Historically Black Colleges and Universities and STEM/Teacher Education Community Partnerships

• In Event: A Call to Action for a Changing World: The Positionality of Accountable STEM Researchers

Abstract

Objectives/Purpose - Title I schools continue to underperform compared to other schools with students from a higher socioeconomic status (NCES, 2019), as such, the need for learners in Title I schools to receive quality STEM instruction is critical to the STEM pipeline (Tran, 2019). The study seeks to implement a needs assessment in STEM education for select Title I schools in a large city in the Southeastern United States to respond to those needs by providing vetted content that is interactive and responsive to learners.

Perspectives - The goals of the proposal are aligned with NASA and the University by partnering with local schools to provide professional development in STEM for learners who are in schools with a greater percentage of the population eligible for the National School Lunch Program. As the highest ranked university from which Black women science and engineering doctorate recipients earn bachelor's degrees as the partnering IHE, coupled with resources from NASA as an agency with goals to make STEM accessible for students and learners from K-12 beyond, the study’s impact is expected to develop interest and knowledge in STEM in the P-12 local partnership schools and increase and retain pre-service and in-service African Americans in STEM Education.

Methods/Modes of Inquiry & Data - The researchers draw upon Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 2005), and Constructivism (Von Glaserfeld,1989) to examine the lessons learned from K-12 STEM teachers from teacher candidates at a private HBCU. The methods are to assess the current STEM Education needs for pre-service and in-service P-12 local partnership schools by interviews, focus groups, and survey questions (Patton, 2014). The initial interviews provided baseline data on the needs of pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and school level STEM needs of local P-12 schools. After careful analysis of interview responses, the goals of each focus group were determined. Next, the focus group questions were developed and moderator selected. The focus group data was analyzed and reported to the research team for the development of professional development content (Krueger, 1998).

Results - A professional development evaluation identified future professional development needs. The needs assessment facilitated increased scientific, engineering, and technology research capabilities and informed the HBCU’s alignment with one or more programs of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The results of the group showed an increase in knowledge across the measures identified for the study as a result of the professional development.
Scholarly Significance/Conference Connection This work addresses a general need (e.g., hardware, software, instructional, lab equipment) in STEM education specifically for Title I schools in the Southeastern US and respond by providing a segment of the instructional need via quality online resources from NASA’s database. Given the gaps in opportunity for underserved learners, holding IHEs accountable for partnerships and outreach is a critical component of the mission of many universities and HBCU STEM educators in particular.

Author

• Valeisha Ellis, Spelman College