Developing Identities in STEM to Cultivate Opportunities that Validate, Empower, and Retain Teachers

University Of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national need for preparing high quality, effective secondary STEM teachers who will teach in high-need school districts. The Developing Identities in STEM to Cultivate Opportunities that Validate, Empower, and Retain Teachers project, a.k.a. DISCOVER, intends to address some of the barriers related to STEM education for youth in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including that academic achievement in science and subsequent matriculation in STEM career fields has been limited for many students, particularly those of color and low-income youth. The DISCOVER project will present a four-year pathway for prospective teachers beginning with extensive, broad-based, and far-reaching recruitment initiatives, aimed at increasing diversity among secondary STEM teachers. Teacher candidates will be supported in exploring teaching through in- and out-of-the-classroom experiences and engaging in navigated community building and customized coursework to better know and understand the unique context and challenges of high-need schools. DISCOVER will increase prospective teachers’ understanding of the nature of science and mathematics to better prepare them to work with culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse students. This project at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in collaboration with Germanna Community College includes partnerships with Fredericksburg City and Orange, Spotsylvania, and Stafford County public schools. Project goals include cultivating Scholars’ identities in their STEM discipline and preparing Scholars to exhibit cultural competency awareness to effectively teach STEM curricula. DISCOVER will provide scholarships to 18 undergraduates pursuing baccalaureate degrees in a STEM discipline over five years who will be supported in learning evidence-based educational practices and become certified as secondary teachers. Four objectives will guide the project. First is to recruit from a broad base to expand diversity among the STEM teaching population. Second is to increase prospective teachers’ understanding of STEM to have sound disciplinary teaching identities. Third is to provide opportunities for prospective teachers to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds with varied aptitudes/attitudes toward STEM. Fourth and finally is to enhance prospective teachers’ abilities to understand and promote healthy attitudes towards STEM and foster STEM literacy through classroom instruction and public engagement. This project will study the effect of increased and deliberate attention to the connections between content and pedagogy on the quality of STEM teaching, particularly in high-need schools. Further, this project will investigate how an increased STEM-specific focus on culturally responsive pedagogy impacts the cultural competency of STEM teachers. DISCOVER will add to an improved understanding of how exploring STEM teaching as a career option in the first years of an undergraduate program and coordinating with community colleges by establishing a robust professional learning community has the potential to lead to an increase in the number of STEM teachers. The involvement of STEM faculty in recruiting, advising, and mentoring roles is an impactful initiative of DISCOVER. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends 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.