Developing STEM Teacher Leaders in Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, Engineering Design, and Induction

This project aims to serve the national need of developing STEM teacher leaders to serve in high-need school districts. Across the country, high-need school districts struggle to retain secondary STEM teachers, which has a negative effect on teaching and learning. The project will work with the teachHOUSTON program at the University of Houston (UH) to develop STEM teacher leaders in the areas of culturally responsive classroom management, engineering design, and induction to retain STEM secondary teachers. This project at the University of Houston includes partnerships with three high-need Houston Independent School Districts (Alief, Pasadena, and Spring Branch), along with Northbrook High School and the National Math and Science Initiative. Project goals include the following: 1) recruit 15 Master Teacher Fellows (MTFs) to receive intensive training in culturally responsive classroom management (CRCM) and engineering design; 2) provide financial support to 15 MTFs with salary supplements of $20,000 for 5 years; 3) provide MTFs’ training and opportunity to mentor prospective and practicing teachers in CRCM and engineering design; 4) enhance the teachHOUSTON induction program by having MTFs lead professional development (PD) in the areas of CRCM and engineering design and serve as induction mentors; and 5) create an online PD platform of up to 20 virtual courses with key contributions by MTFs on CRCM and integration of engineering design to build teacher capacity through newly designed resources for prospective and practicing teachers. This project has the potential to generate new knowledge on teacher preparation and retention by investigating the effects of participation in program components that seek to enhance their cultural competence, classroom management capacity, and teaching practice. UH researchers will evaluate the impact of this grant around teacher retention, teacher leadership development, CRCM, and engineering design integration using qualitative and mixed methods research. Presentations, demonstrations, and publications will be shared at education and STEM conferences to deepen understanding of infusing CRCM and engineering design in high-need school districts, as well as on mentorship and teacher leadership development through induction efforts. 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.