Michigan Master Teacher Fellows Program

Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI

Investigators

Abstract

This Track 3 Noyce project, Michigan Master Teacher Program (MTP), will investigate a potentially scalable approach that aims to increase the leadership abilities of middle school STEM teachers in their schools, districts, and state. The project will include academic training, as well as sustained professional learning, leadership development, and professional networking experiences. The project aims to reverse the well-documented trend of U.S. student achievement in STEM falling behind that of other industrialized nations. MTP will prepare a cadre of 20 middle school STEM teachers, selected for their potential to lead local and statewide STEM education reform efforts. MTP may serve as a model for other national efforts because it has the potential to produce a self-sustaining professional learning network consisting of teachers who can carry the project forward with little external aid. The project uniquely builds on an established statewide network of reform-focused individuals and organizations that are part of the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform (Mi-STAR) program. MTP will focus on the middle school level and emphasize applications of science and to real-world problems that are relevant to students and their families in Michigan. To implement MTP, Michigan Technological University will collaborate with high-need Kalamazoo Public Schools and Saginaw Public Schools, and with two non-profit organizations: Michigan Science Teacher Association and Michigan Earth Science Teacher Association. MTP will provide financial support for two cohorts: ten Master Teaching Fellows with master's degrees in their field and ten Fellows with bachelor's degrees in a STEM discipline, who are also enrolled in the institution's Master of Science in Applied Science Education. Upon completion of the initial professional learning training, Fellows with a master's degree will move into leadership positions in their schools and districts and will also serve as mentors for MTP teachers pursuing a master's degree. MTP will prepare Fellows pursuing a master's degree to assume increasing levels of leadership in their schools and districts. An outcome of the project will be its production of teacher-leaders who are prepared to help other teachers effectively implement "three-dimensional" instructional practices, which are performance expectations for students in the Next Generation Science Standards and Michigan Science Standards. By developing these cohorts of teacher-leaders, MTP has the potential to promote improvements in students' learning outcomes in high-need schools in Michigan. 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.