This paper describes how both the Utilization-Focused Evaluation and Theory-Driven Evaluation frameworks were used concurrently to design evaluation methods that were effective for assessing the impact of a dynamic teacher leadership program. The evaluation is specifically situated within the context of a Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, which aimed to grow veteran science teachers into teacher […]
Models are a “Metaphor in Your Brain”: How Potential and Preservice Teachers Understand the Science and Engineering Practice of Modeling
We investigated beginning secondary science teachers’ understandings of the science and engineering practice of developing and using models. Our study was situated in a scholarship program that served two groups: undergraduate STEM majors interested in teaching, or potential teachers, and graduate students enrolled in a teacher education program to earn their credentials, or preservice teachers. […]
Teaching as Emotional Practice or Exercise in Measurement? School Structures, Identity Conflict, and the Retention of Black Women Science Teachers
To effectively teach historically marginalized groups of students, educators have argued for increasing recruitment and retention of teachers of color. This qualitative study draws on identity theory, exploring the relationship between school structures, self-talk, identity development, and retention of an African-American woman science teacher. In this study, the teacher experienced identity conflicts because structures in […]
Promoting STEM Teacher Reflection through Self-Evaluation
Evaluators face serious challenges assessing the impact of teaching practice on student outcomes, such as for assessing the impact of grant-funded teacher training programs. To overcome these barriers, the evaluators of an NSF-funded teacher scholarship/fellowship program elected to coach teachers on conducting their own evaluations of student outcomes. To facilitate this process, we collaboratively developed […]
What STEM Teachers Need to Know and Do for English Language Learners (ELLs): Using Literacy to Learn
A growing concern for STEM teachers is the responsibility of having students who do not speak English proficiently in their content area classrooms. This paper gives a background of how STEM literacy and English language learner (ELL) literacy can be used productively together as well as strategies for STEM teachers to help all students learn. Strategies for […]