A Multilevel Analysis of Persistence of Students Taking a Pre-Engineering Curriculum in High School

Abstract

Using data from the 2010 Indiana, USA public high school graduating class (N=55612), this project employed a multi-level analysis to determine, what if any differences occurred in majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math and freshman to sophomore year persistence, between students attending a school that offers Project Lead the Way and students that don’t, while controlling for being a PLTW student. Results imply that PLTW had a statistically significant impact on the students participating in the program excluding students who were eligible for free and reduced lunch. However, this impact does not appear to carry over to the rest of the student body that does not participate in PLTW.