The 2027 National Survey of Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering Education

Exemplary teaching in STEM fields encourages students from diverse backgrounds to pursue further education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Improving teaching, however, first requires an understanding of the current landscape of STEM instruction. The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (NSSME+) has collected data on the status of STEM education in the nation at regular intervals since 1977. The 2027 NSSME+, the seventh iteration of the study since its inception, will continue monitoring the status of science, mathematics, and computer science education in the U.S. The study, conducted by Horizon Research, Inc. with assistance from Westat, will examine policies and practices related to STEM education, including the extent to which instruction currently models effective, evidence-based teaching practices, and factors that influence teachers’ decisions about content and pedagogy. The study will also attend to factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of some groups in STEM, further adding to general knowledge about ways to broaden participation.

The 2027 iteration of the NSSME+ study will yield accurate, up-to-date measures of key elements of the United States’ STEM education system, and gauge trends in these areas over time. The study uses a two-stage sampling approach. First a stratified random sample of public and private schools is selected. Second, a stratified random sample of teachers within schools is selected. The study will provide data on teacher characteristics, including teacher content background and demographics; course offerings and enrollments; instructional materials usage; instructional strategies; assessment practices; and emerging issues in STEM education such as the influence of artificial intelligence on school policies and teaching. In addition to national estimates, the different sampling rates used within school and teacher strata allow for planned sub-domain estimates. For example, the study will generate results dis-aggregated by type of community and characteristics of the student body. All analyses will be conducted using weighted data, with school, teacher, and class weights calculated to reflect the sample design selection probabilities. The study will produce several reports and other products to inform policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. These will include an overall technical report, trend reports highlighting stability or changes in data on key indicators collected over multiple iterations of the study, and subject and grade-band specific reports (e.g., The Status of Middle School Mathematics, The Status of High School Biology). The study will also make the data collected available to other researchers for secondary analysis. These and other products of the study will be freely available on the study website (https://horizon-research.com/NSSME/), which houses products and reports from past iterations of the study.