Persistence, Effectiveness and Retention Studies In STEM Teaching

Research literature in STEM education related to teacher effectiveness, persistence, and retention is extremely inadequate. This project serves the national interest by fostering additional research projects related to these three important areas. The overarching objective of the Persistence, Effectiveness and Retention Studies in STEM Teaching (PERSIST) project is to bolster the rigor and creativity of Noyce Track 4 research proposals through participation in community-building that leverages and shares resources and forms mutually beneficial collaborations that further the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program's agenda. The pool of teachers who have participated in various Noyce Track 1, 2, and 3 projects includes over 10,000 individuals, whose collective experiences and knowledge could generate a wealth of understanding about improving STEM education in high-need schools. Yet, this potential is largely untapped due to the structure of typical Noyce scholarship and fellowship projects. The PERSIST project will be conducted in two phases. During the first phase, project leaders will invite current NSF Noyce Track 4 Research Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs to participate in a 1-day meeting immediately preceding the Annual Noyce Summit. Following the Noyce Track 4 PI meeting, the ideas generated will be synthesized and resources will be collected. These will be compiled into a published magazine-style brochure intended for use in guiding discussions and dissemination efforts during the second phase of project. During the second phase, the outreach phase of PERSIST, half-day pre-conference workshops will be developed to take place at three national STEM education conferences in 2020. By encouraging researcher partnerships to design research projects related to STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, and effectiveness in high-need school districts, this project will help move the field forward in ways that will help broaden STEM participation.

Three goals guide this project. First is to familiarize participants with the NSF Noyce program, particularly the recently added Track 4, which focuses on research related to STEM teacher preparation, effectiveness and persistence. Second, the project seeks to create and foster a collaborative community among Noyce Track 4 projects. Third, the PIs will generate synergy across Noyce-funded research with the intent to extend knowledge of highly effective approaches to recruiting and retaining effective K-12 mathematics, science, engineering, and computer science teachers in high-need local education agencies. Pursuit of these goals will lead to four outcomes. First, the meetings will connect workshop participants (researchers not currently engaged in Noyce) to one another and to the Noyce community, as a basis for potential future collaboration. Second, interactions at the meetings will enable participants to discuss and disseminate critical areas for research in STEM teacher preparation and retention. Third, participants will find opportunity to discuss and disseminate methodological approaches for the study of STEM teacher effectiveness and persistence. Finally, meeting attendees will share with the NSF Noyce program, the Noyce community, and other interested STEM teacher education researchers the leading-edge questions and needs that emerge from the collected Noyce Track 4 program's research arena. By helping to generate additional research into STEM teacher preparation, effectiveness, and persistence, and by broadening the pool of researchers engaged in pursuing important research in these areas, this project ultimately has the potential to advance STEM teaching and learning, especially related to teacher effectiveness, persistence and retention in high-need school districts. Thus, the potential to broaden participation in STEM of underrepresented groups in STEM is high.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.