- Year 2023
- NSF Noyce Award # 1949530
- First Name John
- Last Name Settlage
- Institution University of Connecticut
- Role/Position PI
- Workshop Category Track 4: Noyce Research
- Workshop Disciplines Audience STEM Education (general)
- Target Audience Evaluators/Education Researchers
- Topics Track 4 Research Results
- Session Length 75 minutes minutes
Goals
This workshop is designed for current or aspiring Noyce Track 4 project personnel concerned about STEM teacher retention. As the Noyce Program has evolved, there have been refinements and advances beyond recruiting and preparing science and math teachers for careers in high-needs setting. Ingersoll offered the “leaky bucket” metaphor to describe how the loss of teachers contributes greatly to the inadequate supply of qualified STEM teachers. Our collective challenge is to think and act beyond simply increasing STEM teacher production by also reducing untimely departures from the profession. Clearly, there is a need to better understand STEM teacher turnover if we are to identify and promote mechanisms to reduce attrition. Otherwise, inequitable distributions of qualified teachers will continue to stymie even the best efforts to improve science and math outcomes in schools serving large proportions of long-income families.
Evidence
The intent of this workshop is gathering expertise and distributing information about the perceived challenges for researching STEM teacher turnover. These include theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, data analysis and representation, and translation of findings into practice. Evidentiary Basis: Current Track 4 projects will be invited to share their work, particularly to dispel misconceptions about teacher turnover research and to offer hopeful advice about conducting informative scholarship. The goal of the workshop is to identify collaborative opportunities to expand and deepen community understandings about the mechanisms influencing STEM educator turnover, especially in the service of improved inclusion and increased diversity within the teaching workforce.
Proposal
This workshop is designed for current or aspiring Noyce Track 4 project personnel concerned about STEM teacher retention. As the Noyce Program has evolved, there have been refinements and advances beyond recruiting and preparing science and math teachers for careers in high-needs setting. Ingersoll offered the “leaky bucket” metaphor to describe how the loss of teachers contributes greatly to the inadequate supply of qualified STEM teachers. Our collective challenge is to think and act beyond simply increasing STEM teacher production by also reducing untimely departures from the profession. Clearly, there is a need to better understand STEM teacher turnover if we are to identify and promote mechanisms to reduce attrition. Otherwise, inequitable distributions of qualified teachers will continue to stymie even the best efforts to improve science and math outcomes in schools serving large proportions of long-income families. The intent of this workshop is gathering expertise and distributing information about the perceived challenges for researching STEM teacher turnover. These include theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, data analysis and representation, and translation of findings into practice. Evidentiary Basis: Current Track 4 projects will be invited to share their work, particularly to dispel misconceptions about teacher turnover research and to offer hopeful advice about conducting informative scholarship. The goal of the workshop is to identify collaborative opportunities to expand and deepen community understandings about the mechanisms influencing STEM educator turnover, especially in the service of improved inclusion and increased diversity within the teaching workforce.
