Theme: Preparation
How might we ensure teachers enter the classroom well-prepared to teach STEM?
Many teachers enter the classroom underprepared to effectively engage all students - particularly students of diverse backgrounds, students with disabilities, and English language learners - in STEM learning experiences. Teacher preparation programs have a critical role to play in reversing this trend by providing more opportunities for teacher candidates to observe and practice high-quality STEM teaching, requiring STEM content and pedagogy courses of all candidates (including elementary teacher candidates), and setting higher expectations for program completions. These improvement measures can be bolstered by deliberate coordination between preparation programs and local education agencies, and by state teacher certification requirements and teacher preparation program policies that enable and encourage innovative instructional practices.
Progress
First Look: Remotely Located Multi-Classroom Leadership in Hard-to-Staff Secondary Schools
Watch "First Look: Remotely Located Multi-Classroom Leadership in Hard-to-Staff Secondary Schools", a "Steal This" presentation from North Carolina...
Funding Opportunities to Support the Recruitment, Preparation, and Retention of STEM Teachers of Color
Watch "Funding Opportunities to Support the Recruitment, Preparation, and Retention of STEM Teachers of Color", a recorded "Steal This" presentation...
"It seems as if nobody is asking classroom teachers what will be most helpful"
I was drastically underprepared for my first teaching position. It was the early 1990s, and I had just graduated with a B.S. in mathematics and a...
Many teacher programs have low admission standards, are reluctant to change their approach, and do not track the quality of their graduates.
Published July 2017. Among the most prominent issues facing education improvement in the United States is the level of teacher quality in the...
Teachers often lack preparation for diverse learning needs.
Published July 2017. In schools around the country, many teachers are struggling to meet the diverse learning needs of the students in their...
Pre-service teachers often lack effective coaching.
Published July 2017. Teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is difficult to do well, even for veteran teachers.
STEM content and pedagogy are not integrated.
Published July 2017. Improvements in teacher preparation to better focus on the unique characteristics of 21st-century teaching and learning have been...
Many teacher preparation programs do not account for local or regional needs.
Published July 2017. Local teacher shortages abound, according to recent reports, particularly with respect to finding qualified and well-prepared...