While there is widespread agreement regarding the importance of having Master STEM Educators, there is limited "know-how" regarding how to cultivate them. With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the Claremont Colleges' STEM Initiative (CCSI) to Improve STEM Pedagogy Through Transferable STEM Skills will research this issue while preparing 24 Master STEM Educators to address the nation's need for effective STEM teachers. In partnership with 6 local school districts, STEM industry professionals, and the Woodrow Wilson National Foundation, Education faculty from Claremont Graduate University and STEM faculty from the Claremont Colleges will recruit 9 exemplary math and science teachers (Master Teacher Fellows or MTFs) and provide them with professional development specific to STEM Education. Additionally, the project will recruit 15 high-performing college graduates with an undergraduate degree in a STEM discipline (Teaching Fellows or TFs) to first obtain the skillsets of a math or science teacher and then to receive added support and professional development to become a Master STEM Educator. The outcome will be teachers who have a solid foundation in their discipline and who enable students to develop transferable skills that cut across the STEM disciplines. With a focus on transferable skills, the proposal would offer a professional development program consisting of a series of courses that teach transferrable STEM skills in four STEM areas: Applied Mathematics, Life Sciences, Computer Science and Engineering. In addition, the Fellows will participate in Professional Learning Communities and receive support for attaining National Board Certification.
The CCSI project will implement, refine and evaluate its research-based Professional Development program that draws on the knowledge-base of effective STEM teacher preparation and effective STEM pedagogical practices. In doing so, the project will yield insights regarding how to best prepare and develop Master STEM educators. The CCSI will refine an observational protocol used to measure a teacher's STEM pedagogical practices and transferable STEM skills. The CCSI Observation Tool will build upon the Reform Teaching Observation Protocol (Sawada et al, 2002) and reflect state adopted standards for science education (Next Generation Science Standards) and math education (Common Core State Standards). Along with other data collected through interviews, portfolio analysis, and Teacher Performance Assessment, this protocol will be used to evaluate whether CCSI's STEM PD Program had a value-added impact on the funded MTFs and TFs and their K-12 students. CCSI Fellows will be mentored in how to make contributions to the field which will include leading professional development in their districts for other math/science teachers interested in how they too can bring STEM concepts into their classrooms. The CCSI Project thus will help to create teacher leaders, instructional change agents who can have a profoundly positive impact on students and schools. The CCSI Master Teacher Fellows (MTFs) will also receive mentorship training and it is expected that the CCSI MTFs will continue to serve as mentors to emerging STEM educators. Furthermore, the four-course STEM series that is at the heart of CCSI's STEM PD Program will be evaluated as a cornerstone of STEM Induction Programs for math and science teachers wanting to develop as STEM Educators thereby serving as a model for a STEM Induction program in California. Collectively, the 24 CCSI Fellows will impact approximately 3,120 K-12 students annually. While the number of students who will be taught by the CCSI Fellows is notable, even more significant is the impact the project will have on their instruction in the classroom. The CCSI Fellows will compel their students to think of math and science in terms of applied situations and the transferable STEM skills needed to meet the demands of 21st Century colleges and careers.
