Urban Elementary STEM Initiative

The new standards for K–12 science education suggest that student learning should be more integrated and should focus on crosscutting concepts and core ideas from the areas of physical science, life science, Earth/space science, and engineering/technology. This paper describes large-scale, urban elementary-focused science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) collaboration between a large urban school district, various STEM-focused community stakeholders, and a research-focused private university. The collaboration includes the development of an integrated STEM curriculum for grade K–5 with accompanying teacher professional development. This mixed-methodology study describes findings from focus group interviews and a survey of teachers from Title I elementary schools. Findings suggest the importance of the following critical features of professional development: (a) coherence, (b) content focus, (c) active learning, (d) collective participation, and (e) duration to the success of large-scale STEM urban elementary school reform

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