A well-prepared, diverse, STEM workforce and citizenry start with P-12 education and access to highly qualified, diverse STEM teachers. However, STEM teacher preparation in Washington State currently faces several pressing challenges including: teacher shortages in science and mathematics, strong competition for STEM majors outside of the teaching profession, a STEM teaching workforce that does not reflect the diversity of Washington State, and the need to align teacher preparation programs with new state math and science teacher competencies including Engineering and Computer Science. In addition, STEM teacher preparation programs vary widely in size and type, and several programs lack the resources needed to individually develop, test, and make desired program improvements.

The NextGen STEM Teacher Preparation project is addressing these challenges using a Collective Impact framework (Kania and Kramer, 2011) that brings together, NGOs, Educational Service Districts, State Agencies, school districts, and 11 colleges and universities that graduate over 90% of the teacher-candidates in Washington.  Through participation in collaborative cross-institutional Working Groups, diverse experts in STEM education are sharing, adapting, and/or creating models, resources, strategies, and data with others; and, through institution-based Implementation Teams, faculty members, K-12, business, and community partners are building capacity for change, and working to adapt and incorporate these new models, resources, and strategies into their STEM teacher preparation programs.

This video highlights our goals, plans, and collaborative model for improving STEM teacher preparation programs across an entire state.

NSF Award(s): 1625566