Initiative on K-12 Teacher Preparation Natasha Speer, Univ. of Maine Tim Scott and Omah Williams, Texas A & M Noah Finkelstein, Univ. Colorado at Boulder.

Initiative on K-12 Teacher Preparation

Natasha Speer, Univ. of Maine

Tim Scott and Omah Williams, Texas A & M

Noah Finkelstein, Univ. Colorado at Boulder

The Problem

• Students are doing poorly in math and science in American schools

• Teachers are teaching outside their field, are not properly educated

• There is a critical shortage of math and science teachers

Rising Above Gathering StormCongressional charge (2005):

10 priority recommendations for American competitiveness in the 21st century

4 Recommendations (2006):

#1: 10,000 TEACHERS, 10 MILLION MINDS, “Increase America’s talent pool by vastly improving K–12 science and mathematics education”

#2: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH

#3: BEST AND BRIGHTEST IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING HIGHER EDUCATION

#4: INCENTIVES FOR INNOVATION

#1: 10,000 TEACHERS, 10 MILLION MINDS, “Increase America’s talent pool by vastly improving K–12 science and mathematics education”

#3: BEST AND BRIGHTEST IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING HIGHER EDUCATION

The goals of the Initiative

• Increase grads-through-faculty (awareness of) roles in K-12 teacher prep.

• Enhance capacity to participate in teacher preparation.

• Equip with knowledge and tools to improve teachers’ content preparation.

• Promote K-12 teaching as a rewarding, valued career choice.

Status Update

• Providing Opportunities

• Providing Resources

• Studying How these are (and need to be) used

Increasing opportunities and models for grads postdocs and faculty participation

in K12 Teacher Prep

- Colorado –

Teaching & Learning Physics

• Recruit & Prepare teachers (h.s. and college)– Readings, physics content, teaching experiences– Graduate and undergraduate students

• Products– Instructional materials from the course– Model for such courses, customizable to other

disciplines

Teaching & Learning Physics

• Recruit & Prepare teachers (h.s. and college)– Readings, physics content, teaching experiences– Graduate and undergraduate students

• Products– Instructional materials from the course– Model for such courses, customizable to other

disciplines

CIRTL Sponsored:

Teaching and Learning Biology

• Fall 2008, ~ 25 students (10 grads/p.d.)• Highly valued; increase cert. enrolment • experience & learning about teaching

Teaching & Learning Physics

• Fall 2008, ~ 25 students (10 grads/p.d.)• Highly valued; increase cert. enrolment • experience & learning about teaching

Dissemination-UCSD-UCSB-FIU-UMaine-UNCC-OSU

Teaching & Learning Physics

Preparing Future Physicists

• SEMINAR: formerly Preparing Future Physics Faculty – Voluntary– Teaching, education, other topics

• Products– Sample content and organization of such a seminar– Example discussion topics, useful resources– Reports of evaluation of usefulness of the seminar

• Couples with Teaching Institute for Graduate Education Research (TIGER)

Preparing Future Physicists

Proposal to AAPT for externalizing resource guides (Cal State and Mines)

Colorado Learning Assistant Program

CU Model of Teacher Recruit & Prep

Colorado Learning Assistant Program

CU Model of Teacher Recruit & Prep

• Begin within science departments• Learning Assistants:

Use undergrads to implement research-based materials– Improve education of all students– Model best-practices for all students– Increase likelihood students engage in teaching– Improve content mastery of future teachers

V. Otero, N.D. Finkelstein, S.J. Pollock and R. McCray (2006). Science, 313, 445

Teacher Teacher Recruitment & Recruitment &

PreparationPreparation

Undergraduate Undergraduate Course Course

Transformation Transformation using LAs using LAs

Transformation Transformation of of

Departmental Departmental CulturesCultures

Discipline-Based Discipline-Based Education ResearchEducation Research

451 LAs hired since Fall 2003

54 LAs enrolled in certification programs (21 in physics)

3.5 Average cumulative GPA (3.7 in physics)

Fall 2003 Spring 2009

7 faculty (4 departments) 48 faculty (9 departments)

4 courses transformed 35 courses transformed

28 LAs/semester 75 LAs/semester

Impacts: 400 stud/yr >8000 students/year

Growth of the Program

Support Materials

Survey of Teacher Preparation Programs

Identifying Best Practices– Texas A&M –

Timeline

• Cross reference key articles

• Article summaries and identification of practices

• Writing drafts and editing

• Dissemination– Published Paper Spring 2010– National Science Teachers Association

