1. The Alternative Certification of Science Teachers: Findings From the NSF-Funded STEM ACT Conference Morton M. Sternheim University of Massachusetts Amherst
NSF #

2. STEM ACT Conference Science, Technology, Engineering and Math -
Alternative Certification for Teachers
Funded by NSF - Teacher Professional Continuum Program
May 5th-7th, 2006, Arlington, VA
Participants represented three communities:
academic researchers and administrators
policy makers in states and large cities
alternative certification providers and teachers who have gone through these programs

3. Conference Organizers
Principal Investigators (all UMass)
Morton M. Sternheim, STEM Education Institute, Physics
Allan Feldman, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies
Joseph Berger, Educational Policy Research and Administration
Staff Assistant
Yijie Zhao
Advisory Board

4. Outline Introduction Research Report Highlights
Conference Goals
Conference Format
Key point and question
Dissemination
Research Report Highlights
Policy Report Highlights
Practice Report Highlights
Summary of Recommendations

5. Conference Goals
In-depth look at some existing programs and models, including NSF funded alternative certification programs, plus district-based programs (e.g., Teach New York) and national programs (e.g., Teach For America).
Identify an agenda for future research questions on alternative certification to guide development and implementation of new programs.

6. Conference Goals (cont.)
Provide an overview of the existing policy on alternative certification of secondary science teachers in the US, including key assumptions and questions.
Begin a synthesis of existing research on needs, methods, and outcomes of alternative certification for science teachers. Areas include
science learning
nature of science
context of schools
diversity and gender issues
teacher supply and demand
initial teacher education and development.

7. Conference Format
Every attendee was a participant – a presenter and/or a responder to a paper read in advance
Friday night keynote (Ken Zeichner)
Saturday plenaries, parallel sessions, posters
Sunday morning, working sessions to define key points
Sunday afternoon, 3 writing committees plan the research, policy, practice white papers

8. Key Point: Ken Zeichner, keynote speaker
Teaching and teacher education are inherently complex and are not reducible to simple prescriptions for practice.
Much of what is believed to be associated with program excellence with regard to particular goals cannot currently be supported with empirical evidence

9. Key Question: What is alternative certification?
Programs to put “career changers” in classrooms quickly?
Anything other than 4 year undergrad program?
Antoinette Mitchell (NCATE): Programs range from 5th year programs for students without education backgrounds, to programs designed for career-switchers, to programs designed for specific sectors of the community such as military personnel and para-professionals.

10. Key Question: What is alternative certification?
Conclusion: We need a continuum of teacher preparation and support programs to support varied needs.

11. Dissemination Plan Produce 3 “white papers” plus overall summary
Conference presentations
Association for Teacher Education (ASTE)
National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST)
American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE)
This meeting
Paper
Massachusetts Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Perspectives (September ’07)
Web site

12. STEM Alternative Certification
Issues for Researchers

13. Research White Paper Writing Committee
Abdulkadir Demir, University of Missouri, Columbia
Allan Feldman, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Chair
Jodie Galosy, Michigan State University, Co-Chair
Richard Iuli, SUNY Empire State College
Carole Mitchener, University of Illinois at Chicago, Co-Chair
HsingChi Wang, University of Calgary
Bruce Herbert, Texas A&M University

14. Guiding question of STEM ACT conference:
"What do we know and what more do we need to learn about how to incorporate the results of more than 30 years of research on science teaching and learning into alternative certification programs?"
The initial guiding question of the STEM ACT research conference was: read it? However, as you will see, we ended up revising this question a bit as a result of our presentations and discussions

15. Research on Alternative Certification
Mostly policy documents
Need for, production, retention of teachers
Generic, not subject or level specific
Other main body of literature is evaluation of specific AC programs
Third type of studies are comparative between “traditional” and “alternative”
As we discussed, and listened to reviews of research on alternative certification, we noted that there were three main groups of studies on alternative certification – policy studies, program evaluation , and comparative research. Policy studies focused on filling teacher shortages, attracting more people to the profession, and/or teacher retention. Evaluation studies examined the impact of specific alternative certification programs; again, primarily on teacher retention. The third group of studies compare alternative programs with traditional programs. I’m going to briefly discuss some of the problems with these kinds of studies.

16. Research on Alternative Certification
Focus on structural, rather than educational, differences
Pays little attention to teacher/student learning as an outcome
Does not take science subject matter into account
Draws little from research on science teaching and learning
As several presenters pointed out, policy and program evaluation studies on alternative certification to date are limited their ability to inform our understanding how to prepare and support teachers in ways that help students learn science. One problem that Ken Zeichner pointed out is a tendency to focus on surface features; for instance – the length of a program or whether a mentor is assigned, rather than the content, curriculum, or pedagogy of the program. In addition, studies tend to measure programs on the basis of attracting and retaining teachers rather than assessing what teachers actually learn and what the implications are for their students. AND Research on alt cert , in general, leans away subject matter —rarely looking specifically at science teachers. Moreover, study analyses draw little from research on science teaching and learning .

17. Research on Alternative Certification
Comparative studies that lump AC and traditional programs into two undifferentiated groups are not productive:
Alternative certification is ill-defined.
There is at least as much variation within programs as between the two types (Wechsler, Humphey & Hough, 2006; Abell et al., 2006; Galosy, 2006; Lee, Olson & Scribner, 2006)
The third kind of study – comparative studies that lump alternative certification into one group and traditional programs into another – are also not useful for improving science teacher education fro two major reasons. One, there is no one thing that we cam point to as alternative certification abd secondly, there is as much variation within programs as between. In addition to zeichner, a number of presenters pointed out, for example, that teachers within any program experience the program in different ways based on what they bring, the oportunities available to them, and how they make use of those opportunities. However, we noted that the same observations and limitations of present research apply to science teacher education, in general, regardless of program structure.

18. Preservice/inservice Licensing/education
Unhelpful Divides
Dividing teacher preparation into alternative and traditional is an example of unproductive divides that hamstring research on teacher education as a field:
Science ed/general ed
Preservice/inservice
Licensing/education
We concluded, then, that parsing science teacher education into alternative and traditional was not helpful like other divides that chop teacher education into bits and pieces and prevent us from constructing science teacher education as a continuum that reflects the complexity of teaching, teacher participants, and learning opportunities required for becoming a science teacher.

19. Rephrasing of guiding question for researchers
"What do we know and what more do we need to learn about science teacher education that takes into account the results of more than 30 years of research on science teaching and learning?”
Rather than use the term alternative certification or presume that our research base was sufficient, we revised our major question to read -

20. Reform Vision of good science teaching (NSES, AAAS, etc.)
Science classrooms are active and exciting places in which:
The science taught and learned is relevant and interesting to students’ lives;
Students’ curiosity for their world beyond their own experience is awakened;
Students are engaged in inquiry; and
Students develop a commitment to responsible citizenship.
During his presentation at the conference, Zeichner convincingly made the point that while research can help us think about teacher education in useful ways, it cannot tell us what to do even in the best of circumstances – moral, political, and ethical considerations are at the heart of teacher education and beyond the reach of empirical research. When we talk about good teacher education, we must also ask good for what? Reform documents over the past decade lay out a vision of good science teaching that imagines active and exciting science classrooms where (read slide)

21. The big question for practitioners
What, and how, do science teachers need to learn to enact reform-based science teaching in their classrooms?

