Strengthening STEM teaching in Native American serving schools through long-term, culturally responsive professional development

虽然关于STEM教师有效专业发展的知识由来已久，但很少有人在为美洲原住民服务的学区的教师中应用和研究这些知识。该项目将探讨如何在两个不同的土著社区应用国家实施的专业发展模式，该模式对为土著服务的课堂的教师实践产生的影响，以及该模式促进将符合文化的方法纳入STEM教学的能力。该项目将大大增加在这一独特背景下可用的数据和知识，鉴于美国土著人民在教育成就和STEM职业参与方面的持续差距，这一点至关重要。K-12教师将参加一个为期8个月的队列，旨在增加他们的STEM内容知识，并促进他们努力开发学术严谨、适应文化的STEM教学单元，供其课堂使用。该项目将增加我们关于国家实施的专业发展模式在两个具体土著背景下的可转移性的知识，并将增加我们关于STEM专业发展如何影响教师实践的知识。最后，该项目将提供具体的例子和知识，说明STEM专业发展、课程开发和教师实践如何在两种不同的本地学生服务环境中采用文化响应的方法。该项目包括制定和实施长期的、教师驱动的、跨年级水平和教学领域的合作的专业发展，并由具有STEM专业知识的大学教师促进。这项研究将遵循集体案例研究方法，以建立对以下问题的有力和细致入微的理解：(1)国家专业发展模式如何在两个具体和不同的土著背景下运作；(2)专业发展模式如何影响母语学校教师的STEM教学实践；以及(3)母语学校的教师如何采用适应文化的STEM课程开发和STEM教学实践方法。数据将包括对参与的教师、大学教师和其他利益相关者的访谈和焦点小组，教师实践的课堂观察和《独家笔记本》手工艺品，以及教师开发的STEM教学单元。数据将采用开放编码和集中编码相结合的方式进行迭代编码，采用恒定的比较方法，特别强调确定数据来源中存在的与文化有关的要素。将进行个人和跨案例比较，以揭示解决研究问题的更广泛的主题。结果和产品将通过同行评议出版物、会议演示、年度合作伙伴会议以及将教师开发的教学单元张贴到基于网络的、可免费访问的信息交换中心来传播给研究人员、从业者和社区成员。探索研究K-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高K-12学前班学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Although there is a long-established body of knowledge about effective professional development for STEM teachers, very little of it has been applied and studied with teachers in Native American-serving school districts. This project will explore how a nationally-implemented professional development model is applied in two distinct Indigenous communities, the impact the model has on teacher practice in Native-serving classrooms, and the model's capacity to promote the integration of culturally responsive approaches to STEM teaching. This project will substantially grow the data and knowledge available within this unique context, which is critical given the persistent gaps in educational achievement and STEM career participation among Indigenous people in the U.S. K-12 teachers will participate in an 8-month cohort designed to increase their STEM content knowledge and facilitate their efforts to develop academically rigorous, culturally responsive STEM instructional units for use in their classrooms. The project will add to our knowledge about the transferability of a nationally-implemented professional development model within two specific Indigenous contexts, and it will grow our knowledge about how STEM professional development impacts teacher practice. Finally, the project will provide concrete examples and knowledge about the ways culturally responsive approaches to STEM professional development, curriculum development, and teacher practice are taken up in two distinct Native-student-serving contexts.This project includes the development and implementation of professional development that is long-term, teacher-driven, collaborative across grade levels and content areas, and facilitated by university faculty with STEM expertise. The research will follow a collective case study methodology in order to establish a robust and nuanced understanding of (1) how a national professional development model operates within two specific and distinct Indigenous contexts; (2) how a professional development model impacts teachers' STEM instructional practice in Native-serving schools; and (3) how teachers in Native-serving schools engage culturally responsive approaches to STEM curriculum development and STEM instructional practice. Data will include interviews and focus groups with participating teachers, university faculty, and other stakeholders, classroom observations and "Scoop Notebook" artifacts of teacher practice, and the teacher-developed STEM instructional units. Data will be iteratively coded with a combination of open and focused coding using a constant comparative method with a specific emphasis on identifying the culturally responsive elements present across the data sources. Individual and cross-case comparisons will be conducted to reveal broader themes that address the research questions. Results and products will be disseminated to researchers, practitioners, and community members through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, annual partnership meetings, and posting of the teacher developed instructional units to a web-based, freely accessible clearing house.The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.