The existing ACT CCRS articulate the knowledge and skills required to perform core scientific processes, such as designing experiments, interpreting data, and evaluating models. These processes are common to any education in science no matter which particular sequence of courses a student may have taken. Building on this core, the expanded framework also highlights the importance of scientific knowledge and cross-cutting concepts (See Table 2; National Research Council, 2012). A foundational understanding of science requires an appreciation of how scientific knowledge and processes interrelate and is crucial to making informed decisions about socioscientific issues using evidence-based reasoning (Metz, 2008). Owing to the importance of scientific education, many states continue to test science as part of the NCLB accountability system in elementary, middle, and high school, generally reporting scores for physical science, life science, earth/space science, and science practices/process skills.

This expanded framework is also designed to focus on the development of a set of science knowledge and skills that will be essential if the United States hopes to maintain an adequate supply of STEM graduates to retain its competitive advantage in the global economy (Atkinson, Hugo, Lundgren, Shapiro, & Thomas, 2007). In 2011, approximately 12.4% of the American population was employed in purely STEM fields, while another 11.3% was employed in STEM-related fields (US Census Bureau, 2013; see Table 10). The rate of students entering STEM fields in America trails that of several key national competitors (National Science Board, 2010). Even with recent findings  indicating up to 40% of students expressing interest in majoring in STEM prior to entering college  (ACT, 2014b), the percentage of students who actually declare a STEM major upon enrollment is substantially lower (Chen, 2013; Chen & Ho, 2012; Chen & Weko, 2009). For example, in the 2003–2004 academic years, only 28% of undergraduates declared a STEM major in the first year, with just over 2% entering into mathematics or physical science fields (Chen, 2013).

The United States also trails other developed nations in the percent of students graduating with degrees in STEM majors. By spring 2009, 48% of students who originally declared STEM majors  had left STEM fields, either leaving college entirely or declaring a non-STEM major (Chen, 2013).  Only 37% of first-year STEM majors earned a degree or certificate within six years. In addition, only a little over half (56%) of STEM graduates obtain employment in their field of study after graduation (Carnevale, Smith, & Melton, 2011).

The problem may be systemic. Research shows that many science majors have unrealistic expectations concerning how they will perform in science courses, contributing to their overly optimistic view of earning a science degree (Stinebrickner & Stinebrickner, 2014). Put simply, many students who aspire to enter a STEM field are not academically prepared to do so when they enter college. For example, of students who declared an interest in a STEM major, only 41% had at least  a 50% probability of earning a grade of a B or higher in college biology (Noeth, Cruce, & Harmston,  2003). More recently, ACT has examined the typical first mathematics and science courses taken  by STEM majors and examined the level of knowledge and skills needed for a student to have a  reasonable chance of earning a B or higher in those courses (Mattern, Radunzel, & Westrick, 2015).  As compared to the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in mathematics and science of 22 and 23, respectively, STEM readiness benchmarks of 27 in mathematics and 25 in science were empirically derived based on the relationship between ACT scores and course grades in typical STEM first-year courses (i.e., calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering). Clearly, to be prepared to succeed in STEM majors, students need a higher level of academic preparation than that of the typical student entering college.

For those who do earn entry into a STEM field, there are a number of advantages in comparison to other occupations. Specialized knowledge of scientific content is highly correlated with salary (Altonji, 1995; Finnie & Frenette, 2003; Rumberger & Thomas, 1993). In particular, engineers reported the highest average salary of all job categories available with only a bachelor’s degree in 2014 (NACE, 2014). Graduates with health science degrees reported the highest average salary increase of any discipline in 2014 (NACE, 2014). In addition, science skills such as determining  cause and effect, extrapolating trends, and testing predictions are all relevant to many workplace  applications (O*NET, 2014; Watts, 2014).

The expanded approach to science readiness enumerated here builds on the ACT College and Career Readiness Standards by highlighting additional knowledge and skills that are foundational in science. This should provide students with the foundation necessary to pursue careers in STEM fields while also enabling them to effectively transfer scientific knowledge and skills to a broad range of non-STEM careers.