22. What teacher beliefs, knowledge and skills support the Reform Vision?
Science teachers need to know their subject.
Science teachers need to have science subject specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
Science teachers need to have knowledge about science curriculum/instructional approaches
Science teachers need to have practical knowledge of running a lab, lab safety, etc.
Science teachers need to have knowledge of the students they teach and how students learn science
What knowledge and skills, then, do teacher need to suport such a visions. The literature reviews and research presentation at the conference underscored a number of key areas for science teacher development – read them –

23. What do science teachers need to know and be able to do to construct Reform Vision classrooms?
Lead author
Beliefs/knowledge/skills/practices
Abell
Content knowledge for teaching (CKT) and Pedagogical content knowledge for teaching (PCK)
Demir
Inquiry-based teaching practices
Dern
Teacher beliefs about student-centered teaching practices
Galosy
Teachers’ expectations for their students’ science learning
Greenwood
Teacher efficacy--belief that they can have positive impacts on student learning
Lee
Active learning, collaborative learning, connecting science with students’ experience, misconceptions and learning difficulties, assessment
Mitchener
Inquiry-based teaching beliefs and practices
Sterling
Classroom management, planning, and instructional capacities
These are the areas specifically addressed by conference presenters – briefly touch on two – content and pck

24. Science teacher content knowledge:
Britton (2006): Science teaching is domain specific to the particular science discipline and to to the work of teaching that discipline.
Abell et al. (2006): Content knowledge for teaching science may be qualitatively different from academic science.
Wang (2006): College-level science courses may be major contributors to science teachers’ “fragmented and shallow” knowledge structures.
Nature of science – Knowledge of the discipline (McDonald, 2006)
There were several studies focused on teacher content knowledge – britoon’s group note the domain specificty of science teaching; Abell’s group, Drawing on the work of Ball and coleagues in mathematics, is ibvetuigatibg to what extnet content knowledge. Based o research reviewed by her froup, Wand pointed to the influence of college –level college. Finally, participants also discussed the importance of broadening our notion of content knowledge beyond disciplines and topics to include the nature of the discipline itself.

25. Science teacher pedagogical content knowledge
Understanding specific content within disciplinary and curricular contexts
Multiple ways of representing content
How to design appropriate instructional tasks
Ways of identifying students’ prior knowledge and drawing on students’ experience/ideas
Anticipating/identifying student errors and addressing student misconceptions
Assessing student understanding
(Abell et al., 2006; Britton, 2006; Greenwood et al., 2006; Kern et al., 2006)
One of the most heavily emphasized areas was PCK – these are some of the key areas within PCK that presenters addressed or refernced in their work – name them- - presenters agreed that the research base on this area was the most well-developed; although how to productively use this research for instruction requires further study. Another line of work that fell under PCK is student assessment; formative asessment appears to be a growing topic of interest to science education researchers.

26. What pedagogies and pedagogical tools would help teachers develop reform-based teaching in classrooms?
Lead author
Pedagogy/pedagogical tools
Abell
Guided and independent internship models
Britton
Science-specific mentoring and field experiences
Demir
Inquiry-based experiences
Galosy
Mentoring, coaching, workshops, literacy strategies
Greenwood
Mentoring, field supervision
Mitchener
Action research
Sterling
Coursework, classroom coaching
Wang
Coursework, field experiences, inquiry-based instruction
The second question studies addressed was what pedagogies and tools would support teachings learning? As you can see, mentoring was the focus of a number of studies – look briefly

27. Pedagogies: Induction and mentoring
Importance of the second year for action research (Mitchener, 2006).
Science specific district- or school-based mentoring (Galosy, 2006).
Both school-based and university-based mentors have important roles (Greenwood et al., 2006).
The novice teacher’s and mentor’s prior experience and knowledge should be taken into account in establishing mentoring relationships (Koballa et al., 2006).

28. Mentoring Effective programs have Trained mentors
Provided mentors with time and resources
Plan lessons and share curricula with mentees
Demonstrate lessons to mentees; and
Provide feedback from classroom observations. (Humphrey, Wechsler, & Hough, 2006).

