• Subscribe

    Sign up here for our monthly newsletter.

  • Menu

    IDEAS

    Science teachers learn to be policy advocates

    By Trey Smith, Rebecca Hite and Rebecca Vieyra
    Categories: Advocacy/policy
    August 2021
    The AAPT/AIP Master Teacher Policy Leader Fellowship is a one-year fellowship that aims to build teachers’ policy knowledge, skills, and dispositions to act as change agents in science education policy spaces. Funded by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institution of Physics, the fellowship is composed of a cohort of 11 teachers in nine self-selected state-level teams who came together from across the country for a weeklong summit in Washington, D.C. During this summit, teachers developed action plans to improve equity in science education — from petitioning state legislatures to allocate funding for science teachers’ professional learning, to enlisting science teaching societies to promote evidence-based pedagogies to help girls and young women feel more welcome in science classrooms. Amy and her colleague

    Read the remaining content with membership access. Join or log in below to continue.

    Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.

    Log In
       

    References

    AAPT Physics Master Teacher Leader Task Force. (2017). Aspiring to lead: Engaging K-12 teachers as agents of change in physics education. www.aapt.org/K12/upload/PMTL-Report-2017__aapt_fina.pdf

    ASCD. (n.d.). Teach to lead. www.ascd.org/programs/teach-to-lead-initiative.aspx

    Banilower, E.R., Smith, P.S., Weiss, I.R., Malzahn, K.A., Campbell, K.M., & Weis, A.M. (2013). Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. Horizon Research.

    Bundy, B., Dahl, J., Guiñals-Kupperman, S., Hengesbach, J., Martino, K., Metzler, J., Smith, T., Vargas, M., Vieyra, R., & Whitehurst, A. (2019). Physics teacher leaders influencing science education policy. The Physics Teacher, 58(3), 210-213.

    Gonzales, P., Williams, T., Jocelyn, L., Roey, S., Kastberg, D., & Brenwald, S. (2009). Highlights from TIMMS 2007: Mathematics and science achievement of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students in an international context. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

    Heiman, H.J., Smith, L.L., McKool, M., Mitchell, D.N., & Roth Bayer, C. (2016). Health policy training: A review of the literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(1), 1-12.

    Hite, R. & Milbourne, J. (2018). A proposed conceptual framework for K-12 STEM master teacher (STEMMaTe) development. Education Sciences, 8(4), 1-25. doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040218

    NASEM. (2017). Increasing the roles and significance of teachers in policymaking for K-12 engineering education: Proceedings of a convocation. The National Academies Press.

    NCES. (2012). Schools and staffing survey. Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_20161012001_t1n.asp

    NRC. (2014a). Exploring opportunities for STEM teacher leadership: Summary of a convocation. The National Academies Press.

    NRC. (2014b). Literacy for science: Exploring the intersection of the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core for ELA Standards: A workshop summary. The National Academies Press.

    NRC. (2007). Taking science to school: Learning and teaching science in grades K-8. The National Academies Press.

    Powell, D. (2016, November 16). Is it appropriate for teachers to discuss politics in school? [Web Blog Post]. blogs.edweek.org/edweek/K-12_Contrarian/2016/11/appropriate_ for_teachers_discuss_politics_school.html

    Saçkes, M. Trundle, K.C., Bell, R.L., & O’Connell, A.A. (2010). The influence of early science experience in kindergarten on children’s immediate and later science achievement: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(2), 217-235.

    Sunderman, G.L., Tracey, C.A., Kim, J., & Orfield, G. (2004). Listening to teachers: Classroom realities and No Child Left Behind. The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.

    U.S. Department of Education. (n.d). Albert Einstein distinguished educator fellowship program. science.osti.gov/wdts/einstein


    Image for aesthetic effect only - Trey Smith
    + posts

    Trey Smith (johsmi@upenn.edu) is a science, technology, and engineering teacher in Philadelphia public schools.

    Image for aesthetic effect only - Rebecca-hite-epfp
    + posts

    Rebecca Hite (rebecca.hite@ttu.edu) is assistant professor of science education at Texas Tech University.

    Image for aesthetic effect only - Rebecca-vieyra-1-scaled
    + posts

    Rebecca Vieyra (rvieyra@aapt.org) is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland-College Park.


    Categories: Advocacy/policy

    Search
    The Learning Professional


    Published Date

    CURRENT ISSUE



  • Subscribe

  • Recent Issues

    LEARNING TO PIVOT
    August 2024

    Sometimes new information and situations call for major change. This issue...

    GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
    June 2024

    What does professional learning look like around the world? This issue...

    WHERE TECHNOLOGY CAN TAKE US
    April 2024

    Technology is both a topic and a tool for professional learning. This...

    EVALUATING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
    February 2024

    How do you know your professional learning is working? This issue digs...

    Skip to content