City School District has already committed time and
money to new STEM-oriented elective classes at Hillview Middle School, the parent interviews
were important for understanding whether a STEM program is an effective method of attracting
parents and their children to the school. This chapter identifies emerging themes within the
parent interviews, which helped me get a better understanding of parent perceptions and
understanding of the declining enrollment problem at HMS and parent perceptions and
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 41
understanding of STEM education. In order to protect the identity of the parents who participated
in this needs-assessment, the nine parents will be described as “Parent #1,” “Parent #2,” and so
on.
Parent Perceptions and Understanding of the Declining Enrollment Problem
Since the enrollment problem was the catalyst that helped create district and school board
level financial support of HMS and its emerging STEM program, this STEM program needs
assessment also investigated why parents were electing to send their children to other schools,
rather than HMS, and how STEM might play a role in attracting parents back. As described in
Chapter 3, the data discussed here was guided by a direct content analysis that involved
predetermined themes that emerged in Thomas DeLapp’s study of the school and my
preconceived knowledge about this topic as a teacher at school. This opened up the assessment to
researcher bias, however it helped to confirm or deny the prior study of HMS as well as my
preconceived notions of the problem.
In order to identify the parent perceptions and understanding of the declining enrollment
problem at Hillview, Question #1 as described in Appendix A was used:
1. Recently, some parents have chosen to send their children to the other two middle
schools in the school district rather than Hillview. Why do you believe they have chosen
to do this?

According to the HMS parents, parents in the community are sending their children to GMS and
EWMS instead of HMS because of (1) HMS safety issues, (2) EWCSD Academic Competition,
(3) a lack of HMS band, and (4) competing schools (arts and STEM magnet schools). The parent
responses can be seen in Table 3 and will be discussed in further detail below.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 42

Table 3
Parent Responses: Reasons for Leaving HMS for Other Schools
Parent #

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 Total
Safety Issues

12

child getting in trouble at HMS

1

1

2

safety at HMS

1

1

HMS location

1

1

1 3

stabbing incident at HMS

1

1

1

3

fights at HMS

1

1

lack of discipline at HMS

1

1

bullying at HMS

1

1
EWCSD Academic Competition

5

lower state test scores at HMS

1

1 2

lower level academic program

1 1

1

3
Lack of Band

1

1

1 3

Magnet School Competition

1 1

1

1
Other

recession

1

1

friends attended other schools

1

1
lack of communication 1 1

school festivals

1

1

bad experience with 1st sibling

1

1
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 43

HMS safety issues were previously identified by Thomas DeLapp in his study of the
enrollment problem, which I then confirmed with this project. As for the other themes, I had
heard various stakeholders at HMS mention low academic performance, a lack of HMS band,
and competing schools for reasons that parents were not enrolling their children at HMS,
however not to the level of detail observed during the interviews.
Safety issues. During the interviews, when the HMS parents were asked why they
believed parents in the community were sending their children to middle schools other than
HMS, six of the nine parents interviewed attributed this to student safety issues at the school.
These parents mentioned poor student behavior in and out of HMS, a stabbing incident that
occurred in 2010, bullying of students at HMS, their own children getting in trouble with other
students, the location of the school, and a lack of disciplinary procedures at the school.
Describing how she considered sending her child to another school, Parent #4 said:
I think that Hillview over the last few years has had a reputation with the behavior on the
campus and problems more so outside the campus after school just within the area. I
actually thought about putting my son in East Whittier.

Parent #4 considered obtaining an intra-district permit but decided to enroll her child at HMS
despite HMS’s perceived reputation. Parent #2 also discussed the reputation of poor student
behavior when she compared the other two EWCSD middle schools, GMS and EWMS, to HMS:
They have better reputations. I don’t know if it’s true or not but I heard something about
an incident happened with a child who had a knife here at the school. I don’t know what
happened but parents got scared and so that’s what I think.

This was the first time a parent mentioned the stabbing incident that happened at HMS in 2010
and it would soon become a recurring theme in subsequent interviews.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 44
When asked about what people in the community are saying about the negative qualities
of HMS, Parent #6 also described poor student behavior and the stabbing incident. She said:
Most of the rumors were based on students. It was, you know, a lot of bullying. There
was a stabbing incident, which ended up being a pencil, someone playing with a pencil or
something like that, so it was mainly it was the students. I didn’t really hear anything
about the staff. I always heard, you know, they have good teachers. They have a good
staff. It’s mainly the crowd, you know, the students that attend the school. So I said well,
let’s see,

explaining how she enrolled her child at HMS despite the rumors she had heard. She also
described how her friend sent her daughter to GMS instead of HMS because “she [her friend]
knew a few people at Granada and ended up going over there because you know it just seemed
safer.” During the interview, Parent #8 also described the stabbing:
And I know like there’s stints of you know, there was his last year there was a some,
somebody that tried to stab somebody else but it wasn’t even at the school, it was in the
outside of the school, so little things like that but again I came from an area where that
was like normal, a daily thing, that happened like once and to me, um so no I’m really
surprised.

Three of the nine parents interviewed discussed the stabbing incident at the school. Although this
incident happened at HMS the year before I started teaching there in 2010, even I do not have a
clear understanding of the incident because every person you talk to seems to have a different
version of the story.
During the interview with Parent #5, while discussing HMS’s academic program, she
described that there was a difference between her older daughter’s experience at HMS and her
son that is currently at the school. She said:
Okay, like my daughter just was great in school, you know did her work, didn’t have any
problems. So then when my son came here, like you know yeah, it should be a breeze.
He’s already having issues with kids. He already got suspended, which really wasn’t his
fault but just not completing his work like he should be.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 45
When asked if she thought if her son’s disciplinary problems were a function of the HMS
environment, she said, “I don’t think it’s the environment. I think it’s the fact that…that’s who
he is and I have to focus more on him and talking to the teachers a lot more…” implying that the
school environment was not the reason for her son being suspended. Like Parent #5’s child,
Parent #2 said that her neighbor’s child left HMS for Los Coyotes Middle School (LCMS), a
local middle school in an adjacent district, because he kept getting in trouble at HMS. Parent #4
attributed the poor student behavior at HMS to a lack of teacher discipline when she said,
“There’s not a lot of discipline within the school from the teachers during the day.”
EWCSD academic competition. Three of the Nine HMS parents cited HMS’s academic
performance in comparison to other schools in the district as a reason for parents to send their
children to other schools rather than HMS. Parent #3 compared EWMS and GMS to HMS when
she said:
Now East Whittier, East Whittier I don’t hear too much about them but I think what I’ve
heard also is that their education program seems to be, I don’t know why they say that,
it’s better. I love Hillview. I think the teachers are great here. I’ve had nothing but great,
um, my history has been awesome here so I personally don’t don’t see. I don’t know why
there’s that difference but as a parent it makes you stop and think, because like I said, I
know a little bit from Granada but East Whittier I don’t know about but I know that they
everybody says the same thing,

implying that everyone in the community knows about HMS’s poor reputation for academic
performance in comparison to GMS. Because of the transition from No Child Left Behind to the
new Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, Academic
Performance Index (API) scores—used to identify an overall school’s academic performance—
are no longer used, however GMS has consistently outperformed HMS since prior to the decline
in enrollment at HMS. Parent #9 mentioned HMS’s lower test scores when explaining why a
parent might elect to send their child to GMS or EWMS instead of HMS,
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 46
I think because of parents, you know, there are certain groups of parents that talk to each
other and they feel that just because the school is maybe in a little bit better area or you
know…they’ve heard other parents talk about it that they feel the school’s better because
of the test scores are a little higher so they feel as though, oh my child is going to get a
better education at the other school.

Parent #7 also discussed the test scores when she said,
I’ve had feedback saying that they feel more so Granada, uh Granada’s um they’ve been
rated higher. They also say that their education seems to be, has improved, which I
personally don’t agree, I don’t, that’s why my daughter is here.

Nearby schools in adjacent school districts also pose a threat to HMS’s declining
enrollment. When interviewing Parent #2, she mentioned that her neighbor’s child transferred
from HMS to LCMS, a school in an adjacent district that happens to have an API score 54 points
higher than HMS in the 2013-2014 school year.
Lack of band. With HMS’s declining enrollment since 2008, the school has reduced the
amount of band classes it offers at the school. As a result, three parents out of the nine
interviewed have mentioned the lack of band program as a reason for parents choosing a
different school than Hillview. Parent #1 explained that parents were leaving HMS because they
were comparing the HMS band program with the EWMS band program,
OK, well this I know for sure the ones that have done it. I don’t know about all of them
but the few that I know is because of band. It’s a music thing. Because I know one of my
friends says would have been here in this school except for band. But I don’t think it’s
anything else about the school. I think it was mainly the music of East Whittier,

implying that East Whittier’s band program was better for the child she was describing.
During the interview, Parent #5 addressed additional concerns when she explained how
parents who have had their older children participate in the HMS band program in the past are
concerned with the lack of band options currently offered at the school,
That’s not a concern for me but I have heard other parents talk about the music program
kind of going away and like it was an issue for them because they’ve had kids prior come
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 47
here who were in, the you know, in band or in music and now it seems to be kind of
going away so they’re concerned.

Two of the nine parents emphasized that they would like to see a more well-rounded academic
program at HMS. Parent #5 explained her concerns with the lack of band,
It concerns me in the way in that it takes away from that option for the child, you know,
if it’s um. I have a sixth grader and it’s not, there’s not many options for her right now,
like sports-wise and stuff like that. So that would be one of the things she would probably
look into, you know, if it was a bigger program and they offered a bigger program here.
Um. I think kids do better in a place where they feel they have options so it’s not just,
you know, if you are athletic, you have basketball, football, and volleyball. But if you are
not an athlete, then you have band or art or it’s always good to have those options for
them, so they feel like, okay, we’re doing English, math, history, but then we have you
know this class where I can enjoy playing an instrument.

Parent #5 clearly values a school that provides a variety of options that cater to the needs of a
diverse student body. Parent #9 reiterated the importance of a well-rounded middle school
education when describing her disappointment with the current band program,
It’s very limited and that’s a reason why my son got out of music and went into the
STEM program because the music class he was taking, it was, sorry to say, was a joke.
He was telling me that he was put with the beginning students, and that he had to kind of
teach the beginning students, and he’s like, “Mom, we’re not doing much.” So I feel that
they need to put an emphasis on the music and arts. I totally think the arts need to be
reinstated too. I think that just makes a total whole package, I mean like, the whole
student. I mean, I think, you know, kids learn in different modalities. Some are artistic.
Some are, you know, scientific based. Some are musically inclined. And if they can get
all of that, why not? I totally feel they need music and art.

