From Preparation to Persistence:

A Mixed-Methods Study of STEM Secondary Teacher Effectiveness and Retention

The project aims to meet the national need to prepare highly effective STEM teachers who can address the STEM learning needs of all student populations. While it is welldocumented that specially crafted STEM instruction, such as STEM Literacy, real-world problem-solving, and growth-mindset integration, can mitigate challenges students experience, little is known about how novice teachers integrate these practices into their STEM teaching. The present study will shed light on Noyce STEM teacher education graduates’ confidence with and ability to implement these identified STEM practices. Outcomes from this study will inform teacher training programs that prepare STEM teachers. Moreover, we study the variables that keep highly effective STEM teachers teaching in high-need schools. This project at Santa Clara University includes partnerships with the University of California at Santa Cruz, the evaluation organization Education Northwest, and East Side Union High School and Salinas Union High School districts. This study will use surveys, interviews, and observations of classroom teaching to examine: a) novice teachers’ confidence in implementing highly effective STEM practices; b) novice teachers’ ability to implement (effectiveness) highly effective STEM practices, and c) the variables that impact teachers’ decision to remain (retention) teaching in STEM content areas and in high-need schools. This Track 4: Noyce Research is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.

Partners

Principal Investigators: