The Skyline TEAMS Model - A Longitudinal Look at the Impacts of K-12 Engineering on Perception, Preparation and Persistence

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk

This paper examines longitudinal impacts of a partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder’s K-12 Engineering Education initiative and St. Vrain Valley School District. University and high school educators co-developed a replicable pre-college engineering model across a nine-school feeder system, serving Colorado students traditionally underrepresented in engineering. The approach culminates in a high school STEM Academy aimed at strengthening student motivation, persistence, and performance through hands-on design experiences and assessment results.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

ABsTrACT

Partnerships and replicable engineering model

Trends in K-12 engineering

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | SUMMER 2012 The Skyline TEAMS Model: A Longitudinal Look at the Impacts of K-12 Engineering on Perception, Preparation and Persistence MALINDA S. ZARSKE University of Colorado Boulder JANET L. YOWELL University of Colorado Boulder HEIDI L. RINGER Skyline High School Longmont, CO JACQUELYN F. SULLIVAN University of Colorado Boulder and PATRICIA A. QUIÑONES Skyline High School Longmont, CO ABsTrACT This paper describes the longitudinal impacts of a partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder’s K-12 Engineering Education initiative and the St. Vrain Valley School District. Together, university and high school educators created a replicable pre-college engineering model in a nineschool feeder system, which serves many Colorado students who are traditionally underrepresented in the engineering profession, and culminates with a high school STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Academy whose graduates are motivated to thrive in engineering colleges. However, the following question,“Is this an effective model for increasing student STEM persistence and performance?” remains a driver for our investments as we refine the K-12 engineering program based on partner school feedback and quantitative and qualitative assessment results. Data show that our K-12 engineering program has positively impacted student perception, preparedness, and persistence in engineering based on regular, pre-college hands-on engineering design experiences. A description of the multi-year K-12 engineering model and longitudinal analysis summer 2012 1 advances in engineering education the skyline teaMs Model: a Longitudinal Look at the impacts of K-12 engineering on Perception, Preparation and Persistence of students’ concurrent math course choices is presented. Also, subsequent student persistence in and from the STEM Academy is addressed. TreNDs IN K-12 eNGINeerING According to the U. S. Census Bureau, one half of the U. S. population by 2050 will be nonwhite [1] . This means that engineering solutions will have to be acceptable to an increasingly diverse population, and the engineering profession will have to draw much more heavily on underrepresented groups for the country to maintain, let alone increase, its technological capability [2] . While the overall number of engineering degrees granted in the U. S. has gone up in recent years, although not to its historic high of almost 80,000 in 1985 [2], just 4. 5% of our nation’s BS graduates earn engineering degrees, masking the reality that only 1. 6% of all bachelor level degrees are awarded to women in engineering [3, 4] . As women make up an increasingly higher majority of all college graduates, the system resistence to expanding women’s participation in engineering is alarming; begging the question of who will engineer our processes and products of the future? By comparison, throughout Asia, 21% of university graduates are engineers, while in Europe, 12. 5% of university graduates earn engineering degrees [2] . The persistently low student achievement among high poverty students is not an acceptable baseline condition for the engineering profession—and is a barrier to broadening participation. To help close achievement gaps, engineering offers a real-world application of the fundamental science and math principles that students explore early in their education. Schoolroom experiences in an engineering context provide a gateway to creative, real-life problem solving, and exploration in all areas of science and mathematics. By experiencing the engineering design process first hand, students begin to see how engineering ingenuity and inventions touch and shape their everyday lives, and they begin to develop a self-identity that possibly encompasses a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) future.

FAQs

What partnership is evaluated in the paper?

The study evaluates a partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder’s K-12 Engineering Education initiative and the St. Vrain Valley School District.

What model does the paper describe?

The paper describes a replicable pre-college engineering model implemented across a nine-school feeder system, culminating in a high school STEM Academy.

How does the program aim to improve student outcomes?

It targets student perception, preparedness, and persistence by providing regular, pre-college hands-on engineering design experiences and by using quantitative and qualitative assessment results.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk