Developing Teacher Leaders' Capacity to Promote Equitable Teaching and Learning in Secondary Science Classrooms

The project aims to serve the national need of developing science teacher leaders in high-need middle and high schools. Specifically, the project will support 18 science teacher leaders in the diverse Saint Paul Public Schools district to improve access to high quality science education for all students. Teacher leaders will engage in professional learning to support student learning by exploring culturally meaningful phenomena and real-world problems. Ultimately, the project aims to improve science education in Saint Paul Public Schools as teachers implement new equitable teaching strategies in their classrooms. In addition, the project will disseminate learning about equitable science teaching to teachers throughout Minnesota. Through this work, students will receive high quality science instruction to better prepare them for the future. This project at the University of Minnesota includes partnerships with Saint Paul Public Schools, BSCS Science Learning, University of Colorado-Boulder, and Hamline University. The project is grounded in a five-dimensional (5D) vision for science learning that makes explicit student interest and identity as co-equal dimensions with disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and cross cutting concepts for supporting meaningful and equitable learning opportunities for all students. Project goals include (i) recruiting 18 secondary science teachers to become teacher leaders, (ii) developing and supporting teacher leaders’ capacity to enhance student learning through NGSS-aligned, phenomena-based instruction, (iii) developing teacher leaders' capacity to provide statewide leadership, (iv) developing an online platform to disseminate project artifacts, aligned with the 5D approach, and (v) developing of a state-wide science network. Qualitative research designs are used to address the following research questions: (i) How do teacher leaders apply their learning to design meaningful 5D learning and assessment opportunities for students? (ii) How do teacher leaders mobilize the 5D vision, tools, and processes to identify and address problems of practice? (iii) How do teacher leaders incorporate their professional learning into their work with other science teachers? (iv) To what extent are teacher leaders able to impact other teachers’ learning and science teaching? The project intends to establish a model for how to use phenomena-based learning in ways that engage student interest and support students’ identity development as knowers, doers, and users of science. 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.