Later on, I asked her about where she felt the school should be heading. I told her that it did not
“necessarily have to be STEM. It could be the arts. It could be anything. I’m interviewing you to
figure out what the parents need. What is it they want?” She responded, “I mean I would totally
wish they had a better music program. I mean, because my son loves music. He does and he
loves to, I wish there was more of variety of music instruments available for them to learn.”
Competing schools in adjacent district. Many parents in the community compare local
schools before choosing where to send their child. During the interviews, three of the nine
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 48
parents discussed the factors that parents considered when choosing to send their child to an
adjacent school district. Parent #2 said,
For example, I have a friend. She is my coworker. Our kids are in the same grade, fourth
grade. Since her daughter was in first or second grade. She says my daughter is not going
to go to Hillview. She’s going to a magnet school that’s in La Mirada. So now her
daughter is in fourth grade now.

Later in the interview when I asked her to tell me about the school in La Mirada, she said, “I
don’t know the name but they’re a science and magnet school.” During the interview, Parent #3
also mentioned a STEM oriented school in La Mirada when she said,
I think that maybe like I’ve heard a lot about like the Hutchinson School that has you
know, they get to use laptops, you know they have all of this and that, so it’s almost
schools get identified with all of those little programs that they have so I think by us
having a STEM program here at Hillview, will raise our standards and will show our
parents you know and the community that we are invested in our school and we are
taking it seriously and we are a good school.

On the other hand, Parent #5 mentioned an arts-focused school in the adjacent school district that
was attracting parents away from HMS. She said,
I think it would be because it’s just like you have all these other schools that offer arts, like
there’s school in La Mirada, parents want to send their kids there because of that so here I
think, I think it’s a plus,

explaining how a STEM program at HMS could attract parents to the school. Later in the
interview, she explained how a few of the students in her daughter’s 6
th
grade class left HMS to
go to this other school for 7
th
grade.
Parent Perceptions and Understanding of STEM Education
In order to determine whether HMS should continue to focus its efforts in creating a
magnetizing STEM program that could attract parents back to the school, parents were asked
Questions #2-7 as seen in Appendix A about STEM education. Helping the EWCSD get a better
understanding of parent perceptions and understanding of STEM education, this data could
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 49
inform further decision making about the pursuit of creating a STEM program at HMS. The
transcripts of this data were analyzed using open coding
STEM program influence on enrollment. In order to assess whether parents felt a
STEM program at HMS could attract parents back to the school Question #5 in Appendix A was
asked,
Do you think a STEM-oriented educational program will encourage parents to send their
children to Hillview rather than Granada Middle School or East Whittier Middle School?
(probing question: Can you please elaborate why?)

As seen in Table 4, initial parent responses are listed and a discussion of further probing
questions and responses are listed below.
Table 4
Parent Responses to Question #5
Parent # #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 Total
Yes

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7
No

0
It depends on the circumstance 1 1

2

Parent #3 responded to Question #5 by saying, “Yes, definitely.” I then asked her, “Can you tell
me a little bit about why?” She responded,
I have an eighth grader and a sixth grader so I don’t know in the past that if it’s been
where certain things have been implemented and then because of budget cuts, then
they’ve been taken away so maybe by for Hillview you know to have a program that
sticks and know that this is what it’s going be and it’ll be solid, you know might give the
parents you know like, the confidence that Hillview is strong…I think definitely if we
had a STEM program, I think that would relabel Hillview as a school in our community
that we are good and I believe that we are just as good as Granada and East Whittier but
for some reason that perception is out there that we’re not and maybe by us implementing
that STEM program it will bring us back up to where we need to be.

Parent #3 explained that if HMS focused on STEM and sustained it without enduring budget cuts
that it would help relabel and distinguish the school from the others in the community. In a
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 50
similar vein as Parent #3, Parent #2 responded to interview Question #5 by explaining how if
HMS was the only school with a STEM program, it would distinguish it from the other schools
and would help attract students back to the school,
I would want to know what programs they have at Granada or East Whittier really before I
could make that decision. If they don’t have that, then that would be like an advantage for
Hillview to you know attract students but if they have something different, then maybe
that’s what…

I responded to her by asking her how parents would feel if one school in the district had a music
focus while HMS had a STEM focus. She said,
Me as a parent I have two boys. I would definitely choose science and math and
technology over the arts and I would just try to maybe look for an arts school or music
school or somewhere they can get that but I would feel if the school can provide those
types like STEM, um in the school as a curriculum I think it’s an advantage way more
advantage than…I know music and art is important but as I’m thinking ahead, I want to
prepare my son and him be able to go out there and compete with other students and be
prepared. What is going to prepare him more? Music or math, technology, and science.
For me, it would be an easy choice and I would definitely choose this program.

As seen above, parent #2 clearly states she values a STEM education over an Arts-focused
education, however she does mention that her children are boys, suggesting that STEM is more
aligned with the needs of male students versus female students. She is not the only parent that
described STEM as a more male-oriented educational focus and this will be discussed in further
detail later in the report.
After asking Parent #4 if STEM at HMS could attract parents back to the school, she also
responded positively to Question #5, “Yes, I do if they know about it.”
I responded to her by asking, “Can you tell me a little about like why you think that they might?”
She said,
I think so many parents are actually, fortunately thinking about higher education, college,
and I think if they have two to compare to and one has a program that the other two don’t,
they’ll want their child to be involved in it.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 51
Much like the other parents interviewed, she emphasized the importance of STEM exclusivity at
HMS in order to help attract parents to the school.
Parent #1 responded to Question #5 by saying, “absolutely” but immediately followed
her enthusiastic response by saying, “I guess it just depends on the kid” explaining that a STEM
oriented education might not be preferred by some parents depending on the individual interests
of their child. Parent #5 also felt that HMS would attract parents to the school with a STEM
program,
I think it would be because it’s just like you have all these other schools that offer arts,
like there’s school in La Mirada, parents want to send their kids there because of that, so
here I think, I think it’s a plus.

As she has described, the adjacent school district uses magnet schools to give parents choices
about where to send their child and she feels that it would be nice if HMS could do something
similar. Parent #6 also reiterated the point that if HMS were to offer a STEM oriented education
that it would pique the curiosity of parents in the community by offering something different
from the status quo,
Yes, yes I think so because like I said, anytime you prepare your student, you know, you
give them anything new to learn, it’s, you know, they want to see, what is that? Why
isn’t my school offering that? Can I go and at least check it out? I think it at least will
have the new parents coming into Hillview thinking about okay, you know they are
offering new things. They have a program that is not being offered at other schools. So I
think, yeah, it’s a win-win.

Parent #6 also supported the idea that STEM exclusivity at HMS might help attract parents to the
school. Both Parent #7 and Parent #9 stated that STEM at HMS would attract parents to the
school. Additionally, Parent #9 explained how the adjacent district sends her post cards that
advertise their programs.
I think it’s great. It gives parents an incentive to want to take, sorry, want to send their
child to Hillview. There’s a lot of other school districts that I know I as a parent, gotten
post cards, phone calls, from neighboring districts, having those kind of programs and
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 52
wanting to attract parents to let their child go to their schools because of those programs,
so why not have them here and keep our students here? I totally, I’m totally for it.

School districts have been losing funding due to declining enrollment across the state and are
desperate to recoup lost funding by attracting new students to their schools.
Future Jobs. During the parent interviews, three of the parents mentioned that a STEM
focus at HMS could help their children with their future careers. When asked about her feelings
concerning the school board investing and promoting STEM education at Hillview, Parent #1
said, “I think it’s fabulous. I think it’s so important and I think it’s the future, how they are going
to get jobs, how they are going to keep their jobs. I think it’s so valuable.” Later in the interview
with Parent #1, she started to discuss how her son was working on becoming an Eagle Scout and
she was excited to discuss the STEM-oriented merit badges with me. She started to explain how
the Boy Scouts discuss the steps it takes to enter certain STEM-careers. When I asked her if the
career-oriented focus is important to her, she said,
Oh absolutely…you don’t really know if you are going to be interested in something until
you try it but then if you try it and then you really like it, you are going to want to learn
more about it. And I think that starting classes in junior high, it’s fabulous.

Parent #2 also described a conversation she had with her son about his STEM oriented
classes at HMS,
Like what did you do at STEM club this week and he tells me and like always tell him
wow. That’s going to prepare you for a future job or just you being creative and doing
something in the future so I agree that they are preparing him for that.

She asked her son what he did in his STEM club during the week and explained to him that the
stuff he is doing could potentially prepare him for a future STEM career one day.
Parent #9 also described how being exposed to a variety of different STEM classes could
help push her child into one of these fields,
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 53
I think it gives them a different, that just, a different, something else besides the regular
subjects that they have and, um, it opens their horizons to maybe if, like my son, he loves
video-taping and making movies and if he can expand on that at school and they can
provide him the video equipment that I can’t provide and the software. Maybe that’s
something he might want to get into, or even engineering if he can take a class in that,
and maybe that’ll steer him to want to go into engineering.

Given the fact that HMS already offers a video production and engineering class, she is
describing how potential exposure to these classes can provide her son with an opportunity to
motivate her son into entering one of these STEM fields one day.
Preparation for high school and college. During the parent interviews, three of the
parents emphasized the importance of STEM in preparing their child for their future education in
high school or college. Parent #4 said,
I think the earlier and younger we prepare these children for higher education, the better,
and I think it brings a lot of attention to the school and helps a lot of the kids that need the
education and the exciting things and the extra things that will keep them interested in
school rather than just the basic subjects.

Additionally, she mentioned that if HMS had a STEM program and the other two middle schools
in the district did not, this would incentivize parents to send their children to HMS,
I think so many parents are actually fortunately thinking about higher education, college,
and I think if they have two to compare to and one has a program that the other two don’t,
they’ll want their child to be involved in it.

