Four Profiles of STEM Teacher Leadership: Leadership Identity, Innovative Teaching, and Leadership Role Enactment

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Constructing Practice, Shaping Identity: Preservice Teacher Learning Across Disciplines and Dialogues

Abstract

This study employed clustering to identify teacher leadership profiles among secondary STEM teachers and examine relationships with leadership identity, innovative teaching practices, and role enactment. A total of 312 secondary mathematics and science teachers from Nevada completed surveys assessing five leadership dimensions. K-means analysis identified four leadership profiles: High-Engaged Leaders, Moderate Leaders, Developing Leaders, and Low-Engaged Leaders. MANOVA revealed significant differences among profiles. Leadership identity showed the strongest relationship to cluster membership (η²=.17), followed by leadership role enactment (η²=.12) and innovative teaching (η²=.05). High-Engaged Leaders demonstrated significantly higher leadership identity and role enactment than other groups. Results suggest differentiated professional development and provide a framework for identifying and supporting STEM teacher leaders.

Authors

• Seoyeon Park, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Peter Wiens, University of Nevada - Las Vegas