Our Journey

STEM Next Opportunity Fund commits to expanding partnerships and collaborations that will increase the STEM learning opportunities for Black, Latina and Native American girls. In particular, STEM Next Opportunity Fund will engage one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs by 2025 and STEM Next Opportunity Fund will place ten fellows at federal agencies that play a role in supporting equity in PreK-12 STEM education in and out-of-school particularly for Black, Latinx and Native American students and other student groups that have been disproportionately excluded from STEM.

Over the next 5 years, STEM NOLA and STEM Global Action will expand our reach and increase our partnerships by establishing 10 STEM cities and/or STEM state programs that will transform STEM education by bringing culturally relevant STEM to underserved and under-resourced communities across the country. We will train 250 educators and community members on how to create a STEM ecosystem that inspires and engages everyone to get involved with STEM education and activities for students.

STEMTeachersNYC is committed to supporting teacher retention by adding 70-100 pre-service teachers to our existing Community Learning Network of more than 700 teachers. The Community Learning Network began in 2021. We work closely with CUNY education programs and welcome pre-service teachers into our community and provide support through professional learning workshops. Community and continuous peer support have an immense impact on teacher retention. This is true for in-service teachers as much as teachers new to the classroom. We also place an emphasis on supporting the retention of Black, Latinx and/or Native American educators by working with the CUNY system. The CUNY system is 55.7% Black, Latinx, and/or Native American students.

STEMteachersNYC centers the experiences and expertise of all the teachers in our community. We do this through the collaboration and relevance embedded in the structure of our professional learning workshops and programs. The stories of our participants and our leaders are always at the center of everything we do. As an organization providing professional development in STEM for and by teachers, we center the knowledge, creativity and expertise of STEM teachers in our community. Our next five years will be heavily invested in listening to, connecting to, and serving more closely the diverse communities of New York City. Through the ongoing work of our Equity Lab team, Angles on Responsive STEM speaker series, Decolonizing Math and Dimensions of Responsive STEM workshops, Multilingual Learners & STEM Roundtable, and upcoming Indigenous STEM in the City series, we will offer multiple entry points for both our workshop leaders and teacher-participants to engage, grow, and become leaders. We believe that teachers know best their own path of professional growth. We will continue to open space for sharing diverse perspectives, challenges and successes, and exploring paths to growth. We will host these programs in-person across the five boroughs, and invite Black, Latinx and Native American STEM teachers to co-facilitate, lead and grow as they choose – to own their own professional development.

STEMteachersNYC commits to incorporating our high school intern perspectives into our internal evaluation and community outreach, as well as our new student+teacher curriculum development workshops. In the coming five years, we will continue to uplift student voice, and connect student and teacher thinking in the development of new STEM curricula across multiple partnerships and projects, and seek out student-teacher teams to share and shine light on in-practice examples of student driven curricula, pedagogy, and problem based learning, so that they may help shape the future of STEM education.

Over the next five years STEMTeachersNYC will develop a new professional learning growth tracking system that will allow individual teachers to create their own paths in a way that allows us and others to continue to both better support and better learn from them. The new multi-layered coaching project will offer targeted support to teams of teachers, which includes support for the development of new teacher mentorship relationships and programming, and early relationship building between preservice teachers and schools.

By 2029, STEMteachersPHX will support 300 Pre-K-12 STEM educators to cultivate classrooms of STEM belonging with a focus on the needs of Black, Latinx, and/or Native American students through high-quality professional development experiences planned, facilitated, and evaluated by experienced, dedicated STEM educators. The topics for these experiences will be proposed and chosen by the greater membership of STEMteachersPHX with an emphasis on interdisciplinary topics such as robotics, space, and computational thinking. As a result of these efforts, educators will acquire new skills including active engagement strategies and authentic assessment while expanding their communities of practice. Students will engage in authentic STEM learning experiences that foster curiosity and collaboration. This will impact learning for 15,000 Pre-K-12 students over five years.

