Page 14 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

Executive Summary

The goal of the study described in this executive summary was to assess the value and feasibility
of developing and implementing content standards for engineering education at the K–12 level.
Content standards have been developed for three disciplines in STEM education—science,
technology, and mathematics—but not for engineering. To date, a small but growing number of
K–12 students are being exposed to engineering-related materials, and limited but intriguing
evidence suggests that engineering education can stimulate interest and improve learning in
mathematics and science as well as improve understanding of engineering and technology.
Given this background, a reasonable question is whether standards would improve the quality
and increase the amount of teaching and learning of engineering in K–12 education.

Overall Conclusion

The committee concluded that, although it is theoretically possible to develop standards for
K–12 engineering education, it would be extremely difficult to ensure their usefulness and effec-
tive implementation. This conclusion is supported by the following findings: (1) there is
relatively limited experience with K–12 engineering education in U.S. elementary and secondary
schools, (2) there is not at present a critical mass of teachers qualified to deliver engineering
instruction, (3) evidence regarding the impact of standards-based educational reforms on student
learning in other subjects, such as mathematics and science, is inconclusive, and (4) there are
significant barriers to introducing stand-alone standards for an entirely new content area in a
curriculum already burdened with learning goals in more established domains of study.

Alternatives to New Standards

For all of the reasons described above, the committee argues against the development of stan-
dards for K–12 engineering education at this time. Instead, we urge two approaches for
leveraging current national and state standards to improve the quality of K–12 engineering
education in the United States.
The first approach, infusion, is a proactive strategy to embed relevant learning goals from
one discipline (e.g., engineering) into standards for another (e.g., mathematics). This could be
done most easily when state or national standards are being revised. The second approach,
mapping, would involve integrating (or mapping) “big ideas” in engineering onto current
standards in other disciplines. Mapping is a strategy for retrospectively drawing attention to
connections that may or may not have been recognized by the developers of current standards.

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