She has emphasized that a STEM program will be more attractive to parents that are focused on
sending their students to college in the future but only if it was exclusively offered at HMS.
Parent #6 also explained that STEM could help prepare them for college,
It’ll prepare them for what they’re seeing and they can tackle that and then face college. I
mean it’s just their stepping stones and I mean I think it’s great. It wasn’t offered here
before and I think if they have it here now, their brains will just flourish. They’ll be more
prepared of what’s happening ahead. It can only be positive. And even, you know, I
believe at this age, you have kids that are scared to challenge themselves. They get
scared, they’ll technology, oh science. They think it’s hard but if they do it and they see
that, “Oh it’s not as hard as people think or say it is.” They might enjoy it and like it and
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 54
continue to want to do it more in high school and take it further in college. I think it’s
great. I think it’ll prepare them for what’s ahead once they get there.

She explained that by providing them early exposure to a rigorous STEM curriculum, her child
would be less likely to be intimidated by STEM coursework in the future. She also explained that
STEM education is important because of the pervasiveness of technology in our society,
I think you have to start somewhere and that’s a good program and that’s stuff we are
going to need in the future, that we need now. You know, everything, with the
electronics. You know, we’re in that era now. Every kid has a phone. Every kid has a
computer. That’s where we are going. Yeah, that’s where we are moving into. That’s why
it’s smart to have them prepared and have the parents prepared because a lot of the kids
are smarter than the parents because of all the technology nowadays. So it’s a good way
of knowing what’s new, what’s going on.

Although Parent #7 did not mention college, she also explained that STEM classes could prepare
her child for high school,
Because basically it’s preparing them, I would think preparing them for high school
because high school is a big transit…it’s a huge transition and I think having these
programs would allow them to be prepared for what’s coming. I think it’s a great. I mean
I, I’m totally for it. I think it’s just perfect.

One of the high schools that HMS feeds into has an architecture and engineering tract and this
could be what she is referring to.
Value of STEM to parent. I assessed the ability of STEM to attract parents to HMS by
taking note of any comments that parents made concerning the value of STEM education and
compiled them in the section below. In the case of Parent #2, she discussed the monetary value
of STEM when she mentioned that she sent her son to an expensive STEM summer camp located
about 50-minute drive north in San Marino, California for a week. She was excited that the HMS
was considering moving towards a STEM focus when she said,
I actually took him to a like a camp for the summer in Pasadena by San Marino for a
week. It was very expensive and I’ve been kind of comparing to what he did there and
what they are doing now and it’s the same level. It’s exactly the same. And he really
enjoyed the camp and he wants me to enroll him again and again. So now with this
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 55
opportunity, I say you know we don’t have to go over there, all the way to Pasadena and
enroll you over there and now you guys have it here. And it’s I think it’s just great when
he went over there, you know the first day I said did you have to introduce yourselves.
Well he says everyone would introduce themselves, and when he said he’s from Whittier,
people were like “well where is that at?” People didn’t even know where Whittier is at.
And over there it seems like they have more of those workshops, camps, or opportunities
for the students over there and I felt I had to go out of my area to find those opportunities
for my son. So now with like with wow, the school has it now, wow that’s awesome.
Hopefully, children you know take advantage of that.

When asked whether she would choose a school for her child that is more music-oriented or
STEM-oriented, she clearly stated that she valued a STEM education over the arts,
Yeah, I would. Me as a parent I have two boys. I would definitely choose science and
math and technology over the arts and I would just try to maybe look for a arts school or
music school or somewhere they can get that but I would feel if the school can provide
those types like STEM, um in the school as a curriculum I think it’s an advantage way
more advantage than I know music and art is important but as I’m thinking ahead, I want
to prepare my son and him be able to go out there and compete with other students and be
prepared, what is going to prepare him more? Music or math, technology, and science.
For me, it would be an easy choice and I would definitely choose this program.

However, Parent #3 mentioned that she knows parents that opted to send their child to an arts
focused school in an adjacent school district rather than a STEM magnet when she said, “I think
it would be because it’s just like you have all these other schools that offer arts. Like, there’s a
school in La Mirada. Parents want to send their kids there because of that so here I think, I think
it’s a plus.” She stated that it would be a positive way of attracting parents by offering STEM at
HMS in the way that the adjacent school district uses an arts-focused school to attract parents.
Parent #2 also mentioned that her son was in the after-school STEM club at HMS where
students build remote controlled planes. She explained how her and her son had to make a
difficult decision about him participating in the after-school STEM club or playing in a
basketball league. Together, they came to the decision that he would participate in the after-
school STEM club even though he also had basketball practice after school as well. She
described her thought process,
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 56
And like for my son, he’s all into sports. When this opportunity came up, he was already in
the basketball team and he had to choose between you know, basketball or STEM, and we
really talked about it, you know. Let’s look at it. You are already going, you know, he’s
playing for Whittier elite so you’re already doing that and you know really there’s nowhere
else around the area where you can get this, these kind of classes. We decided we were
going to do the STEM club and it was so hard for him because he’s already in the
basketball team and we had to decide and all that and I told him, “Look, basketball is
preparing you physically but the STEM club is really preparing you mentally.” You know
you are working with your mind and you are being so creative and it was kind of hard, but
now he’s really happy. He tells me mom this project, we’re doing this, I’m working with
this and so I think it’s you know he feels like he made the right choice.

Parent #2 valued the after-school STEM club over the basketball team in this situation and
helped influence her son in making the choice to join the STEM club. Like Parent #2, Parent #6
also compared the value of sports versus STEM after I asked her if money should be invested in
non-STEM areas of the school,
I wouldn’t do that first. I would stick to the programs that you are bring in. Because I
think, I think that would because there is a variety of those, I think that would really
involve the kids more. I definitely I believe in sports for children. I think that’s a plus. It
could only. It helps bring kids together more. I actually think the STEM is more
important.

She has clarified that she likes where the school is moving by investing in new STEM electives
and concludes that despite the fact she likes sports for children, she would rather invest the
money in STEM.
When asked if HMS might be over focusing its efforts on STEM, Parent #7 explained that
although she values STEM, schools should provide a variety of different classes. Parent #7 said,
I don’t think we should let anything because not all kids, you know. I’m speaking on the
athletic department because my kids, you know, they play sports. But my little one doesn’t.
My little one likes to draw. My little one likes cooking. I don’t think we have a little
cooking class here. I think we should, we should be able to offer the kids a variety of
choices because not all kids are the same. They all have their own special unique trait that
they enjoy doing. I mean it’s, you can’t go wrong with science, technology. I mean then,
the arts. The arts and music that’s really important. I think you guys should stick to that
too. I don’t think you should take away that for these kids because some kids love music.
Some kids love crafts, some kids love art, and then to learn the history of all that, that’s
great. I mean, it’s a plus would be a plus.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 57

Parent #7 has acknowledged that students have a variety of interests and that there should be a
wide variety of classes that cater to the interests of a diverse student body. After asking Parent #9
if she would sacrifice some STEM classes for more arts classes at HMS, Parent #9 echoed Parent
#7 by saying that she would sacrifice some STEM classes for more arts classes because they
“definitely needed to be part of the curriculum.” Much like Parent #7, Parent #9 also wants HMS
to have a variety of different classes instead of overspecializing in STEM.
Perception that STEM is male-oriented. Given the lower numbers of women in STEM
fields in comparison to men, the perception that STEM is male-oriented and that boys would like
STEM more than girls emerged during the interviews. If HMS were to become a STEM school,
this could be a repelling force that would push away parents of female students. Two of the nine
parents mentioned stated or suggested that STEM was more male-oriented in nature.
When asked if she thought a STEM oriented educational program would encourage parents
to send their children to Hillview, Parent #1 said,
Absolutely. I guess it just depends on the kid. If you got a kid that’s all about being in the
band, which I don’t, although Kelley did love that little introduction to instruments last
year but he’s more into male-oriented stuff, you know. Like I think the technology, the
STEM, especially appeals to boys. I really do.

Parent #1 has clearly stated that she feels STEM is male-oriented, which would be a concern if
this perception was widespread in the HMS community. During the interview with Parent #2, the
idea that STEM is more male-oriented popped up as well, however it was very subtle. When
asking Parent #2 if a STEM focused education was more aligned with her vision for her children,
she said, “Yeah I would. Me as a parent, I have two boys. I would definitely choose science and
math and technology over the arts.” She emphasized that she has boys when she said this.
Although I did not ask a follow up question as to why she emphasized that she has boys, it would
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 58
be reasonable to assume that she mentioned the gender of her children because she felt STEM
might be a more male-oriented field of study.
Survey Data
This needs assessment aimed to identify what HMS needs to create an effective STEM
education program at the school that will meet the needs of various stakeholders. This was
accomplished by utilizing a teaching staff survey and an administrative staff survey (see
Appendix B and C) to identify (1) teacher STEM-related instructional practices, (2) HMS staff
capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (3) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (4)
HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM. These four categories
guided the creation of the survey questions in hopes to address the needs of the three level of
stakeholders at HMS: students and parents (Level 1), teaching staff (Level 2), and administrative
staff (Level 3). Of the 29 teachers at HMS that were sent the survey link, 22 teachers completed
the survey. In order to get a better understanding of the feelings of STEM versus non-STEM
teachers, the response data was disaggregated using Question #1, which identifies whether the
teacher primarily teaches STEM classes at HMS. Of the 22 responses, 11 of them identified
themselves as primarily teaching STEM-focused classes and 11 of them did not. From this point
on, the aforementioned teachers will be referred to as STEM teachers and non-STEM teachers.
Although the teachers are the ground level implementers of educational programs within
a school, school leaders, such as administrators, that are looking to create integrated STEM
programs at their schools should have a good understanding of STEM education and the
strategies required to support teachers and ensure that it is effectively implemented (National
Academy of Engineering & National Research Council, 2014). For this reason, the
administrators were also surveyed with a set of similar questions to that of the teacher survey,
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 59
however some of the questions were designed to establish a congruence or incongruence
between what the teachers felt they were doing and what the administrators perceived the
teachers to be doing at the school as it pertained to the implementation of STEM at HMS. This
would serve to inform the current HMS administration as to whether their perceptions of the
workings of the school are congruent with the teachers’ perceived realities. Although school
administrators are instructional leaders that observe classroom instructional practices, they
cannot be in classrooms all the time and their perceptions of what is happening in the school
might be different than the responses of teachers who are in the classroom one hundred percent
of the time. Additionally, the three administrators’ perceptions of the workings of the school may
be completely different from each other depending on their individual observations. Ultimately,
the administrator survey will help compare the administrators’ observations and perceptions of
what the HMS teachers are doing to what HMS teachers say they are doing.
STEM-Related Instructional Practices
Teachers’ and students’ needs regarding best practices involving STEM instruction were
addressed in the survey. As seen in Appendix B, Question #7 of the teaching staff survey is a six-
part question that contain five questions about STEM-related instructional practices. These five
questions are designed to determine the frequency of effective STEM-oriented instructional
practice implementation by the HMS teaching staff based on their own perceptions. These
effective STEM practices include the use of inquiry-driven instruction, tapping into students’
prior experiences and interest, relating instruction to STEM careers, and giving students the
ability to role-play as STEM professionals. Given the nature of these STEM instructional
practices, the data will be presented in a disaggregated format that separates STEM and non-
STEM teacher responses as seen in Table 5. The administrative staff was also given a survey
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 60
with a set of similar questions that assessed their perception of the frequency of STEM-oriented
instructional practices being implemented in teachers’ classrooms. These responses will be
compared to the HMS teaching staff responses in Table 6. The sample sizes of the administrative
staff (n=3), STEM teachers (n=11), and non-STEM teachers (n=11) limited the meaningful
quantitative analyses that could be used on this set of Likert-scale-based survey questions.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT 61

