Building and Facilitating a Multi-Institutional Collaboration to Support Systemic Change: Insights from the Next Generation of STEM Teacher Preparation Programs in Washington State

Thursday 3:30pm - 5:00pm Brighton 3/4
Thematic Symposium

Ed Geary, Western Washington University
Ann McMahon
Roxane Ronca, Western Washington University
Washington State is an NGSS and CCSS adoption state. Consequently, every Science and Mathematics Teacher Preparation program needs to make changes to prepare future teachers to be NGSS and/or CCSS ready when they graduate and enter K-12 classrooms. Typically, making such changes would be done in relative isolation, program-by-program, and institution-by-institution. However, with funding from the National Science Foundation we have brought together over 100 STEM experts from across the state (K-12, Higher Ed, Business, Government, and Community) to collaboratively produce innovations that will have Collective Impact (Kania and Kramer, 2011). Our goal is to improve the preparation of future STEM teachers and teachers of STEM throughout Washington State. We are also collaborating with other organizations to promote the recruitment, preparation, and retention of a diverse STEM teaching workforce where every student sees a pathway to becoming a STEM teacher. Anticipated outcomes of this session include enhanced understanding of collaborative models for change, identification of drivers and tools to promote change, adapting models to different institutional cultures and contexts, and the benefits of incorporating a diversity focus in undergraduate STEM education change work.

Presentation Media

PPT on the NextGen STEM Teacher Preparation project in Washington State (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 5MB Apr9 19)

Program

Introduction prompt (10 minutes) Think-Pair-Share. Reflect on 1 or 2 experiences with systemic change initiatives (e.g. at departmental, or disciplinary, or institutional levels) you may have been part of. How effective were your collaborations with others? What worked well? What was challenging? Share your reflections with others at your table. Pick one (table) insight about collaboration to promote systemic reform with the whole group

Presentation (5 minutes) Brief history and background of NextGen STEM Teacher Preparation Project.

Question Prompt A (15 minutes) What are the internal and external drivers for the change you are interested in? Consider drivers in your department, program, education space, or institution.

Presentation (15 minutes) Using the Keck/PKAL model (2016) to guide change in STEM teacher preparation programs: the importance of creating a common vision (free copies of "Increasing Student Success in STEM: A Guide to Systemic Institutional Change" (2016) by Elrod and Kezar will be made available to participants)

Presentation (5 minutes) Using Diversity as a focus for improving all aspects of STEM teacher preparation: Targeted Universalism and creating a common vision around equity, diversity and inclusion.

Question Prompt B (15 minutes) Consider incorporating equity, inclusion, and a commitment to diversity into all aspects of your systemic change initiative. What data (qualitative and quantitative), collected as part of your Landscape Analysis, would you need to know about EID across your system? How might thinking about equity, inclusion, and diversity as integral to systemic change lead to different systemic reform outcomes (e.g. at departmental, or disciplinary, or institutional levels)?

Presentation (5 minutes) What we've learned about state-wide collaboration. NextGen website: https://serc.carleton.edu/nextgen_wa

Reflection prompt (10 minutes) How might collaboration outside your department, discipline, institution, or region, help you to achieve your systemic reform goals? Who are the people and/or organizations you would like to collaborate with after you leave this symposium? and what drivers, incentives, and/or benefits might interest them in collaborating with you?


Participant Resources

Participant Workspaces by discussion and table (requires symposium registration)