29. Ongoing, sustained interactions Collaborative work
Pedagogies
Ongoing, sustained interactions
Collaborative work
Practitioner inquiry - action research, lesson study
Field experiences
Scientific research partnerships

30. Recommendation - Research Agenda
Conceptual
Student learning
Teacher learning
Content and pedagogies of teacher education
In summary, we recommend, then, that research concentrate on the features of programs for comparisons – labeling a program alternative or traditional is not helpful in that regard – we should instead establish a agenda for research across the range of experience available for science tecaher education – with teacher and student learning at the center to examine how particular content and pedagogies influence teacher and student learning. This work requires mutually reinforcing activity on three fronts – conceptual, methodological, and empirical. Conference researchers pressed for conceptual clarity for PCK and inquiry, for example. Several presenters are working to develop measures of PCK. Others used already existing measures—NOS instruments, for example, to investigate links between teacher beliefs and what they learned from their teacher education experiences. This work will require partnerships between all those involved with science teacher education, working in tandem to reinforce links between research and practice.
Methodological
Empirical

31. Research questions
What science and in what form do science teachers need to know?
How do we bridge traditional separations of preservice and inservice teacher education to create a professional continuum of science teacher education that includes the induction phase?
Participants suggested a number of research question to help move us along the way.

32. Research questions
How do diverse teachers acquire beliefs, knowledge and skills across a variety of educational settings and opportunities?
What coursework and field experiences lead to the development of knowledge and skills that help teachers, at various points in their professional development, bring reform visions into science classrooms (action research, institutional partnerships)?
What roles can teacher collaboratives—groups of science teachers learning together—play in the continued education and production of professional knowledge? (e.g. mentoring, communities of practice)
What are the implication of what teachers learn for their students?

33. Research questions
Who are the science teacher candidates? How do the following influence candidates’ development as science teachers?
Age, race, ethnicity, gender
Prior experience
Science knowledge
Context and societal influences

34. STEM Alternative Certification
Issues for Practitioners

35. Report Authors Barbara Austin, Northern Arizona University
Wendy Frazier, George Mason University
Anita Greenwood, UMass Lowell
Judith Hayes, Wichita State University
Charmaine Hickey, UMass Lowell
Kathy Shea, UMass Lowell
Morton Sternheim, UMass Amherst
Yijie Zhao, UMass Amherst

36. What is alternative certification?
Antoinette Mitchell (NCATE): These programs range from 5th year programs for students without education backgrounds, to programs especially designed for career-switchers, to programs designed for specific sectors of the community such as military personnel and para-professionals.

37. What is alternative certification?
Program differences include
Target recruitment audience
Goals
Structure
Field-placement and field-placement support
Mentoring support for interns

38. What is alternative certification?
Alternative certification teacher candidate differences include:
Prior classroom experience
Career experience
Life experience
Education coursework experience
Because of these differences, “alternative certification” forms a continuum of teacher preparation to support varied needs of teacher candidates and schools or school districts

39. Program Standards
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) holds alternative certification programs to the same standards required of all programs in NCATE-accredited institutions as a way of making institutions accountable for the quality of their programs and for the quality of the educators they prepare.

40. Alternative Certification Candidates
Judith Hayes, Wichita: There’s been a dramatic shift in the profile of people studying to be teachers through alternative routes.
A greater percentage of older, life-experienced people wanting to enter the teacher profession when compared with traditional preparation models.
More of these mid-career switchers are male and/or are minorities interested in teaching in high-demand areas, in positions generally not sought by young, white females coming out of traditional schools of education.

41. Partnerships
Research indicates that teacher candidates working in alternative licensure programs with strong district – university partnerships perform better and stay in the profession longer.

42. Other partners – funding/recruiting
Primary partners
Hiring school districts, state licensing authority, higher ed institution
Other partners – funding/recruiting
Corporations, e.g., Raytheon Teaching Fellows Program
Federal agencies: NSF (Noyce Scholars), DOE, …
Troops to Teachers, Teach for America, …

43. Recruiting and Selecting Candidates
Depend on nature of the program
Selecting and recruiting the right candidates for admission to a particular program is important for the program’s success, because “investing resources in candidates unlikely to succeed is a lose-lose situation.”