Table 5
Comparison of STEM Teachers’ Perception of Instructional Practices to non-STEM Teachers’ Perceptions of Instructional Practices

Never Rarely Sometimes Often All of the Time
How often do you use inquiry-driven instruction in your classroom?
(STEM teachers)
0 2 5 3 0
How often do you use inquiry-driven instruction in your classroom?
(non-STEM teachers)
1 4 4 1 1

How often do you incorporate students' prior experiences into your
lesson plans? (STEM teachers)
0 0 3 2 5
How often do you incorporate students' prior experiences into your
lesson plans? (non-STEM teachers)
0 0 0 8 3

How often do you incorporate students' interests into your lessons?
(STEM teachers)
0 0 2 7 1
How often do you incorporate students' interests into your lessons?
(non-STEM teachers)
0 1 3 6 1

How often do you encourage students to pursue STEM related careers
in your classroom? (STEM teachers)
0 1 5 3 1
How often do you encourage students to pursue STEM related careers
in your classroom? (non-STEM teachers)
2 2 5 0 2

How often are students given time to role-play as STEM professionals
in your classroom? (STEM teachers)
3 5 1 1 0
How often are students given time to role-play as STEM professionals
in your classroom? (non-STEM teachers)
9 1 1 0 0
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

62
Ten of the eleven STEM teachers and all eleven of the non-STEM teachers responded to
the set of questions shown in Table 5. Since the teachers were not actually observed
implementing these instructional practices, the results of this data do not proclaim the actual
frequency of the instructional practices implemented by the teachers, only the perceived
frequency by HMS staff. The purpose of the data presented in the following section is to provide
an entrance for discussion about areas for growth in STEM-oriented instructional practices based
on the perceptions of the staff. Because the number of STEM teachers (n=10), versus non-STEM
teachers (n=11) were close in value, the responses were given a numerical value in order to
calculate a mean score for comparison purposes: ‘never’ (1), ‘rarely’ (2), ‘sometimes’ (3), ‘often’
(4), and ‘all of the time’ (5).
The first part of Table 5 asked about the use of inquiry-driven instruction. STEM teachers
had a mean response score of 3.1 and non-STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.73
suggesting that STEM teachers felt that they used inquiry-driven instruction slightly more than
non-STEM teachers felt they used it.
The second part of Table 5 asked if teachers incorporate students’ prior experiences into
their lesson plans. STEM teachers had a mean response score of 4.2 and non-STEM teachers had
a mean response score of 4.27 suggesting that non-STEM teachers felt they incorporated
students’ prior experiences slightly more than STEM teachers felt they did.
The third part of Table 5 asked if teachers incorporate students’ interests into their
lessons. STEM teachers had a mean response score of 3.9 and non-STEM teachers had a mean
response score of 3.64 suggesting that STEM teachers felt they incorporated students’ interests
slightly more than non-STEM teachers felt they did.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

63
The fourth part of Table 5 asked how often the teachers encourage their students to
pursue STEM related careers in their classrooms. STEM teachers had a mean response score of
3.4 and non-STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.82 suggesting that STEM teachers
felt they encouraged students to pursue STEM careers slightly more often than non-STEM
teachers felt they did.
The fifth part of Table 5 asked the teachers how often students are given time to role-play
as STEM professionals in their classrooms. STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2 and
non-STEM teachers had a mean response score of 1.27 showing that STEM teachers felt they
allowed students to role-play as STEM professionals slightly more than non-STEM teachers felt
they did.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

64

Table 6
Comparison of HMS Administrative Staff’s perception of the Teachers’ Instructional Practices to HMS Teaching Staff’s Perceptions
of their Instructional Practices

Never Rarely Sometimes Often All of the Time
How often do Hillview teachers use inquiry-driven instruction in their
classrooms? (administrator survey)
0 1 1 1 0
How often do you use inquiry-driven instruction in your classroom?
(teacher survey)
1 6 9 4 1

How often do Hillview teachers incorporate students' prior experiences
into their lesson plans? (administrator survey)
0 0 3 0 0
How often do you incorporate students' prior experiences into your
lesson plans? (teacher survey)
0 0 3 10 8

How often do Hillview teachers incorporate students' interests into their
lessons? (administrator survey)
0 1 0 2 0
How often do you incorporate students' interests into your lessons?
(teacher survey)
0 1 5 13 2

How often do Hillview teachers encourage students to pursue STEM
related careers in their classrooms? (administrator survey)
0 0 2 1 0
How often do you encourage students to pursue STEM related careers
in your classroom? (teacher survey)
2 3 10 3 3

How often are students given time to role-play as STEM professionals
in their classrooms? (administrator survey)
1 1 1 0 0
How often are students given time to role-play as STEM professionals
in your classroom? (teacher survey)
12 6 2 1 0

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

65
Table 6 can be used as a tool by administrators to gauge their perspective of the workings
of HMS as it pertains to STEM and compare it against the teachers’ perspective. Table 6 can be
broken up into five sections. The first section looks at the perceptions of inquiry-driven
instruction at HMS. All three administrators at HMS perceived that inquiry-driven instruction
was being implemented at different rates. When comparing against the teachers’ responses, it
becomes apparent that inquiry-driven instruction might be used in varying amounts throughout
the campus and that all three administrators could have observed or perceived different levels of
inquiry-driven instruction depending on the classrooms that they observed.
The second section of Table 6 identified the perceived frequency of incorporation of
student prior experiences into lesson plans at HMS. All three administrators perceived that the
HMS teachers were incorporating student prior experiences into their lesson plans ‘sometimes.’
On the other hand, most of the HMS teaching staff perceived that they were doing this ‘often’ or
‘all of the time.’
The third section of Table 6 identified the perceived frequency of incorporation of
student interest into lesson plans at HMS. One administrator perceived that HMS teachers were
doing this ‘sometimes,’ while two administrators perceived that the teachers were doing this
‘often’. The administrators’ responses were congruent with the perceptions of the HMS teaching
staff with five teachers responding ‘sometimes’ and ’thirteen teachers responding ‘often’.
The fourth section of Table 6 identified the perceived frequency of teachers encouraging
students to pursue STEM related careers. Two of the administrators responded that this occurs
‘sometimes’ and one responded that it occurs ‘often.’ For the teachers, the responses varied
widely, however ten of them responded that they do it ‘sometimes.’ Administrators perceptions
in comparison to teachers’ perceptions on this question were fairly congruent.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

66
The fifth section of Table 6 identified the perceived frequency that teachers give students
time to role-play as STEM professionals. Administrators and teachers varied in their responses,
however twelve of the teachers responded that they never give students time to role-play as
STEM professionals.
HMS Staff Capacity to Implement STEM
In order to address the teachers’ needs to implement STEM, questions concerning their
capacity to teach STEM effectively were asked. As seen in Appendix B, Questions #2, #3, #4,
#5, #6, #7, #8, and #13 assessed the capacity of the HMS teaching staff to implement STEM.
Additionally, as seen in Appendix B, Questions #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #11 of the
administrative staff survey assessed HMS’s administrative staff capacity or perception of the
staff capacity to implement STEM.
STEM implementation preparedness. If teachers responsible for incorporating STEM
and NGSS curriculum into their classes feel they are prepared to do it, their self-efficacy
displayed by their response could signal that they actually are prepared to teach STEM
effectively. For this reason, Question #2 of the teacher survey asked teachers that teach non-
STEM classes how prepared they felt to incorporate STEM concepts in their classes using a 5-
point Likert scale (1 = very prepared, 2 = prepared, 3 = neutral, 4 = unprepared, and 5 = very
unprepared.) The STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.73 and the non-STEM teachers
had a mean response score of 3.36, suggesting that the non-STEM teachers felt slightly more
prepared to incorporate STEM concepts in their classes than the non-STEM teachers, however
both were generally neutral about their preparedness.
Teacher preparedness to teach NGSS was addressed in Question #8 of the teacher survey
by asking teachers who teach science how prepared they are to teach the Next Generation
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

67
Science Standards using a 3-point Likert scale (1= Not prepared, 2 = Somewhat prepared, and 3
= Very Prepared). Four of the STEM teachers responded to this question. One responded that he
or she is not prepared and three responded that they are somewhat prepared. Two of the non-
STEM teachers responded to this question. Both responded that they are somewhat prepared.
Question #6 of the administrative staff survey asked how prepared they think the
Hillview science teachers are to teach the Next Generation Science Standards using a 3-point
Likert scale (1= Not prepared, 2 = Somewhat prepared, and 3 = Very Prepared). One
administrator responded that the teachers are not prepared and two administrators responded that
they are somewhat prepared. It is clear that the administrators’ perceptions and teachers’ feelings
about NGSS preparedness are in alignment.
Teaching credential. Since STEM content knowledge is important in effective STEM
education (National Academy of Engineering & National Research Council, 2014; National
Research Council, 2012a) and most middle school teachers did not major in mathematics and
science (Banilower et al., 2013), Question #13 asked the teaching staff if they have a single
subject teaching credential in a STEM-focused subject such as science, technology, engineering,
or math. Ten STEM teachers and eleven non-STEM teachers responded to this question. Of the
ten STEM teachers, four responded that they do have single subject teaching credentials in a
STEM-focused subject. Of the eleven non-STEM teachers, all of them responded that they do
not have a single subject teaching credential in a STEM-focused subject. Question #11 of the
administrative staff survey also asked the administrators if they have ever had a single subject
teaching credential in a STEM-focused subject such as science, technology, engineering, or
math. All of the administrators responded that they did not have a STEM-oriented credential
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

