Cultivating Persistence and Leadership Development in Science Master Teachers

University Of Toledo, Toledo OH

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national need of preparing high-quality science teacher leaders in high-need urban and rural school districts. Given the challenges that exist in the recruitment and retention of teachers in rural and urban school districts, this project will develop one cohort of grade 6-12 Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs) as science teacher leaders in urban and rural districts in Kentucky and Ohio. This cohort will be comprised of 20 effective and experienced teachers from middle and high schools. This project will build leadership capacity in high-need environments by creating a community of practice and incorporating the use of video analysis to improve pedagogical and content knowledge related to implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Additional elements of the program will include classroom observations, teacher exchange program, virtual book studies, and micro-courses in the areas of cultural competence, leadership, and national board professional teaching standards. MTFs will be immersed in research-based teacher and leadership professional development designed to develop mastery of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to lead from the classroom. The project will attempt to reduce the effects of attrition-related factors through the implementation of a structured professional development and leadership program designed to address these retention-related factors in order to cultivate teacher persistence. This project at the University of Toledo will include collaboration between the Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform (PIMSER), and nine high need urban and rural school districts: Defiance, Nelsonville-York, Toledo, and Washington school districts in Ohio and Carter, Fayette, Madison, Pulaski, and Rockcastle school districts in Kentucky. Project goals include the development of MTFs who will exhibit an increased engagement in leadership activities, an increased level of cultural competence, and engagement in strategies designed to increase job satisfaction and teacher persistence. Using the initial and revised Community of Practice Teacher Leader Identity Model (CoPTLM) framework, this project will explore teacher leadership identity development of secondary science teachers across urban and rural contexts. Specifically, this research will explore the following questions: 1) What are the shared competencies, performances, recognitions, and structures necessary to facilitate teacher leadership identity development across diverse urban and rural spaces? 2) What are the unique competencies, performances, recognitions, and structures necessary to facilitate teacher leadership identity development across diverse urban and rural spaces? 3) How does teacher leadership identity develop over time and how is it influenced by variation across diverse teaching contexts? The dissemination plan includes sharing professional development materials, capstone projects, and project results with all stakeholders at the local, regional, state, and national level. This Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships 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.