- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2150781, 2243496
- First Name Brooke
- Last Name Whitworth
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Brooke Whitworth, Clemson University
Need
The Building Leadership Among Science Teachers (BLAST) program proposes to support and develop two cohorts of K-8 Master Teacher Fellows (MTFs) into science teacher leaders in South Carolina (SC). One cohort will consist of twelve K-5 MTFs and the second cohort will consist of twelve 6-8 MTFs. These cohort sizes were established to allow for a tight-knit community of MTFs while still broadening MTFs’ professional networks and attending to their grade-level needs. Each recruited MTF must already have a master’s degree and will receive a $12,250 salary supplement each year during their five-year commitment. The $12,250 salary supplement represents an approximate 26% pay increase for the selected MTFs as the average teaching salary for a teacher with a master’s degree plus five years’ experience in our targeted districts is $46,555. This project will increase the number of science teacher leaders in rural, high needs schools in the upstate of SC and build on pilot programs previously implemented in Arizona and Mississippi (e.g., Whitworth et al., 2021).
Research Questions
1. What is the effectiveness of the MTFs in terms of their ability to: -design and implement best practices in science instruction? -develop and complete a professional learning plan? -develop and implement a leadership plan? -take on leadership roles connected to science in their schools and districts? 2. How does change happen in a rural school system via teacher leaders? 3. In what ways does rurality support and/or hinder teacher leadership? 4. What are key leverage points in rural spaces that support rigorous science education?
Approach
Our work is guided by Situated Learning Theory and the Science Teacher Leader Framework. Situated Learning Theory suggests knowledge is created as individuals interact with their environment to achieve a goal; recognizes learning as a situated and contextualized process that is continually occurring; and asserts the understanding an individual has of a concept is constantly under construction and influenced by every experience they encounter (McLellan, 1996). The individual and the context are not separate but are influencing and changing (or constructing) each other (McLellan,1996). Furthermore, the context is not just physical, but includes the social, ethical, and historical norms affecting how people interact with objects in their environment and others. McLellan (1996) identified key components of Situated Learning Theory as: reflection, cognitive apprenticeship, collaboration, coaching, opportunities for multiple practice, and the articulation of learning skills. Those who specialize in teacher leader development have utilized a number of conceptual frameworks to guide their work, from the Teacher Leader Model Standards (Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2011) to particular domains of the Danielson Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 2014), to the Teacher Leadership Competencies (CTQ, NBPTS, & NEA, 2014). This project will utilize the Science Teacher Leader Framework (STLF; Cheung et al., 2018) due to its pragmatism and science-based features. Based on stakeholders’ ideas about science teacher leadership in their work, Cheung et al. (2018) created a profile consisting of four categories: Collaborating with Others to Improve Science Instruction, Advocating in Service of Effective Science Instruction, Modeling Effective Science Instruction, and Providing Resources for Effective Science Instruction. Each category includes descriptions of what teacher leaders will do to deepen their practice and what they will do in collaboration with others. To become more skilled in each of the four areas in the STLF, teacher leaders will need support in the areas typically seen in teacher leader development (CK, pedagogical knowledge, and leadership skills; Wenner & Campbell, 2017), but the STLF also encourages special attention to be paid to areas particular to science, such as deeply understanding the NGSS (NGSS Lead States, 2013), materials, safety, and advocating for instructional time (Whitworth et al., 2022).
Outcomes
At this point we have recruited 28 master teacher fellows who will be starting the program in summer 2025. We are in the midst of finalizing our planning of the PD sessions for the summer and the asynchronous modules for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Broader Impacts
The development of science MTFs who work alongside their colleagues to teach underrepresented students in STEM has the potential to improve STEM educational outcomes in a state where more than 51% of the student populations are minorities and 62% of students are described as living in poverty (SCDE, 2021). With better prepared MTFs who are well-versed in science instruction, teachers can be supported to teach in high-need settings with students who have had historically poor (or negative) experiences in the science classroom setting. We estimate that the 24 MTFs in BLAST may work with 2,500-7,000 students directly over the life of the project. However, BLAST has the potential to influence science education well beyond these numbers as the MTFs work with their respective schools and districts. In addition, BLAST will enhance other teacher leadership efforts happening across the U.S. as the results of this project will be widely disseminated through national and regional channels to further improve K-12 science education. We will also work with the SCDE to share asynchronous modules that can be replicated by districts and state subject area coaches as part of their regular PLD for teachers.