68
when they were teachers. Typical of a middle school, many of the teaching and administrative
staff members at HMS lack STEM oriented single subject credentials.
STEM professional development. With a general lack of content knowledge for most
teachers regarding STEM education, providing STEM and non-STEM teachers with repeated
opportunities for professional development within STEM content areas is recommended for an
effective STEM education program (National Academy of Engineering & National Research
Council, 2014; National Research Council, 2012a). This section will take a look at survey
questions concerning STEM-oriented professional development.
Question #3 of the teaching staff survey asked if STEM education is the focus of any
professional development offered to them by the East Whittier City School District. Given the
fact that LEAs differentiate professional development based upon academic departmental needs,
the response data will also be disaggregated based upon STEM versus non-STEM teachers. Of
the eleven STEM teachers, two of the STEM teachers responded that the district has offered
STEM professional development and nine of them responded that they did not. Similarly, two of
the eleven non-STEM teachers responded that the district has offered STEM professional
development and nine of them responded that they did not. If the teacher responded to Question
#3 by stating that they did receive STEM professional development, they were asked in Question
#4 if that STEM-focused professional development included connections to the following by
checking all the boxes that apply: (Box 1) Support of practices with Common Core State
Standards, (Box 2) Support of practices with Next Generation Science Standards, (Box 3)
Inquiry based teaching approaches, or (Box 4) none. Of the two STEM teachers that responded
that they had received STEM-oriented professional development in Question #3, both
respondents only checked the box titled “Support of practices with Common Core State
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

69
Standards.” Of the two non-STEM teachers that responded that they had received STEM-
oriented professional development in Question #3, one of them did not check any boxes and the
other one only checked the box titled “Support of practices with Common Core State Standards.”
When asked how many hours of STEM oriented professional development the teachers
received in a year in Question #5, nine of the STEM teachers responded that they receive “0-4
hours” of professional development a year, which corresponded to their response in Question #3
that they did not receive STEM focused professional development and one responded that they
receive “more than 10 hours” per year. Additionally, one of the STEM teachers did not respond
to this question. All eleven of the non-STEM teachers responded that they received “0 - 4 hours”
of STEM oriented professional development a year.
Question #6 followed up by asking the teachers if the East Whittier City School District’s
professional development plan for teachers provides support for these instructional strategies:
project-based learning, inquiry-driven instruction, student-centered learning, and integrated
studies. Two of the STEM teachers checked the box for Project-based learning, one checked the
box for Inquiry-driven instruction, seven checked the box for Student-centered learning, and one
checked the box for Integrated-studies. Four of the non-STEM teachers checked the box for
Project-Based Learning, two checked the box for Inquiry-driven instruction, eight checked the
box for Student-Centered Learning, and three checked the box for Integrated-Studies. It is
possible that the staff does not associate these instructional strategies with STEM since they said
they rarely receive STEM professional development.
In order to determine if administrators at HMS experienced STEM oriented training that
would help them understand the strategies needed to implement STEM, Question #1 of the
administrator survey also asked if STEM education was the focus of any professional
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

70
development offered to them by the East Whittier City School District. All three HMS
administrators responded “No” to this question. If the administrators answered “yes” to Question
#1, they were asked in Question #2 if that STEM-focused professional development included
connections to the following by checking all the boxes that apply: (1) Support of practices with
Common Core State Standards, (2) Support of practices with Next Generation Science
Standards, (3) Inquiry based teaching approaches, or (4) none. Since all three administrators
responded No to Question #1, none of them responded to this question.
Question #3 of the administrative survey followed up by asking them how many hours of
STEM oriented professional development they receive a year. Two of the HMS administrators
responded to this question, noting that they received 0 – 4 hours of STEM oriented professional
development a year. This is congruent with the fact that none of them have received any STEM
oriented training as determined by their responses in Question #1 of the survey.
Since administrators in a STEM school should have a good understanding of what
effective STEM implementation looks like, they were asked in Question #4 if the East Whittier
City School District’s professional development plan for teachers provide support for the
following instructional strategies: project-based learning, inquiry-driven instruction, student-
centered learning, and integrated studies. One administrator marked Project-Based Learning, two
administrators marked Inquiry-Driven Instruction, three administrators marked Student-Centered
Learning, and none of them marked Integrated Studies.
STEM Curriculum
In order to address the teachers’ needs to implement STEM, some questions in the survey
touched upon the curricular needs of the teachers. With a lack of operational definition of STEM,
it is difficult to describe what STEM curriculum is. Because of this, survey questions that
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

71
mention NGSS, which includes suggestions for what science standards and how they should be
taught, will be looked at closely. Additionally, any survey questions and responses that hint at
STEM curricular needs will be analyzed as well. I used Questions #2, #7, and #8 of the teaching
staff survey to get a general feel for the curricular needs of the site.
As discussed before, Question #2 of the teacher survey asked teachers that teach non-
STEM classes how prepared they felt to incorporate STEM concepts in their classes using a 5-
point Likert scale (1 = very prepared, 2 = prepared, 3 = neutral, 4 = unprepared, and 5 = very
unprepared.) The STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.73 and the non-STEM teachers
had a mean response score of 3.36, suggesting that the non-STEM teachers felt slightly more
prepared to incorporate STEM concepts in their classes than the non-STEM teachers, however
both were generally neutral about their preparedness suggesting that they might be lacking in
curriculum to implement STEM effectively.
Looking back at Table 6, teachers were asked about the quantity of inquiry-driven
instruction being used in their classroom. STEM teachers had a mean response score of 3.1 and
non-STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.73 suggesting that STEM teachers felt that
they used inquiry-driven instruction slightly more than non-STEM teachers felt they used it. This
suggests that most teachers at HMS use inquiry-driven instructional practices “sometimes”
during the school year.
As discussed before, teacher preparedness to teach NGSS was addressed in Question #8
of the teacher survey by asking teachers who teach science how prepared they are to teach the
Next Generation Science Standards using a 3-point Likert scale (1= Not prepared, 2 = Somewhat
prepared, and 3 = Very Prepared). Four of the STEM teachers responded to this question. One of
them responded that he or she is not prepared and three of them responded that they are
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

72
somewhat prepared. Two of the non-STEM teachers responded to this question. Both of them
responded that they are somewhat prepared.
Given the neutral responses across the board concerning the teaching staff preparedness
to teach STEM and NGSS and the fact that the staff only sometimes uses inquiry-drive
instruction, this would suggest that there might be some curricular needs that should be
addressed to have an effective STEM program at HMS.
HMS STEM Organizational Facilities and Structures
From adequate funding, lab space, or administrative support, teachers and students have a
variety of needs regarding STEM organizational facilities and structures when it concerns the
effective implementation of STEM. The teacher and administrative survey contained questions
designed to address the current status of the STEM organizational facilities and structures at
HMS. An important note to keep in mind about this section of results; during the school year in
which this survey was given, EWCSD allocated $30,000 towards STEM education at HMS. The
principal, Wendy Davio, met with mathematics, science, and STEM elective teachers at the site
to determine how it would be spent.
Teacher level of satisfaction with support. Question #9 of the teaching staff survey and
Question #7 of the administrative staff survey is made up of five parts that ask the respondents to
describe feelings of satisfaction using a five-point Likert scale: very dissatisfied (1), dissatisfied
(2), neutral (3), satisfied (4), or very satisfied (5). Ten of the eleven STEM teachers and all
eleven of the non-STEM teachers responded to the set of questions posed in Question #9. The
first part of Question #9 asks the teachers how satisfied they are with the level of support they
receive by their administrators as it relates to implementing STEM education in their classes. In a
similar vein but slightly reworded, the first part of Question #7 asks the administrators how
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73
satisfied they believe their teaching staff is with the level of support they receive by the
administrators as it relates to implementing STEM education in their classes. A comparison of
the administrator and teacher responses can be seen in Table 7.
Table 7
Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction of Support Received by Administrators to
Implement STEM with the Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction

Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Total
Responses Mean

Administrator 1 1 0 1 0 3 2.33

STEM
Teacher 2 4 2 2 0 10 2.4

Non-STEM
Teacher 0 1 8 2 0 11 3.09

STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.4 leaning towards being dissatisfied and
non-STEM teachers had a mean response score of 3.09 feeling more neutral about it.
Administrators tended to believe that teachers do not feel satisfied with the level of support that
they are receiving, which is in alignment with the STEM teachers’ responses that they were
dissatisfied with the level of support. Non-STEM teachers tended to respond neutrally, however
this may be due to the fact that they are not primarily responsible for teaching STEM-oriented
classes. It is interesting that STEM teachers felt dissatisfied and administrators believed teachers
were dissatisfied despite the fact that $30,000 was allocated towards STEM during that school
year.
The second part of Question #9 asked the teaching staff how satisfied they are with the
school conditions that the administrators have created to support students in their academic
achievement at Hillview. Slightly reworded, administrators were asked in Question #7 how
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74
satisfied they believe their teaching staff is with the school conditions that the administrators
have created to support students in their academic achievement at Hillview. A comparison of the
administrator and teacher responses can be seen in Table 8.
Table 8
Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the School Conditions that the
Administrators Have Created to Support Students in their Academic Achievement at HMS with
the Administrative Perception of the Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction

Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Total
Responses Mean
Administrators 0 1 1 1 0 3 3

STEM
Teachers 1 4 3 2 0 10 2.6

Non-STEM
Teachers 0 2 5 3 1 11 3.27

STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.6 and non-STEM teachers had a mean
response score of 3.27, both closer to neutral but STEM teachers being more dissatisfied than
non-STEM teachers. Administrators varied in their responses but had a mean response score of
neutral in alignment with their staff responses.
The third part of Question #9 asked the teaching staff how satisfied they are with the
level of academic support that students receive in the STEM areas. Slightly reworded,
administrators were asked in Question #7 how satisfied they believe their teaching staff is with
the level of academic support that students receive in the STEM areas. A comparison of the
administrator and teacher responses can be seen in Table 9.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

75
Table 9
Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the Level of Academic Support that
Students Receive in the STEM Areas with Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of
Satisfaction with the Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction

Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Total
Responses Mean
Administrators 1 0 1 1 0 3 2.67

STEM
Teachers 1 6 1 2 0 10 2.4

Non-STEM
Teachers 0 3 5 3 0 11 3

STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.4 leaning towards dissatisfied and non-
STEM teachers had a mean response score of 3, exactly neutral. Administrators had a mean
response of 2.67 leaning towards neutral.
The fourth part of Question #9 asked the teaching staff how satisfied they are with the
funding for the STEM classes at Hillview. Slightly reworded, the administrative survey asked
how satisfied they believe their staff is with the funding for the STEM classes at Hillview. A
comparison of the administrator and teacher responses can be seen in Table 10.
Table 10
Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the Funding for the STEM Classes at
Hillview with the Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction

Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Total
Responses Mean
Administrators 0 0 1 1 1 3 4

STEM
Teachers 0 2 5 3 0 10 3.1

Non-STEM
Teachers 1 2 6 2 0 11 2.82

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76
STEM teachers had a mean response score of 3.1 leaning toward neutral and non-STEM
teachers had a mean response score of 2.82 also leaning toward neutral. Administrators had a
mean response score of 4 believing that the teachers feel satisfied with the current level of
funding. This finding that teachers generally felt neutral about the level of STEM funding may
come as a surprise to the administrators given the fact that EWCSD invested $30,000 in STEM
at HMS.
Table 11
Comparison of the HMS Teaching Staff’s Satisfaction with the Amount of Space Students Have
for Project Storage with the Administrative Perception of Teaching Staff Level of Satisfaction

Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Total
Responses Mean
Administrators 0 2 0 0 1 3 3

STEM
Teachers 2 2 4 2 0 10 2.6

Non-STEM
Teachers 1 1 8 1 0 11 2.82

Question #9 asked the teachers how satisfied they are with the amount of space students
have for project storage. STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.6 leaning toward neutral
and non-STEM teachers had a mean response score of 2.82 also leaning toward neutral.
Depending on the nature of the curriculum, project storage may not be a concern for some
teachers but there are four STEM and two non-STEM teachers who are not satisfied with the
amount of space available to them. Administrators had a mean score of 3 but two of the
administrators believe that teachers are dissatisfied the amount of space available to them.
Challenges to implementing STEM. There are many challenges that schools will face
when implementing STEM. Question #10 of the teacher survey and Question #8 of the
administrator survey asked staff members what challenges Hillview faces in relationship to
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77
implementing STEM activities. They could check all boxes that applied or add their own
response. See Tables 12, 13, and 14 to compare STEM teacher, non-STEM teacher, and
administrator responses.
Table 12
STEM Teacher Challenges to Implement STEM
Answer Response %
Limited time for STEM 8 80%

Emphasis on ELA and math 6 60%

Limited funds to purchase supplies 8 80%

Lack of facilities 2 20%

Limited student interest 2 20%

Limited Professional Development
Opportunities 9 90%

Limited access to computers or tablets 7 70%

Limited access to internet 1 10%

Other Explain:

Very limiting schedule this year in regard to
the periods in which classes were offered.
Offers very little options to change schedules
around when needed. Struggling students are
not as supported as well as they can be in
order for them to access the STEM content
and activities.

1

10%

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

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Table 13
Non-STEM Teacher Challenges to Implement STEM
Answer Response %
Limited time for STEM 8 73%

Emphasis on ELA and math 9 82%

Limited funds to purchase supplies 8 73%

Lack of facilities 4 36%

Limited student interest 1 9%

Limited Professional Development
Opportunities 7 64%

Limited access to computers or tablets 9 82%

Limited access to internet 0 0%

Other Explain:

I do not have any science or math information
as I do not teach that, but in my area we do not
have extra time to talk about science or math.

We need time as a staff to discuss how we are
going to incorporate STEM in our non-stem
classes, make a plan for professional
development, and collaborate across
disciplines. The district needs to recognize that
if this is going to be a successful program we
need time set aside to develop it.

We need whole campus buy in and support

3

27%

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Table 14
Administrator Challenges to Implement STEM
Answer Response %
Limited time for STEM 2 67%

Emphasis on ELA and math 3 100%

Limited funds to purchase supplies 1 33%

Lack of facilities 0 0%

Limited student interest 0 0%

Limited Professional Development
Opportunities 3 100%

Limited access to computers or tablets 2 67%

Limited access to internet 0 0%

Other Explain:

No clear focus on what the plan is for our
school in regards to implementing STEM or
becoming a "STEM school".

1

33%

Across the board, there is a general consensus among the staff with their responses concerning
the implementation of STEM at HMS: limited time for STEM, emphasis on ELA and math,
limited professional development opportunities, and limited access to computers or tablets. On
the other hand, there is a general consensus among the staff about challenges that HMS does not
have as it pertains to the implementation of STEM: lack of facilities, limited student interest, and
limited access to the internet.
STEM safety. Given potential dangers in STEM spaces and increasing class sizes,
laboratory safety procedures and adequate space for safe work should be addressed by schools.
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80
Question #11 of the teacher survey and Question #9 of the administrator survey asked if HMS
has a set of laboratory procedures in place. Four of the ten STEM teachers who took the survey
responded to the question, three of the non-STEM teachers responded, and one of the three
administrators responded. This question had a very low response rate in comparison to the other
questions. See Table 15 to compare responses.
Table 15
Does HMS Have a Set of Official Laboratory Safety Procedures?
Yes No
STEM teacher 1 3
Non-STEM teacher 3 0
Administrator 1 0

There seems to be confusion among the HMS staff about whether or not there are official
laboratory safety procedures in place at the school. Some STEM teachers tend to think that they
do not exist and some non-STEM teachers tend to think they do exist. However, most staff
members in each subgroup chose not to respond, which might suggest that like myself, they do
not know if they exist.
Question #12 of the teacher survey and Question #10 of the administrator survey
addresses the issues of the amount of safe work space in the classrooms to implement STEM.
The question asks the staff if they feel that the laboratory settings at Hillview have enough room
for safe student work spaces. Seven of the ten STEM teachers responded to this question, six of
the non-STEM teachers responded to the question, and two of the three administrators responded
to the question. See Table 16 to compare responses of the staff members.
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81
Table 16
Do the Laboratory Settings at Hillview Have Enough Room for Safe Student Work Spaces?
Yes No
STEM teacher 1 6
Non-STEM teacher 2 4
Administrator 1 1

The general consensus among STEM and non-STEM teachers alike is that there is not enough
laboratory space for safe student work. The two administrators who responded to this question
disagreed so the results were split in half. Given the general agreement that there is not enough
space for safe student work among the teachers, this should be addressed.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
Given the declining enrollment problem at HMS, the EWCSD is looking to create an
educational program at HMS that will attract students and parents back to the school while
simultaneously providing HMS students an education that caters to the needs of 21
st
century
citizens. The purpose of this project was to conduct a needs assessment that would inform the
EWCSD how to go about taking initial actions in creating an effective STEM program that could
potentially attract students back to the school.
Through interviews of parents, this project used the data collected about (1) parent
perceptions and understanding of the declining enrollment problem at HMS and (2) parent
perceptions and understanding of STEM education to determine if transforming HMS into a
STEM school would have a magnetizing effect and attract parents and their children back to the
school. If EWCSD were to proceed with turning HMS into a STEM school or pursue STEM to a
greater degree, this project used surveys of HMS teachers and administrators to assess what
HMS needed to become an effective STEM school. The surveys focused on (1) teacher STEM-
related instructional practices, (2) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM
program, (3) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (4) HMS organizational facilities and structures as
they relate to STEM to provide recommendations for future action in creating an effective STEM
program at HMS.
Summary of Findings
As an internal facilitator of this needs assessment, I bring a wealth of background
knowledge of the school that I will be adding to this summary of findings, but it does come
packaged with potential bias that I have done my best to avoid.

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Parent Perceptions of the Declining Enrollment Problem at HMS
During the parent interviews, parents attributed the declining enrollment at HMS to (1)
safety issues at HMS, (2) low academic performance at HMS, (3) a lack of band-class
availability at HMS, and (3) that HMS is being outcompeted by schools in adjacent districts.
Some of these findings were in alignment with the 2014 findings of Thomas DeLapp concerning
the declining enrollment problem. He also discovered that parents had safety concerns about the
school and that the school had a negative reputation. He recommended that the district improve
the aesthetic appearance of HMS, start a positive publicity campaign for the school that could
address the school’s unsafe reputation, and create a magnetizing academic program. EWCSD
and HMS have been acting on his recommendations since the 2014-2015 school year by
repainting the entire school and making it a more welcoming environment. EWCSD has also
been highlighting the positive things going on in the school in the district newsletters sent out to
the community. Additionally, the HMS administration has been inviting 5
th
grade parents from
the elementary feeder schools and taking them on campus tours to help convince them to send
their children to HMS. On this tour, they get to meet various HMS teaching staff and we share
with them what we teach at HMS. This tour includes visits to core ELA, mathematics, science,
and history classes as well as some of the unique elective classes we have at the school,
including our robotics class, video production class, microbiology class, and remote-control
plane class. These elective classes have been funded with the STEM money that was allocated to
the school. In addition to our work with the parents, the principal of HMS has promoted and
created a positive school culture curriculum implemented during homeroom to help promote an
attitude of respect at the school, in hopes to reduce disciplinary issues.
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84
For the first time since 2008-2009, the HMS student population has increased by 43
students for the 2016-2017 school year. There are so many variables as to what may have caused
this but HMS must be doing something to attract parents back to the school. This may be due to
the positive publicity campaign, the new STEM elective classes, the remodeling of the school, or
any combination of variables that occurred since this project began. Since part of this project is
aimed at determining whether STEM is a good way of attracting parents to the school, I will
address those findings next.
Parent Perceptions and Understanding of STEM Education
Although STEM is a huge buzzword in the K-12 education space at the moment, the
highly involved PTA parents of HMS were very mixed in their perceptions and understanding of
it, which would suggest to me that STEM could both attract or repel parents from sending their
children to HMS.
There were some concerns about STEM that emerged during the interviews that would
lead me to believe that STEM would repel parents. For instance, not all parents are interested in
STEM and some of them preferred the arts more, especially those who valued the old band
program. When developing the HMS master schedule, it would be in HMS’s best interest to
diversify their elective course offerings so that it could meet the needs of a variety of students
and their parents, rather than focusing all of its efforts on STEM. Another potentially repelling
force that is of concern is the perception among some parents that STEM is only interesting to
male students, which could potentially effect the incoming female student population. This
perception of STEM as a male-driven field would need to be addressed in order to prevent
parents with female students from sending their child to another school.
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85
On the other hand, some parents felt that STEM could be an attractive force if the STEM
courses were offered exclusively at HMS and not at the other middle schools in the area. Given
the fact that the EWCSD has been allocating $30,000 a year for STEM to all the middle schools
in the district, this might be difficult to accomplish. For example, although robotics is exclusive
to HMS, teachers from both of the other middle schools have asked me for advice on creating a
robotics class at their school. It is only a matter of time before the other schools in the district
offer similar courses to HMS.
Other factors that EWCSD must consider is that some parents did not know about the
pre-existing STEM elective classes offered at HMS. If HMS is to use STEM to attract parents,
they might have to create more positive publicity about the current STEM offerings at the school.
They also have to help parents understand the value of STEM education for their children. Many
parents in the interview discussed the implications of STEM on their child’s future, but many of
them did not. This might be a function of the community demographics. With large percentage
of the student population made up of Latino students utilizing the free and reduced lunch
program, the parents in the community most likely do not work in lucrative STEM fields and
have little knowledge of its value.
Teacher STEM Related Instructional Practices
If HMS is to build on its current STEM focus and make it more effective, it will need to
address the teacher STEM related instructional practices. First, two areas of strength will be
identified followed by areas that need improvement. The first strength that was identified is that
STEM and non-STEM teachers perceive that they incorporate students’ interests into their
lessons often and the second strength is that both STEM and non-STEM teachers felt that they
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

