1 Running head: ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES OF PLTW ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES OF PROJECT LEAD THE WAY: A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF PLTW IN IOWA Tom Schenk Jr. 1 David Rethwisch 2 Melissa Chapman 3 Frankie Santos Laanan 4 Soko S. Starobin 5 Leaf Zhang 6 WORKING PAPER September 29, 2011 1 Iowa Department of Education, Division of Community Colleges & Workforce Preparation tom.schenk@iowa.gov 2 Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, The University of Iowa, david-rethwisch@uiowa.edu 3 Professional Data Analysts, MChapman@pdastats.com 4 Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Iowa State University, laanan@iastate.edu 5 Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Iowa State University, starobin@iastate.edu 6 Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Iowa State University, lyzhang@iastate.edu The authors would like to thank Xiaoping Wang, Diane Chadwick, Mary Grinstead, and Peter Orazem who provided invaluable feedback. We would also like to thank participants of the American Educational Research Association 2010 in Denver, Colorado, Association of Institutional Researchers 2010 in Chicago, Illinois, P-12 Summit in Seaside, Oregon and Evaluation 2010 in San Antonio, TX. This research was partially funded by the Iowa Math and Science Educational Partnership and the Kern Family Foundation. All opinions expressed in this document are solely those of the author’s and may not necessarily reflect those of the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa State University, University of Iowa, nor the State of Iowa.