Teacher Training By Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)released its report on K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The report included several recommendations. NSTA asked its members to respond to the PCAST recommendations. Here’s a couple key concerns the teachers had with the PCAST recommendations: Train us First, more important than recognition of the top 5% of STEM teachers is training. If you want STEM Master Teachers, then you need to train them with content, as well as pedagogical, professional development. Don’t Overlook “Diamonds in the Rough,” money is needed to educate current teachers and to encourage well-trained new teachers. Check out the PCAST report in NSTA reports here as well as what science teachers are saying about the PCAST report.

The Professional Development Literature and Resources Compiled by the 2009-2010 NSTA Professional Development Committee found that nearly half of all U.S. teachers are dissatisfied with their opportunities for professional staff development. The report is useful for those developing or evaluating teacher professional development. The report supports a new paradigm for teacher professional learning that is transformative and collaborative. The report is divided into 3 sections. A key finding of the research under Effective Teacher Development: What Does the Research Show?  Found that professional development should be intensive, ongoing, and connected to practice. Unfortunately, this is not often the case. Professional staff development teacher training opportunities are often one shot, short-term workshops that are often disconnected, and with major budget cuts in education offering quality, long-term professional staff development teacher training opportunities are a rare find. Read the full report from NSTA here.