Understanding Preservice Teacher’s Decision to Choose Rural STEM Teaching: A Survey Validation

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 1:45 pm
  In Poster Session: Research Implications for Teaching and Teacher Ed Policy and Practice - Div K Sec 10

Abstract

This paper presents a subset of findings from the NSF-funded Investigating STEM Teacher Preparation and Rural Teacher Persistence and Retention (TPR)² project, a 14-institution collaboration examining how teacher preparation programs address rurality in support of the STEM teacher pipeline. This study, grounded in Azano et al.’s “three C’s” framework—context, curriculum, and conveyance (2019), explores factors that influence preservice teachers’ intentions to teach in rural schools, accept positions in rural schools, and persist. Factor analyses of survey data from ~500 participants revealed that belonging, lifestyle alignment, and rural field experiences were positively associated with rural teaching intentions, while logistical barriers and limited engagement with K–12 students had negative effects. Findings have implications for rural teacher preparation as well as retention-focused program design.

Authors

• Dana P. Franz, Mississippi State University

• Diana Cumings Outlaw, Mississippi State University

• Devon G. Brenner, Mississippi State University

• Jennifer G. Whitfield, Texas A&M University