Washington STEM Teachers Engaging in Leadership, Learning, And Research

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The project aims to serve the national need of developing and retaining diverse STEM teacher leaders. It seeks to secure exemplary STEM teacher leaders by growing and supporting a network of STEM instructional change agents across Washington state. Using a novel Central Washington University Master’s degree program in STEM Leadership as a network hub, these teacher leaders are expected to guide other STEM teachers in their local high-need districts to use inclusive STEM teaching practices. The project is designed to especially benefit students from historically underserved communities and backgrounds underrepresented in STEM disciplines by developing the knowledge, skills, and perspective of STEM teachers to provide instruction in culturally responsive ways. The teacher leaders are expected to increase the relevance of STEM by connecting students with appropriate STEM community partners. Such efforts intend to allow for fuller participation in STEM by all learners, which may contribute to the development of a more diverse STEM workforce.This project at Central Washington University includes partnerships with McFarland Middle School, Wahluke School District, Yakima School District, Educational Service Districts (ESDs) 112 and 121, Career Connect SW STEM Network (partnered with ESD 112), Apple STEM Network (partnered with ESD 171), and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Project goals include growing a network of STEM instructional change agents by developing Master Teacher Fellows’ (MTFs) capacity to lead other STEM teachers in using culturally responsive pedagogy, integrating project-based STEM curriculum, and incorporating authentic assessment practices. Another goal is supporting the systemic change efforts of MTFs through an effective network that promotes collaboration among a wide range of STEM stakeholders, including STEM teachers, administrators, and community/industry partners. MTFs will study peer mentoring and coaching frameworks to develop skills in using a coaching cycle and effective strategies in support of other STEM teachers’ effectiveness. A total of 16 diverse K-12, experienced and exemplary teachers of STEM are to be selected and supported as MTFs over six years to lead instructional change efforts in their local contexts (school/district) through cycles of collective inquiry. MTFs are expected to disseminate findings from these collaborative inquiry projects both within their local contexts and via an online portal to the larger network of STEM stakeholders statewide. This is intended to expand understanding of how multiple levels of the education system can work synergistically to enhance STEM teaching and learning. The project’s research and evaluation efforts have the potential to ascertain the efficacy of the Keck/PKAL model in facilitating systemic change in cross-institutional K-12 settings (i.e., across schools, districts), and thus contribute to the growing body of research on supporting networked change to improve STEM instruction. This Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.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.