STEM Teacher Effectiveness and Retention in High-Need Schools: Combining Equity & Ecological Frameworks

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national need to improve the retention of effective STEM teachers in high need school districts. Elevated rates of turnover of teachers contribute to lowered educational outcomes, particularly for high-need schools. Improving STEM teacher retention creates conditions for science and mathematics teachers to develop their expertise and foster relationships that will strengthen school programs. The project also seeks to understand how to increase the presence of racially diverse STEM teachers by identifying cases where conditions allow STEM teachers of color to remain in the classroom. The project team will examine large quantitative data sets to track STEM teacher movement and instructional effectiveness in the state of Connecticut. Statistical analyses will be complemented by interviews with practicing STEM teachers. This research has the potential to improve understanding of STEM teacher retention patterns and the relationships between teacher movement and instructional effectiveness. The results of this study have the potential to inform school district decision-making and state official policy-shaping, driving the development of data-driven interventions focused on STEM teacher retention in the service of effectiveness and equity. This project at the University of Connecticut has three goals. The first is to uncover school factors strongly associated with greater teacher retention and subsequent teaching effectiveness. The project team will achieve this goal via quantitative analyses of data collected by the state of Connecticut as part of routine practices. The second is to examine intersections of teacher identity (race and gender) contributing to STEM teacher retention and effectiveness as measured by data collected annually by the state of Connecticut to monitor highly qualified teaching, educator certification, and school staffing. The third is to conduct iterative interviews with practicing STEM teachers of various demographics (i.e., White, Black, Latinx, and Asian) to seek their perspectives about forces influencing STEM teacher retention, movement between schools, and effectiveness. Using a participatory design research approach, the project team will also provide periodic updates of the study’s statistical outputs to these teachers to solicit their interpretations and recommendations. In this way conversational cycles throughout the project will help to refine the quantitative analyses. The overall investigation will draw from three theoretical frames: conservation of resources, goal congruity, and sociopolitical consciousness. Multilevel analyses will identify factors associated with the retention of effective STEM teachers. Graph theory techniques will assess movement, including a social network analysis of matched pairs to assess impact of relevant factors. This research project has the potential to provide recommendations to improve STEM teacher retention and advance high-quality STEM instruction in high need school districts. This Track 4: Noyce Research project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced K-12 teachers to become STEM leaders 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.