Over the next 5 years, STEM to the Future commits to utilizing our professional development offerings to support over 2,000 teachers nationwide in creating liberatory, student-led elementary and middle school classrooms. Our professional development offerings, rooted in social justice, cultural responsiveness, social emotional learning (SEL), and guided by NGSS, Common Core, and Social Justice Standards, provide opportunities for instructors across subject areas to learn how to integrate liberatory pedagogy into their existing curricula and lead classes using our social justice STEAM curriculum.

By 2029, talkSTEM will support 1,000 STEM educators in grades 3-12 to cultivate classrooms of STEM belonging with a focus on the needs of Black, Latinx, and/or Native American students through talkSTEM’s open-access resources. Professional development will be provided to STEM educators through talkSTEM’s partnerships with groups dedicated to ongoing teacher development such as the regional educational service centers across Texas. We have produced customized math and STEM walk experiences in collaboration with several regional centers and are providing video guides and additional assets in order to facilitate dissemination of our methods. Further we have recently updated our website so that teachers can easily and conveniently use our open access video library consisting of 250+ STEM walk video guides that have been professionally filmed and ready for classroom use together with other support materials that make it easy for teachers to use a wide array of creative, related activities. As a result of these efforts, educators will engage students in experiential and place-based STEM learning on a weekly basis at minimum and students will see the STEM that is embedded in their lived experiences. This will impact learning for 100,000 students in grades 3-12 over five years.

By 2027, Teach For America plans to recruit 4,600 elementary and secondary STEM teachers to teach and lead in high-need schools across the country. Given our mission to find, develop, and support a diverse network of leaders who expand opportunity for children from classrooms and schools, we plan to continue our efforts to recruit and develop 2,300 Black, Latinx, and Native American STEM teachers in the communities where we work over the next five years. Our collective impact will be measured by our progress towards Teach For America’s 2030 goal, stating: By 2030, twice as many children in communities where we work will reach key educational milestones indicating they are on a path to economic mobility and co-creating a future filled with possibility. As key metrics in this goal, we will measure 4th grade math and 8th grade math student data (% proficient overall, % proficient by student subgroups).

Teach Kentucky will work aggressively with our university partners to facilitate admission qualifications into certification pathways in STEM areas especially for middle school math and science with a goal to prepare 95 middle school math and science teachers by 2027. In addition, we will continue to utilize and enhance incentives, scholarships, pre-service training, coaching, and other supports that foster a high degree of success among our new teachers, even in challenging schools. We will remain committed to our teachers for the first three years of their work life in Louisville and enroll them in the Teach Kentucky community of educators, a robust, informal network of support from our veteran teachers.

Teach Kentucky will continue to develop an intentional strategy to connect our teachers from unserved populations to the Louisville community’s leadership and assets. We will enhance existing programming that builds strong bonds between our new teachers and their new hometown, Louisville, Kentucky. The expected outcomes are a higher retention rate and greater overall life and job satisfaction for our teachers.

Over the next five years, Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) will recruit and prepare a minimum of 500 Black teachers to be proficient in STEM education delivery. To do this we will recruit and provide professional development in STEM education to HBCU-educated pre-service and in-service teachers for our Teacher Quality and Retention Program (TQRP). TMCF also will continue its intentional focus on Black Male Teachers by recruiting in-service Black male teachers to participate in its program. This will lead to elementary teachers in PK-5 becoming proficient in STEM educational techniques, and middle and secondary school STEM teachers becoming proficient in pedagogical techniques to ensure they are able to delivery the STEM content effectively. TMCF’s TQRP also will provide professional development to support Black teacher social-emotional well-being, which is critical to teacher retention. TMCF also will periodically engage TQRP participants in order to adapt the program to their evolving needs, to ensure teacher retention and success.
The majority of in-service TQRP Fellows teach in Title I schools and impact minority children, while the majority of pre-service TQRP Fellows seek to enter careers in Title I schools. In turn, teach elementary school teacher will impact a minimum of 30 students per year, and upper level teachers will impact at least 50 students annually.