Conference• Philadelphia, PA: March 18 – 21, 2010

Identified Programs

• National Science Foundation Funded– Teacher Enhancement Program

• University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, School of Education

– Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation• Larenz, F., Huffman, D., & Gavely, A. (2007)• Arizona State University (ACEPT)• Rocky Mountain Teacher Excellence Collaborative

• Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE)– Springfield Technical Community College

Other Potential Programs

• National Science Foundation– Teacher Preparation Programs– Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher

Preparation• Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation in

Pennsylvania• Texas Collaboration for Excellence in Teacher

Preparation (TxCEPT) • Los Angeles Collaborative for Teacher Excellence

(LACTE)• Mathematics and Science Teacher Education

Partnership (MASTEP)

Identified Practices

• Alignment with: – National Resource Council Standards

• National Science Education Standards (2001)• Inquiry and the National Science Education

Standards (2000)

– American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

• Principles of Effective Teaching (1989)

– Interrelation Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Identified Practices (cont)

• College/University Faculty workshops– ACEPT

• Collaboration– Schools, districts and colleges/universities– In-service/pre-service collaboration

• Lecture and Note taking• Field Experiences• Emphasis on habits of mind in Science• Active learning

Materials Guides for Transformative Educational

Practices

Physics• Summary of PER-based practices

– Redish Teaching Physics– PER Users Guide, Under Development - AAPT/NSF

• Online summaries of practices:– ComPADRE– PER-Central:

Physics• Summary of PER-based practices

– Redish Teaching Physics– PER Users Guide, Under Development - AAPT/NSF

• Online summaries of practices:– ComPADRE– PER-Central:

• Key Practices– Clickers / Peer Instruction

• Mazur, Duncan, Science Education Initiative Guide

– Tutorials• U Washington, U Colorado - Pollock

– LA Program• U Colorado - Otero

– Teaching and Learning Physics• U Colorado - Finkelstein

Studying Faculty Awareness and Use

Surveying Faculty– U. Maine –

• Survey development: gather info about STEM grads-through-faculty familiarity with teacher prep– Generating questions– Pilot/validity testing questions

• Products– Survey that can be customized to other fields– Findings from administering survey

• Evaluation– Findings from pilot/validity testing– Track dissemination/use of survey

Research on Faculty Practice-- Colorado--

• Faculty teaching practices– Peer instruction– Tutorials– Examining faculty conceptions and actions

• Products– Findings about implementation– “One-pagers” about the use

end

Three central activities

• What can we learn from what others have done?

• What can we learn from what we are doing?

• What do STEM grads-through-faculty know about teacher preparation and K-12 education?

The challenges - for CIRTL K12-

• National need for more and better-prepared K-12 STEM teachers.

• Disconnect between content courses and the work of teaching.

• Need for productive collaborations between educators of K-12 teachers and content faculty.

Course Transformation

These LAs make up th

e pool from w

hich

we recruit n

ew K-12 teachers

Content: Weekly planning sessions with science faculty member who is teaching the course (3 to 10) LAs per faculty member)

Pedagogy: LAs from all departments take a weekly course in science education theory and practice– led by an Education faculty member and a K 12 TeacherPractice: LAs lead

weekly Learning Teams of 6 to 20 student

Formative feedback for instructor to use in lecture

Experiential Learning Program PCK

State of Colorado*

(2004-2005)

University of Colorado Boulder(LAs not included)

(2004-2005)

Recruited From LA Program at CU

Boulder(2005-2006)

Physics/ Astrophysics 5 1 9

MCD Biology 1 0 4

Chemistry 14 0 1*At 18 colleges and universities with 10,869 candidates, 385 science majors1

**Chemistry just became involved in Fall 2006

Many of the LAs report in interviews that they had not seriously considered becoming a teacher until participating as a Learning Assistant

Two most frequently stated reasons for making the decision: (1) Recognizing Teaching as a complex endeavor(2) Encouragement and support by participating Science Faculty

LA Program Impact on RecruitmentUndergraduate majors enrolled in certification programs

LA Program focuses on recruiting for the Undergraduate Certification program

Math/Science Secondary Certification Program Completers

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

MA+ UG PBAProgram

ave # completers per year

2000-2005

2005-2008

Particular Focus on Physics & Chemistry

Physics Teachers Education Coalition (PTEC) 134 InstitutionsLA Program Replicated at some PhysTEC sites

Florida International

Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo

Cornell

U. of Minnesota

Towson

U. of Arizona

Seattle Pacific

Western Kentucky

U. of Arkansas University of N.C. Chapel Hill