44. Selection Usually require at least bachelor’s degree
Screening process – tests, interviews, evidence of content mastery, short demonstration lesson
Often highly selective
Some programs are committed to serving all provisionally certified teachers in an area
Humphrey et al: most alternative certification programs bet on education background, work experience, previous classroom experience, or some combination of the three

45. Recruiting Many approaches, reflecting the programs
Texas A&M: scholarships, job fairs, recruiting in grad programs
UT: All students in the College of Natural Sciences are recruited. They receive a letter about it upon admission, hear about it during orientation, receive mailings each year. Student group presentations, media reports …

46. Recruiting
Teach for America: Representatives visit many campuses, focus on selective colleges, accept only a small fraction of applicants
NYC Teaching Fellows program targets mid-career professionals as well as recent college graduates
Troops to Teachers program provides information and support to retiring military personnel, with offices in 32 states

47. Candidates Four groups of candidates These groups have different needs
Undergrads where there in no traditional certification option
Recent grads who opt to teach
Career switchers or retired military
Teachers who need courses to become “highly qualified” in another subject
These groups have different needs
Must match candidates and structure of the program

48. Need: Practical Teaching Knowledge
All need practical knowledge about navigating the current school environment: information about legal and ethical responsibilities, teaching to diverse populations, inclusion issues, and classroom management
Less important for group 4, those already teaching

49. Need: Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Teachers not only need to understand science but teach in a manner that is consistent with what is known about how people learn science and reflects significant insights from recent educational research
Discipline-specific pedagogy issues – how to teach difficult concepts in a particular subject
Laboratory safety knowledge – chemicals, biomaterials, etc. – is critical for teachers to do hands-on science

50. Need: Content Knowledge
Federal law mandates that teachers must have sufficient content knowledge as the major provision of being “highly qualified”
Mainly a need for group 4, teachers who need courses to become highly qualified

51. Needs: Income, Non-traditional Delivery
Career changers and recent grads often need income during their training
Stipends, scholarships
Non-traditional course delivery
Summer immersion before placement
Subsequent summer courses
Evenings
Distance learning

52. Mentoring
AC teacher candidates need mentoring support while they are in training
Mentoring for AC candidates is part of new teacher induction
Research: good induction programs cut attrition
Mentoring should reflect lack of education courses
Mentors involved in AC programs need different training from those in traditional certification programs so that they can address the subject specific needs of these individuals
When there is consistency between mentor and mentee in the conception of the mentor’s role, the mentoring relationship is productive

53. The Challenge Ken Zeichner, Wisconsin:
Teaching and teacher education are inherently complex and are not reducible to simple prescriptions for practice.
Much of what is believed to be associated with program excellence with regard to particular goals cannot currently be supported with empirical evidence

54. Oversimplified Views of Excellence (Zeichner)
Attempting to connect the surface features of teacher education programs (e.g., their length) to various teacher and student outcomes without accounting for the characteristics that candidates bring to their preparation
Attempting to define the characteristics of good teacher education programs by the mere presence or absence of certain program elements without addressing how these elements are defined and used and for what purposes

55. Characteristics of Effective STEM ACT Programs
Needs-based design of the program
Tailored to needs of district or region
Tailored to needs of participants, backgrounds, etc.
High entrance standards
Screening, appropriate STEM backgrounds, match between program design and background
Intensive training focusing on professional expertise
Subject content, pedagogical knowledge and skill training
Pedagogical content knowledge
Multicultural and special education issues

56. Characteristics of Effective STEM ACT Programs
On-site support during training
Comprehensive system of support from experienced, trained mentors once the candidate begins working in a school.
Candidates go through their training in cohorts at school so they have peer support
Candidates have the opportunity of guided practice in lesson planning and teaching prior to taking full responsibility as a teacher

57. Characteristics of Effective STEM ACT Programs
Frequent program evaluation
Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and feedback of individual and group performance to allow for program adjustment
Candidates receive frequent evaluation of their teaching from well-trained mentors and faculty with strong STEM education backgrounds
Faculty receives continual formal and informal evaluation of their instruction from the teacher candidates

