A pressing need to engage in collective work across our varied contexts and institutions exists if we are to transform STEM teacher preparation into a more evidence-based profession, improving outcomes for teachers and their students. As an initial step, the Advancing Research & Innovation in the STEM Education of Preservice Teachers in High-Need School Districts (ARISE) network commissioned a series of papers to examine the current state of STEM teacher retention and preparation measurement research. Specifically, the findings summarize: a) the questions and phenomena under investigation in recent articles in STEM and general teacher education journals, as well as the methodological approaches used to understand these questions and phenomena; b) extant literature describing the relationship between teacher preparation and teacher attrition, with a particular focus on STEM teachers, and then examines the attrition of beginning STEM teachers in high-poverty schools in Texas by type of preparation program; and c) what is known and what remains to be learned about school working conditions that promote novice STEM teacher retention. The findings collectively illuminate directions for future needed research. We invite you to work with us around how we can cooperatively build on previous work and seize new opportunities together to overcome what may seem like daunting gaps in our knowledge and practice.

Check out the 2019 AAAS ARISE Commissioned Paper Series:

1.  A Synthesis of Research on and Measurement of STEM Teacher Preparation
2. Teacher Preparation and Teacher Retention: Examining the Relationship for Beginning STEM Teachers
3. Teacher Induction Programs Associated with Retention in the STEM Teaching Workforce

 

"The authors of these papers were thorough in summarizing both the strengths and weaknesses of the current research landscape. Their analyses echo the conclusions of other syntheses as well (e.g., National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015). The chapters will no doubt be useful to the many scholars interested in the question of how best to prepare future STEM teachers. The analyses make it very clear what we still do not know, and that might leave some readers overwhelmed by how much is still left to know. However, the picture they provide illuminates both how we can build on previous work, the many exciting new opportunities that lay before us, and the pressing need to engage in collective work across our varied contexts and institutions.” –Excerpted from the Introduction by Suzanne M. Wilson, University of Connecticut.

NSF Awards: 1548986