Building Capacity for Critical Need STEM and Special Education Teachers in Southeast Arkansas

University Of Arkansas At Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff AR

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to serve the national need for developing research capacity regarding STEM teacher effectiveness and retention in high-need school districts. This Capacity Building project seeks to conduct research that will assist in addressing teacher shortages in Southeast Arkansas through activities to provide data for submitting a future competitive Noyce Track 4 Research proposal. It intends to build institutional capacity at a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) aligned with the broader historic educational mission of the institution to respond to the social and economic needs of the state and region. The project will strengthen substantive collaborations and partnerships with the lead state education teacher effectiveness and licensure agency, twelve (12) high-need local educational agencies (LEAs), two (2) local and regional educational service cooperatives, and two (2) open enrollment public charter schools to promote knowledge sharing to help address critical need teacher shortages in Southeast Arkansas. This project also intends to identify best practices that drive STEM teacher pipelines and improve teacher retention in high-need LEAs. The project at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), a public comprehensive 1890 land grant institution and Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Arkansas, will utilize a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) model to identify data that the project will find useful in studying STEM teacher effectiveness and retention. Project activities and specific actions include strengthening LEA community-based partnerships and collaborative relationships among an MSI and educational cooperatives, high-need school districts, and open enrollment public charter schools that struggle to fill K-12 critical need STEM teacher and Special Education teacher positions each academic year. During the Capacity Building year, the project will identify and examine factors, including school experiences, that contribute to the retention of STEM and Special Education teachers of color. The project will convene a “Critical Needs STEM and Special Education Teacher Capacity Building Conference” that will engage regional, state, and national level educators and administrators to analyze the broader contextual factors (agentic and communal goals) that may cause critical need teacher attrition within high-need LEAs in Southeast Arkansas. This project will also provide important baseline data and build capacity for an MSI to secure the critical partnerships and support needed to submit a competitive Track 4 Research Proposal. The broader impact of this work includes the potential for other MSIs to build their institutional capacities, improve their teacher education programs, and through intentional planning strengthen community-based partnerships, collaborations, and support to address critical need teacher shortages. The Capacity Building 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.