NebraskaSTEM: Supporting Elementary Rural Teacher Leadership

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

NebraskaSTEM: Supporting Elementary Rural Teacher Leadership is a Track 3 Master Teaching Fellow project that seeks to improve rural elementary teachers' leadership in supporting successful experiences for students in STEM disciplines. This project focuses specifically on challenges that elementary teachers in rural high-need schools face in providing rich learning opportunities in STEM subjects. The program aims to increase the Master Teaching Fellows? depth of content knowledge in the various STEM disciplines, and to enhance their instructional practices and pedagogical skills. As a result, it is expected that they will be better able to lay the foundation for the students? future academic success. NebraskaSTEM will create a 14-month Master of Arts degree program in elementary education with a specialization in STEM Education. It will also work with the Master Teaching Fellows to develop and implement STEM initiatives (school/community-based STEM projects) in the rural schools in which they teach. The integration of STEM content areas will also be a powerful feature of NebraskaSTEM, enabling teachers to teach STEM in more integrated ways, thus enhancing integrated STEM learning for K-6 students in rural Nebraska schools. The degree program and findings related to how a Noyce project can enhance rural elementary STEM teacher leadership will have potential value for other elementary teacher programs. Fifteen experienced, exemplary elementary teachers will be recruited from high-need rural elementary schools to receive professional growth experiences (including graduate coursework), mentoring as teacher leaders, and salary supplements of $10,000/year. During the first project-year, they will take graduate coursework. NebraskaSTEM coursework will lead to a master's degree for those without one; Master Teaching Fellows with master's degrees will take one less course and will not write a thesis. Coursework will include four STEM content courses, a pedagogy course, a culture course focused on rural schools, and multiple leadership courses. Master Teaching Fellows without prior coursework in education research will take courses to develop research skills. Ongoing mentorship and professional development during years two through five will provide MTFs with opportunities to apply and share their knowledge and skills as they implement high-quality STEM instruction in their classrooms and serve as STEM leaders in their local schools and communities. Developing elementary STEM leadership capacity in rural Nebraska schools is intended to positively affect the schools, districts, and regions in which the Master Teaching Fellows serve. NebraskaSTEM Master Teaching Fellows and the project team will establish and maintain a website for outreach and dissemination of the project activities and results, and develop videos during years 2-5 to document and share information about the NebraskaSTEM master's degree program and Master Teaching Fellows STEM initiatives. Teachers throughout Nebraska and the nation may benefit from the dissemination of scholarly publications, conference presentations, and professional development related to NebraskaSTEM programs and related STEM initiatives in rural Nebraska schools. 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.