86
incorporate students’ prior experiences into their lesson plans often. Both of these instructional
practices are associated with effective STEM implementation.
There were three areas that need improvement in regard to effective STEM instructional
practices. First, STEM and non-STEM teachers perceive that they use inquiry-driven instruction
only sometimes. Second, STEM and non-STEM teachers do not perceive that they are
encouraging students to pursue STEM related careers in their classrooms very often. Third,
STEM and non-STEM teachers do not perceive that they are giving students time to role-play as
STEM professionals in their classrooms.
HMS Staff Capacity to Implement STEM
Both STEM and non-STEM teachers felt neutral about their preparedness to incorporate
STEM concepts in their classes. This is even more concerning given the fact that most HMS
teaching staff responded that STEM professional development is not offered by EWCSD.
Additionally, the HMS administration responded that EWCSD has not offered them STEM
professional development which suggests they might not know how to identify effective STEM
education when they see it or help support teachers and students with STEM. Because of this
lack of STEM professional development, HMS staff has not received adequate training in known
effective STEM practices such as integrated studies, project-based learning, inquiry-driven
instruction, support of practices with CCSS, and NGSS. Typical of a middle school, there might
be a lack of content knowledge in the areas of STEM because four of the ten STEM teachers
surveyed have single subject STEM credentials and none of the administrators have a single
subject STEM credential. All three of the administrators were elementary school teachers prior to
becoming school administrators.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

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STEM Curriculum
In retrospect, I wish I did more to address curricular needs at the school. I tended to focus
more on instructional practices instead. However, I believe that there is one useful piece of data
concerning NGSS curriculum. Four of the STEM teachers and two of the non-STEM teachers
feel somewhat prepared to teach NGSS. This might suggest that they are somewhat comfortable
creating curriculum since there was a lack of published curriculum at the time of the project.
Even in 2016-2017, the EWCSD has not adopted a textbook or curriculum for NGSS just yet.
This is because NGSS will not be officially assessed until the 2018-2019 school year in
California.
HMS Facilities and Structures
There were a variety of needs that were identified concerning the HMS facilities and
structures required to implement STEM. First, STEM teachers were generally dissatisfied with
administrative support as it related to the implementation of STEM. Second, the challenges that
STEM and non-STEM teachers were experiencing implementing STEM are ‘limited time for
STEM,’ ‘emphasis on ELA and math,’ ‘limited funds to purchase supplies,’ ‘limited professional
development opportunities,’ and ‘limited access to computers or tablets,’ One teacher also
mentioned a very limiting class schedule. There is a perceived lack of lab safety procedures at
HMS and STEM teachers perceive that there is a lack of safe space for students to work, both of
which pose large safety concerns.
Limitations and Implications
Interview Limitations
There was a small sample size for interviews made up of only highly involved parents
from PTA. This would limit the generalizations I could make about (1) parent understanding of
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

88
the enrollment problem and (2) parent perceptions and understanding of STEM. Additionally,
since I am an HMS science teacher, parent interviewees may respond positively to STEM
because they know I am a STEM teacher and they may have remained silent about concerns they
have with HMS staff because I am HMS staff. For instance, they might not say that the reason
parents do not want to send their children to Hillview is because of the HMS staff. Because I
have preconceived notions about the school, this lends itself towards researcher bias. This may
have blinded me from finding out new information and seeing things from an outsider’s
perspective.
Teaching Staff and Administrative Staff Survey Limitations
The perceptions in the Likert-scale questions do not explain how often teachers use
STEM instructional practices, they are just perceptions, and when you compare it against
administrative responses, the data becomes even muddier when using it as a comparative tool,
especially given the small sample sizes. Teachers and administrators might respond differently to
the survey knowing that I would be the person interpreting the data.
Given the findings of this project, there is no way I could determine that STEM will help
increase the enrollment at HMS, however this should not deter EWCSD from pursuing better
STEM practices at HMS.
Recommendations
In the final phase of a needs assessment, needs must be prioritized taking into
consideration short term versus long term goals and whether the need is related to the goals of an
organization (Altschuld & Kumar, 2010). EWCSD is looking to create an attractive STEM
program that may help increase student enrollment at Hillview and this will help guide the
recommendations in this section. EWCSD would need to look at these recommendations and
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

89
determine what it should do first and take into consideration the variables involved including the
instrumental value of the recommendation, the efficacy of solution, the resource availability, and
commitment to change. They would also have to prioritize the needs of the various stakeholders
including students, parents, and staff. I have listed potential recommendations for action that will
address the needs below.
Table 17
Recommendations for Action: Enrollment Issues
Possible Enrollment
Solutions
Priority Cost Urgency (short
term vs. long
term)
Address school
safety issues

high low immediate
Address negative
rumors and
reputation

high low immediate
Publicize high
academic
performance and
honors received

high low immediate
Ensure the prosperity
of the band program
high low immediate

In order to address the declining enrollment problem at HMS, HMS must address the
safety issues at the school, academic performance, band-class availability, and be aware of
competing schools in adjacent districts. Table 17 describes the priority, cost, and urgency of
action. Given the fact that these were the major concerns that parents discussed during the
interviews, these should be considered high priority actions, especially given their low cost and
potential impact on retaining or attracting parents in the community to the school.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

90
Table 18
Recommendations for Action: STEM Program and Parents
Priority Cost Urgency (short
term vs. long
term)
Other concerns

Create more
opportunities for
girls in STEM and
publicize their
achievements for
parents to see

high low immediate
Offer some STEM
exclusivity to HMS
medium low proceed with
caution
This is an
equity vs
equality
dilemma
Utilize the parent
liaison and
administrators to
conduct parent
workshops to teach
parents about the
value of STEM
education

high low 1 year
Promote STEM at
feeder elementary
schools

high high 3 years
Involve parents in
master schedule
development
low low 3 years Complicated
process made
even more
complicated
by involving
parents

The EWCSD must proceed with caution if they were to turn HMS into a STEM focused
school because there is no guarantee that it could attract more parents to the school. Table 18
contains a list of recommendations for action as it pertains to HMS and its parents. These
recommendations are discussed in further detail below. First, STEM may repel parents who are
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91
more arts-focused or those who perceive STEM to be male-oriented. If EWCSD does proceed
forward with more of a STEM focus, they should consider developing a STEAM program that
integrates the arts in STEM. Integrating arts into STEM can promote creativity and the design
process that is valuable in STEM fields such as engineering (Bequette & Bequette, 2012).
Additionally, the EWCSD should immediately promote STEM to girls, possibly with elective
classes aimed at the interests of the female student body or by honoring female STEM
achievement. They should publicize these female-oriented STEM classes in the community to
help bring down any perceived notions that STEM is male-oriented. Second, parents were
attracted to STEM exclusivity and EWCSD should consider providing HMS with exclusive
STEM classes in order to attract parents to the school. However, this will create an equity versus
equality dilemma because HMS has already received more money than the other two middle
schools in the district. This additional assistance was provided to HMS in order to help stop the
enrollment decline at the school. If EWCSD were to invest even more into HMS rather than the
other two middle schools, staff members at the other two schools may be upset. For this reason,
EWCSD should proceed with caution if it were to give HMS any more special treatment. Third,
some parents do not understand the value of STEM education and its potential impact it will
have on their child’s future college major and career. HMS should immediately start publicizing
the importance of the current STEM classes it offers with the community. This could be
developed over a 1 year period where the parent liaison and administrators provide parent
workshops towards the end of the next school year. During these workshops, HMS must help
parents understand the value of STEM in the 21
st
century and the skills students will learn in
STEM classes. Fourth, if the EWCSD wants to utilize STEM to attract parents, it may want to
promote STEM at the elementary schools so that parents in the community start understanding
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

92
the value of STEM earlier, making HMS a potential next step in their child’s STEM journey.
Due to the necessary funding and training of teachers in STEM, the cost would be high and it
might require at least three years to develop, starting with a needs-assessment in year one and
subsequent action in years two and three. Finally, HMS should consider involving parents in the
master schedule development process. In year one, they can take 6
th
grade parent requests of
elective course offerings at the school and use the feedback to create a course schedule that
meets parents and student needs. In the next two years, they could work with those same parents
to involve them in the master schedule creation process. However, HMS has low enrollment
figures and the master schedule development at HMS has traditionally been a very difficult
process with very little flexibility. For this reason, involving parents in this process is listed as a
low priority because it might overcomplicate the process and might not be worth doing.

