- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2050608
- First Name Danielle
- Last Name Sodani
- Institution American University
- Role/Position Co-PI
- Proposal Type Workshop
- Workshop Category Track 4: Noyce Research
- Workshop Disciplines Audience STEM Education (general)
- Target Audience Co-PIs, Noyce Master Teachers, Noyce Teaching Fellows, Other Faculty/Staff, Project PIs, Undergraduate and/or Graduate Noyce Scholars
- Topics Partnerships for Success (High-need schools/informal institutions/industry/community)
- Additional Presenter(s)
Peter Locher, pl0596a@american.edu; Hannah Simmons, hs4432a@american.edu; Carolyn Parker, caparker@american.edu; Sarah Irvine Belson, sarah@american.edu
Goals
(1) Presenters will share preliminary results of a survey examining the factors of teacher preparation programs that contribute to STEM teacher candidates’ cultural competence, belonging, and racial self-efficacy, which may ultimately lead to persistence and retention in the STEM teacher workforce. Participants will have time to react and ask questions about the survey. To elicit a rich discussion, the facilitators will ask the participants to engage in a structured learner-centered practice that helps make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. This intentional sense-making protocol will stimulate curiosity and set the stage for inquiry, exploration, and feedback. (2) Participants will engage in a guided discussion that will build off of the self-reflective aspect of step one to create further dialogue with one another about how their program supports scholars’ cultural competence, belonging, and racial self-efficacy. This will be done by collectively developing a shared understanding of how their partnerships appear within RPP dimensions. (3) Presenters will lead participants in a guided discussion to gather feedback from participants about how they leverage their partnerships to support Scholars through teacher preparation, induction, and teaching. The next steps and time for questions and answers will conclude the session.
Evidence
(1) The evidence for this presentation includes the results of an original survey designed by a research team from American University with a Noyce Track 4 Award (2050608). (2) To achieve the third goal, we will rely on the Indicators of Research-Practice Partnership and Effectiveness to guide our presentation and participant discussions (Henrick et al., 2023)
Proposal
This study examines the factors of teacher preparation programs that contribute to STEM teacher candidates’ cultural competence, belonging, and racial self-efficacy, which may ultimately lead to persistence and retention in the STEM teacher workforce. As part of an ongoing study, the project team is investigating how the quality of Research-Practice Partnerships can be assessed to measure the influence teacher preparation and induction programs and professional learning experiences can have on the persistence and retention of teachers in schools located in historically resilient communities. Data sources for this study include survey research, interviews, and case study approaches. Workshop participants will engage with preliminary survey results about Noyce Scholars’ retention rates, demographic identities, and their cultural competence, belonging, and racial self-efficacy, alongside insights into their preparation, mentoring, and professional experiences. Researchers will facilitate a critical discussion with participants about their Noyce partnerships and whether and how their partnerships support scholars’ cultural competence, belonging, and racial self-efficacy. This conversation will contribute to improving teacher preparation programs’ effectiveness in creating supportive and inclusive educational spaces. The exploration and examination of RPPs have the potential to inform a key sector of current efforts to disrupt and lessen racial disparities of teachers of color.
