Investigating Science Education
Conducting high-quality research to better understand science education.
Investigating Science Education uses a variety of approaches to produce high-quality research relevant to understanding, maintaining, and improving science education.
At the heart of the program is a series of representative national surveys — using state-of-the-art survey research techniques — of public secondary school science teachers (the first in 2014-2015, the second in 2019), conducted in collaboration with Eric Plutzer of Pennsylvania State University.
Other research projects, such as the evaluation of our K-12 climate change, evolution, and nature of science lessons, occur as needed.
Measuring the Challenge:
Teaching evolution in U.S. public schools: a continuing challenge
A rigorous, nationwide NCSE/Penn State survey of high school biology teachers finds promising and significant improvements in evolution education over the past 12 years — the last time a similar study was conducted.
Teaching evolution in U.S. public middle schools: results of the first national survey
This report documents the first systematic attempt to investigate middle school evolution education through a representative survey, conducted by NCSE and Penn State University, of science teachers.