Sustaining Change: Inquiry-Driven Innovations that Persevere

• In Event: Foundations for Lasting Equity and Transformation: Policy, Organization, and Professional Practice

Abstract

This paper examines the sustainability of the Teacher Inquiry Project in STEM, a professional learning intervention centered on inquiry-driven, transdisciplinary STEM education. Working in partnership with a University, the project prepares teachers to design inquiry-driven projects, situate the project in the life of the participants, and prepare them to lead going forward. The results of the mixed-methods research show that teachers reported significant pedagogical shifts in the post-test surveys. Teachers also reported that structural and organizational conditions (e.g., leadership support) remained largely unchanged over time. A post-post measurement was repeated a year later and again the differences in teacher-reported changes were significant, indicating that teachers sustained the shifts over time. This model has important implications for building sustainable models.

Authors

• Ellen B. Meier, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Madalina Ciocanu, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Jessica Yusaitis Pike, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Caron M. Mineo, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Karen Kirsch Page, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Yingxin Ye, Teachers College, Columbia University