Program Evaluation of a Middle School Stem/Steam Program

Beginning with the Obama administration’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign in 2009, integrated science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs have flourished in our nation’s schools. Designed to increase the number of STEM professionals in the workforce and contribute to the United States’ continued viability in the global economy, these programs promote inquiry-based, technology-driven learning in collaborative, cross-curricular projects. Some schools have added art, and liberal arts, to the curriculum, making them STEAM programs. Middle schools are a popular home for STEM and STEAM programs, serving as the connective tissue in the K-12 STEM/STEAM “pipeline.” To date, there have been relatively few program evaluations of STEM/STEAM programs in the literature on these programs. The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation of a middle school program. This program evaluation examined the role of student interest, student self-efficacy, and teacher confidence in the success of a middle school STEAM program. The methodology of the study was a pragmatic, mixed methods program evaluation. The data collection instruments included an interview with the school principal, focus groups with the school’s teachers, and surveys of all teachers and all students. The results of the evaluation indicated that faithfully implemented over the long-term, a school-wide STEAM program may contribute to student interest in STEAM professions, student self-efficacy, teachers’ confidence in their instructional capacity, and student academic achievement