58. Characteristics of Effective STEM ACT Programs
High exit standards
Standards tied to state standards for teaching
Candidates demonstrate that they have mastered the knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in state standards and can have a positive impact on student learning
Ongoing support of graduates after the program.
Structured, well-supervised induction period when the novice receives observation and assistance in the classroom by an experienced teacher
Ongoing professional development and reflection is supported by the school and/or the university through seminars, workshops, courses

59. School – College Collaboration
Colleges, schools and the candidates have constant communication to ensure that teaching theory and practice are effectively integrated to address classroom and pedagogical issues.
School districts provide the teacher candidates in alternative certification programs with a supportive school environment to help them with effective transition to teaching.
The program prepares individuals for specific positions in specific schools, and should place participants in those positions early in the training.

60. Effective STEM ACT Programs: Summary
A program encompassing all these components may be an ideal, but these benchmarks provide a frame of reference for an effective AC program.
These components are not an oversimplified checklist to measure the program quality. Rather, they serve as research directions for an in depth inquiry into the implementation and efficacy of these elements in achieving excellence in AC teacher preparation.

61. STEM Alternative Certification
Issues for Policy-makers

62. Writing Committee Joseph B. Berger, UMass Amherst Ted Britton, WestEd
Cassie Guarino, RAND
Jennifer Jackson, University of North Texas
Michael Marder, University of Texas at Austin

63. Purpose of White Paper
Identification of key policies issues and strategies related to improving the alternative certification of science teachers.
Descriptive summary of the supply and demand issues associated with the certification of science teachers.

64. Rising Above the Gathering Storm (2006)
“In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in these areas.”
RAGS recommends:
Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education; and
With action steps that include improving the quantity and quality of math and science teachers.

65. Alternative Teacher Certification and Public Policy
Historically the routes available for teacher certification have been expanded beyond “traditional” on-campus postsecondary teacher training programs to a wider range of options.
State policies have increasingly moved towards providing a greater range of certification program options in order to address issues of quantity and quality in the production of new teachers.

66. Defining Quantity and Quality
Quantity – the need for enough teachers – particularly in hard to staff:
Geographic areas (urban and rural)
Content areas (science, math, special ed)
Quality – need to ensure that science teachers are prepared and qualified to provide a high standard of teaching
Policy makers believe that there must be enough quantity before quality can be addressed.

67. Framing the Quantity and Quality Problem
Public policy is concerned with addressing incentives and standards to ensure that there is a large enough supply of qualified teachers to meet the demands for quantity and quality
Policies of Incentives to increase the quantity of teachers necessary to meet demand
Policies of Standards to increase the quality of teachers

68. Balancing Priorities in Policy Dilemmas
Quantity <–-> Quality
Incentives <–-> Standards
Short-term <–-> Long-term
High-need <–-> “Low-need” Districts
Pre-service <–-> In-service
Limited resources have been (and will be?) available to serve multiple (and sometimes competing) needs

69. Shaping Policy - Sources of Influence on Supply and Demand
Supply – what factors influence the attractiveness of science teaching to potential workforce entrants?
Demand – what factors influence districts and schools to support certain numbers and types (e.g. certified, career-changers, etc) of science teacher positions?

70. Supply and Demand Factors
Entry Requirements
Licensure Testing Requirements
Income/Compensation
Working Conditions
Demand
Accountability Systems
Screening and Selection
Career-changer Bias

71. Supply - Requirements for entry to the profession
Teacher Education
Pre-requisites (e.g. content knowledge, previous experience, contextual congruence)
Length (number of courses, years, etc.)
Cost (including foregone earnings and opportunity costs)
Degree of difficulty of program
Value or quality (Perceived benefit in relation to cost)

72. Supply – Licensure Testing Requirements
Cost of exams, applications, etc.
Difficulty of exams

73. Supply – Income/Compensation
Entry Salary
Future Earnings
Salary Increments Gained Through Experience
Salary Increments Gained Through Career Advancement Opportunities (e.g. master teacher, head of department, etc.)
Retirement

74. Supply – Working Conditions
Number of Preps
Supplies and Equipment
Curriculum Resources
Student Behavior
Parental/Community Support
Balance of Autonomy and Collegiality
Administrative Support
Mentoring, Induction Programs (etc.)