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Table 19
Recommendations for Action: STEM Program and HMS Staff
Priority Cost Urgency (short term
vs. long term)
Sustain funding high high immediate

Increase STEM
professional
development with
focus on instructional
practices for STEM
teachers

high

high

immediate

Increase STEM
professional
development with
focus on instructional
practices for non-
STEM teachers

medium

high

Urgency depends on
the level of STEM
integration HMS
wants to have

Develop universal lab
safety procedures

high

low

immediate

Utilize larger existing
classrooms for STEM

high

low

immediate

Reduce class sizes for
safety

low

high

Might be cost
prohibitive

Purchase more
technology

low

high

3 years

Create a committee to
design a STEM action
plan using the
recommendations of
this project

high

low

immediate

Table 19 contains a list of recommendations for action as it pertains to the HMS staff and
its ability to implement effective STEM education. First, if HMS wants to improve or maintain
its ability to offer STEM education at the school, it is a high priority that the schoolboard and
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94
district continue to assure that there is sustainable funding for STEM implementation. Given the
technology demands of STEM, the necessity for staff STEM professional development, and the
resources required to implement STEM, sustainable funding is the highest priority on this list.
Second, there is a lack of STEM professional development in the EWCSD with STEM teachers,
non-STEM teachers, and administrators. In order to implement STEM effectively at HMS, all
teachers and administrators should be provided with professional development that focuses on
effective STEM instructional practices. Priority for this type of professional development should
go to STEM teachers and administrators, however if HMS was to move towards integrated
STEM, non-STEM teachers should be included as well. If HMS moved to cross-disciplinary
STEM curriculum, both STEM and non-STEM teachers should get professional development in
integrated studies in order to develop curriculum together. However, if they were to focus on
STEM in just traditional STEM classes, more professional development should be implemented
for just the STEM teachers, especially in the areas of project-based learning, inquiry-driven
instruction, support of practices with Common Core State Standards, and NGSS for science
teachers. This professional development should promote teachers to provide more opportunities
for their students to discuss STEM careers and give students chances to role-play as STEM
professionals. Next, it is a low cost high priority that HMS finds a set of universal lab procedures
that it can immediately use at the school to keep students safe in STEM spaces. For additional
safety, it is a high priority that HMS immediately utilizes its larger classes for STEM spaces. If it
could reduce class sizes for safe STEM implementation by hiring more teachers, that would be
even better but this might be cost prohibitive. In order to build on the ‘T’ in STEM, HMS should
consider purchasing additional technology with a goal of reaching one device for each student
after three years, however this is a lower priority given its high cost and current availability of
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

95
Chromebooks at the school. Finally, if HMS moves farther in its STEM journey, the EWCSD
should form a committee and review the recommendations generated from this project.
Finally, HMS administrators should also compare their responses to the teachers to see
where their perceptions and teachers’ perceptions are out of alignment in the areas of STEM
implementation. Because STEM teachers were generally dissatisfied with administrative support
as it related to the implementation of STEM, administrators should find out where STEM
teachers need more support to effectively implement STEM. The challenges that STEM and non-
STEM teachers were experiencing implementing STEM are ‘limited time for STEM,’ ‘emphasis
on ELA and math,’ ‘limited funds to purchase supplies,’ ‘limited professional development
opportunities,’ and ‘limited access to computers or tablets’. One teacher also mentioned a very
limiting class schedule. These can be areas where HMS and EWCSD administrators can start to
address the perceived lack of support. The HMS administrators should also reflect about their
capacity to lead a STEM school should EWCSD push for it and request EWCSD to support them
with professional development should HMS move towards STEM.
Conclusion
At the end of this project, I have concluded that increasing the amount of STEM
education occurring at HMS may or may not increase the enrollment at HMS and this should not
be a driving force for investing time, energy, and money in STEM at HMS. At the same time that
HMS addresses the concerns of the community as it pertains to the enrollment issues at the
school, HMS should also look to the recommendations provided in this project in order to apply
best practices as they pertain to STEM education. If HMS can implement effective STEM
practices, it will have the potential to influence female students and underrepresented minorities
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

96
to join the STEM workforce while at the same time helping to create citizens fully equipped to
address 21
st
century problems.

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Appendix A
Parent Interview Protocol
Script
• Introduce myself
• Explain the purpose of the interview as shown on the information sheet
• Address terms of confidentiality on information sheet
• Indicate the estimate length of time for the interview
• Ask them if they have any questions before we get started

Questions
1. Recently, some parents have chosen to send their children to the other two middle
schools in the school district rather than Hillview. Why do you believe they have chosen
to do this?
2. Given the new financial support to Hillview Middle School by the school district and the
school board, what are your feelings about the school district investing and promoting
science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM education, at Hillview?
3. This school year, Hillview is offering new STEM elective classes including
microbiology, robotics, engineering, video production, and technology. Do you think
classes like this might benefit your child? (probing question: Can you please elaborate
why?)
4. What other types of STEM-related classes and electives would you like to see at Hillview
in the coming years? (probing question: Can you please elaborate why?)
5. Do you think a STEM-oriented educational program will encourage parents to send their
children to Hillview rather than Granada Middle School or East Whittier Middle School?
(probing question: Can you please elaborate why?)
6. Rather than investing in a STEM education program, do you think that there are other
aspects of Hillview’s academic program that should be improved first? (probing question:
Can you please elaborate why?)
7. If so, what other areas in Hillview’s academic program could be improved to better
benefit your child? (probing question: Can you please elaborate why?)

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Appendix B
Teaching Staff Survey

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Appendix C
Administrative Staff Survey

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MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

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111
Appendix D
Parent Survey Information Sheet

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall (WPH) | 3470 Trousdale Pkwy; LA, CA 90089 | (213) 740-0224
A.
INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF HILLVIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL’S STEM EDUCATION
PROGRAM

You are invited to participate in a study conducted by Christopher Mendoza under the
supervision of Gale Sinatra, Ph.D. and Robert Rueda, Ph.D., at the University of Southern
California because you are a parent of a student at Hillview Middle School. Your participation is
voluntary. Please read this document carefully and ask questions about anything that is unclear to
you.

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
The current study is exploring what Hillview Middle Schools needs in order to take its first steps
towards creating an effective science, technology, education, and math (STEM) education
program.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 30 minute, audio-
recorded interview in the Hillview Parent Center. You do not have to answer any questions you
do not want to; you can skip questions, or withdraw from the interview at any time without any
negative consequences. If you do not want to be recorded, the researcher will take hand written
notes.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. You or your child’s relationship with Hillview Middle
School will not be affected whether you participate or not in this study.

CONFIDENTIALITY
There will be no identifiable information obtained in connection with this study. Your name,
address or other identifiable information will not be collected. Your interview responses will be
identified by a false name (pseudonym). The digital recordings will be destroyed once they have
been transcribed. The anonymous data will be stored on password-protected laptops at the
researchers’ home offices and retained for future research use. If you do not want your data used
in future research studies, you should not participate. At the completion of the study, the findings
MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

112
of the needs assessment will be shared with the East Whittier School District and Hillview
Middle School but no identifying information will be included in any reports or summaries
provided to them.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact:
Investigator: Christopher Mendoza (mendozcw@usc.edu)
PI/Faculty Advisors: Robert Rueda (rueda@usc.edu), Gale Sinatra (gsinatra@usc.edu)

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

113
Appendix E
Staff Survey Information Sheet

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall (WPH) | 3470 Trousdale Pkwy; LA, CA 90089 | (213) 740-0224
A.
INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF HILLVIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL’S STEM EDUCATION
PROGRAM

You are invited to participate in a study conducted by Christopher Mendoza under the
supervision of Gale Sinatra, Ph.D. and Robert Rueda, Ph.D., at the University of Southern
California because you are an administrator or teacher at Hillview Middle School. Your
participation is voluntary. Please read this document carefully and ask questions about anything
that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
The current study is exploring what Hillview Middle Schools needs in order to take its first steps
towards creating an effective science, technology, education, and math (STEM) education
program.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an anonymous online
survey that will be distributed to all Hillview teachers and administrators via email. You do not
have to answer any questions you do not want to; you can skip questions, or withdraw from the
survey by closing your browser window at any time without any negative consequences. The
survey will take an estimated 10-15 minutes to complete.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. Your relationship with Hillview Middle School will not be
affected whether you participate or not in this study.

CONFIDENTIALITY
There will be no identifiable information obtained in connection with this study. Your name,
address or other identifiable information will not be collected. The anonymous data will be
stored on password-protected laptops at the researchers’ home offices and retained for future
research use. If you do not want your data used in future research studies, you should not
participate. At the completion of the study, the findings of the needs assessment will be shared
with the East Whittier School District and Hillview Middle School but no identifying
information will be included in any reports or summaries provided to them.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

114
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact:
Investigator: Christopher Mendoza (mendozcw@usc.edu)
PI/Faculty Advisors: Robert Rueda (rueda@usc.edu), Gale Sinatra (gsinatra@usc.edu)

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract A needs-assessment of Hillview Middle School’s (HMS) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program was conducted with the intention of informing the East Whittier School District (EWCSD) on how to create an effective STEM program and identify whether STEM could attract parents back to the school. Through interviews of parents and surveys of HMS teachers and administrators, this project collected data concerning (1) parent perceptions and understanding of STEM, (2) parent perceptions and understanding of the declining enrollment problem at HMS, (3) teacher STEM-related instructional practices, (4) HMS staff capacity as it pertains to implementing a STEM program, (5) STEM curriculum at HMS, and (6) HMS organizational facilities and structures as they relate to STEM education. The needs of the HMS STEM education program were identified and prioritized for recommendation for future action.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Mendoza, Christopher (author)

Core Title A needs assessment for Hillview Middle School's STEM education program

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 10/04/2017

Defense Date 06/21/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag declining enrollment,education,middle school,needs assessment,OAI-PMH Harvest,STEM

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sinatra, Gale (committee chair), Freking, Frederick (committee member), Rueda, Robert (committee member)

Creator Email chrismendoza25@gmail.com,mendozcw@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-441634

Unique identifier UC11265003

Identifier etd-MendozaChr-5794.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-441634 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-MendozaChr-5794.pdf

Dmrecord 441634

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Mendoza, Christopher

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA