This study involves a theory-based teacher professional development model that was created to address two problems. First, dominant modes of science teacher professional development have been inadequate in helping teachers create learning environment
s that engage students in the practices of science, as called for most recently by the NGSS. Second, there is a lack of teacher presence and voice in the national dialogue on education reform and assessment. In this study, teachers led and participated in a professional community focusing on STEM education research. In this community, teachers became increasingly responsible for designing and enacting learning experiences for themselves and their colleagues. We investigated the characteristics of the science teachers learning process. Findings suggest that teachers who participated in this model generated knowledge and practices about teaching and learning while simultaneously developing identities and practices as education reform advocates and agents of educational change.
This STEM education study investigates the Streamline to Mastery professional development program, in which teachers work in partnership with university researchers to design professional development opportunities for themselves and for fellow teache
rs. Our research describes the process of teacher professional growth both through changes in agency and through a shared pursuit of an improved understanding of classroom scientific inquiry. Videos, emails, lesson reflections, survey responses, and interviews were analyzed to glean insight into changes in teacher discourse around inquiry and into their shifts in participation within the professional community they established. Implications for professional development in STEM education are discussed.