Over the next five years, TST will retain 90% of PK-12th grade BIPOC educators, including those supporting STEM subjects, with a focus on serving BIPOC students through intentional recruitment to historically under-resourced schools. Through our programming, we invest in a diverse cohort of teacher leaders by energizing and empowering their leadership abilities. This includes access to 1:1 Coaching, a year-long leadership-focused roundtable series, and a cohort of connected educators who are working on similar goals. As a result, ~40 educators will continue, from year to year, to serve as a teacher in a PK-12 classroom. This will impact learning for ~14K PK-12 students per year.

Commitment Coming Soon

TechBridge Girls will deliver STEM Equity training and/or OST curriculum to at least 500 educators serving primarily BIPOC youth from marginalized communities annually. We will intentionally recruit educators working with BIPOC youth from marginalized communities. Our educators will join us from a variety of partnerships with national and statewide networks and will serve in Title 1 schools or nonprofits serving BIPOC youth. TechBridge Girls’ training and curriculum address STEM belonging explicitly by centering BIPOC contributions to STEM, creating gender-responsive environments, and challenging educators to consider their biases, power and position in the classroom. We will use our STEM Equity Framework to measure success and, where possible, share our findings with Network partners.

Commitment Statement Coming Soon

Over the next five years, Texas Woman’s University and the School of the Sciences will support the recruitment of STEM educators into educational preparation programs by increasing STEM engagement and cultivating a sense of belonging in STEM majors through the development of their STEM identity. This will be achieved by expanding STEM opportunities such as developing new majors, fostering research clusters, and hiring additional faculty. As a result, more STEM undergraduates will see a pathway to STEM education as a viable and desirable career, leading to a significant increase in the number of STEM majors who become educators teaching in 9-12 classrooms. Specifically, we will increase the number of STEM educators from 7 in 2024 to 14 in 2029.

Commitment Coming Soon

TNTP commits to supporting students in high-needs schools with more equitable access to a STEM education by recruiting and training STEM educators for their schools and increasing the representation of teachers of color within the STEM field: By 2027, we plan to recruit at least 500 new elementary and secondary math and science teachers that will serve students in high-needs schools. As an organization, we are committed to closing the diversity gap that exists between students and teachers and therefore, will aim for 60% of those new educators to identify as people of color. We will accomplish this by 1) using recruitment and selection processes that focus on eliminating bias and investing in potential candidates from within local communities; 2) expanding access to the profession through teacher pathways that purposefully identify and eliminate the barriers to access for our candidates of color; and 3) improve the development experience and persistence for candidates of color through affinity cohort experiences that provide identity-specific mentorship and collaboration to successfully navigate current systems of bias and/or racism.

The South Bay Consortium Teacher Residency Program and Torrance Unified School District Teacher Induction Program commits to recruit, prepare, and retain STEM teachers from underrepresented populations over the next 5 years: By 2027 we will work strategically with our partners and communities to recruit 81 teacher residency candidates to increase the number of marginalized STEM teachers, with the goal of preparing at least 50% of our STEM teachers at the same percentages as are represented in their student populations. Specifically in our Teacher Induction Program we will cultivate a workplace of belonging with a focus on culturally relevant practices to support the needs of marginalized STEM teachers with the goal of retaining for at least 5 years 100% of our teacher candidates. The Teacher Residency and Induction Programs will initiate a local pipeline for diversity and support of underrepresented teachers in STEM who reflect their communities. Measurements of impact will include the number of underrepresented candidates recruited and their retention rates in our teacher residency and induction programs. We will also include reliable and valid survey measures to gauge the perceptions of teachers’ belonging within the sites and programs.

The South Bay Consortium Teacher Residency Program and Torrance Unified School District Teacher Induction Program commits to recruit, prepare, and retain STEM teachers from underrepresented populations over the next 5 years: By 2027 we will work strategically with our partners and communities to recruit 81 teacher residency candidates to increase the number of marginalized STEM teachers, with the goal of preparing at least 50% of our STEM teachers at the same percentages as are represented in their student populations. Specifically in our Teacher Induction Program we will cultivate a workplace of belonging with a focus on culturally relevant practices to support the needs of marginalized STEM teachers with the goal of retaining for at least 5 years 100% of our teacher candidates. The Teacher Residency and Induction Programs will initiate a local pipeline for diversity and support of underrepresented teachers in STEM who reflect their communities. Measurements of impact will include the number of underrepresented candidates recruited and their retention rates in our teacher residency and induction programs. We will also include reliable and valid survey measures to gauge the perceptions of teachers’ belonging within the sites and programs.

Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance will work to ensure that 500 STEM educators have the curriculum, content and materials they need to feel supported as professionals in their classroom. This support is designed to address teacher burnout and foster a sense of community and support for teachers, addressing some of the common causes of STEM teacher attrition.

Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance commits to developing professional development offerings for their network of 750 educators, which will include methods to build a sense of belonging for the educators who access the professional development and how to foster belonging for the students they serve. Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance also commits to ensure the stories of Black, Latinx and/or Native American students and professionals are shared with their educator advisory council of 25 members. The educator advisory council serves as a teacher leadership group that will serve as leaders within their school and communities for how to support skills and mindsets to foster belonging for all students in STEM.

Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance is developing professional development offerings for their network of 750 educators, which will include methods to build a sense of belonging for the educators who access the professional development and how to foster belonging for the students they serve.

By 2029, Tuva will support 100,000 3-12 STEM educators to cultivate classrooms of STEM belonging.  This goal includes providing professional development for 250 Black, Latinx, and/or Native American educators. Additionally, we will support Black, Latinx, and Native American students by curating place-based, culturally relevant, and representative datasets and lessons coupled with live and recorded webinars and teacher spotlight blogs for educators to develop data literacy proficiency while creating a sense of belonging through cultivating connection. As a result of these efforts, educators will develop higher levels of data literacy proficiency and implement real-world math and science lessons relevant to their students and community, and students will experience the joy of learning math and science through real-world applications about topics of interest to them. This will impact learning for 11.2 million 3-12 students over five years.

By 2027, UCLA will prepare at least 320 STEM teachers, with a focus on recruiting teachers of color as part of a statewide effort to diversify the teaching profession via residencies. State and federally funded residencies offer funding that helps provide the monetary support to engage in our graduate school program. We have engaged in statewide collaboration efforts with teacher education programs throughout the state to further support teachers of color. Through an organization called Ed Prep Lab and nationally through Bank Street we have focused on strengthening residency efforts at both the state and national level. In these efforts we have surveyed our teachers and engaged in semi structured interviews where monetary support remains pivotal. We are continuing efforts to apply for grant funds to support enrollment costs. Further, we have modified our readings in all courses to be more responsive and sustaining of teachers and students of color. Pedagogical shifts that include models of culturally relevant and sustaining practices are central to our methods courses and field based feedback. Lastly, we have started affinity groups within our teacher education program to better diversity student supports and engagement in our program.

By 2027, UCLA will contribute to increasing the retention of Black, Latinx, and Native American STEM teachers by continuing our residency model in which our alumni act as mentor teachers and increasing focus on recruiting teachers of color. Alumni are part of the recruitment structure by serving as panelists during recruitment sessions and allowing potential applicants to visit their classrooms. Further, mentor teachers who act as PBL guides and support new teachers in crafting lessons that are grounded in content equity community centric issues. Both mentor teachers and PBL guides and other forms of thought partnership feel reinvigorated around teaching and feel a sense of belonging and connection, which leads to increased retention (80% retention of teachers stay in the profession for five years). Further, we place our teachers in pairs at school sites and preferably where there are alumni and if possible, leadership that are graduates of UCLA’s Principal Leadership Institute. Through this vertical articulation and embedded field based support we increase the potential of teacher growth and development over their early profession. Lastly, many of our alumni also participate in the UCLA Content Based state funded projects such as the UCLA Math Project, UCLA Science Project, UCLA Computer Science Equity Project, etc. These professional development spaces allow for further growth, development and sustainability. We develop long standing partnerships with specific schools where we build capacity. These last two years we have started affinity groups within our teacher education program to further support our students of color. Our faculty is very diverse, much more so than most departments at UCLA.