75. Supply – Working Conditions (continued)
Class Size
Schedule Flexibility
Intrinsic Rewards
Professional Prestige
Community-to-community and State-to-state differentials

76. Demand – Accountability Systems
Difficulty of entry standards
Rigidity of subject-specific certification requirements

77. Demand – Resource Allocation
Funds allocated to:
Public education
Recruitment and retention
Science teaching positions

78. Demand – Screening and Selection
Resources allocated to screening and selection processes
Higher entry standards reduce the quantity of available teachers

79. Demand – Context for Career-changers
Use of policies to recruit career-changers
In-school bias against career-changers

80. Demand –Retention In-profession In-school High Needs Districts
Retirements
Competing Opportunities

81. Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand
In the process of balancing all these factors to determine demand, schools can make several tradeoffs.
There can be a quantity-quality tradeoff. A district can choose to employ fewer teachers but maintain high quality standards (e.g., increase class sizes and/or offer fewer courses but of higher quality).
Or the the district can sacrifice quality by employing as many teachers as possible in the district.
Or the district can sacrifice quality in science teaching to promote quality in other subject areas.
Or the district can sacrifice both quantity and quality just to stay solvent.

82. Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand (continued)
Science is a relatively costly subject to teach.
Laboratory or other types of experientially-oriented teaching settings (e.g., field trips) require more resources than, say, English classes.
High quality science teachers may cost more, compared to other subjects (e.g., history)

83. Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand
The quality of the science teacher employed in a school will depend largely on the total compensation package (by total compensation, we mean salaries, benefits, working conditions, and intrinsic rewards) that the school offers.

84. Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand (continued)
Both the cost of high quality science teaching and the relatively low incentive to produce new science teachers can combine to exacerbate the shortage of good science teachers in the classroom.
Hard-to-staff schools are doubly challenged, needing to funnel scarce resources into the areas upon which their survival depends most heavily and being less likely to attract high quality science teachers than schools with more desirable working conditions for the same cost.

85. Recommendations summarized
For researchers
For practitioners
For policy-makers

86. Recommendations for policy makers
Need to balance attention to issues of supply and demand
Recognize trade-offs associated with quantity and quality
Science teaching must be a funded priority for states, districts and schools – resources need to be directed at improving demand (the number of positions offered)
Science teaching must be attractive enough for individuals to be willing to teach at a given level of overall compensation

87. Recommendations for practitioners
Needs-based design of programs
High entrance standards
Intensive training focusing on professional expertise
On-site support during training
Frequent program evaluation
High exit standards
Ongoing support of graduates after the program.
School college collaboration

88. Recommendations for practitioners, cont.
A program encompassing all these components may be an ideal, but these benchmarks provide a frame of reference for an effective AC program.
These components are not an oversimplified checklist to measure the program quality. Rather, they serve as research directions for an in depth inquiry into the implementation and efficacy of these elements in achieving excellence in AC teacher preparation.

89. Recommendations for researchers
These questions need to be answered by research:
What science and in what form do science teachers need to know?
How do we bridge traditional separations of preservice and in-service teacher education to create a professional continuum of science teacher education that includes the induction phase?
How do diverse teachers acquire the beliefs, knowledge and skills across a variety of educational settings and opportunities?

90. Recommendations for researchers, cont.
Who are the science teacher candidates? How do age, race, ethnicity, and gender; prior experience; science knowledge; and context and societal influences effect relate to candidates’ learning to be science teachers?
How do we transform credentialing programs into research-informed educational programs?

91. More Information www.stemtec.org/act This PowerPoint
Proceedings (papers, PPT’s) online
This PowerPoint
White papers (coming soon…)