Project Firebirds Reinventing STEM Teaching (Project FRST)

University Of The District Of Columbia, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

In response to research that shows that high quality science education in the middle grades is crucial to the national goal of increasing interest in STEM, this Teaching Fellowship (TF) project will strengthen middle science teaching and learning in the District of Columbia by training 20 new science teachers and providing them with a variety of professional development opportunities. Key project elements include (a) a twenty-week Practice of Science internship directed by Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE), (b) a Master of Arts in Teaching degree that emphasizes foundations of urban education, content area pedagogy, and field experiences, and (c) three years of new teacher mentoring after graduation. The project will be done in partnership with the DC Public and Public Charter Schools. Recognizing that university-based teacher preparation must be aligned with the needs of the school districts, this project will use a constructed understanding of the high-needs K-12 teaching environment as a context for training teachers in STEM content and pedagogy. Thus as part of their coursework in science and science teaching, the TFs will have training on academic science language (through the Center for Applied Linguistics) and differential instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Formative and summative evaluation will address the extent to which the project has met its goals to retain and place TFs in high-needs middle schools, align curricula and pedagogy to Next Generation Science Standards, and lead to effective secondary science teaching practices and education of diverse learners. The results of the project will be disseminated at the Association for Science Teacher Education International Conference and the National STEM Conference.