Developing teacher leadership for equity in STEM learning

This paper reports on a STEM teacher leadership program to support teachers in creating initiatives within their schools for STEM learning for all students. Teachers were recruited from across the state to represent a range of environments (rural, urban, suburban), across K-12, and including math and science. The program included a summer workshop and follow-up into the school year. During the summer, they designed a STEM initiative for equity for their schools. They also formed small learning communities to provide feedback and support as they designed and implemented their projects. For the school year, teachers went back to their school to implement a STEM project. The teachers gathered data to guide their choice of project from their schools to understand the performance of subgroups of students. For the project they designed, they also gathered data about the success of their initiative. A focus of all projects was on supporting equity in STEM learning. The projects could be designed as in-class work or as after-school programs with students or parents. Our data analysis includes analyzing their final project reports and their reflections as they worked on their projects. The results are in progress, but we are using a leadership framework that examines how they developed as leaders within their schools and communities by advocating for their students' engagement in STEM opportunities.