Preparing School and District Leaders for Success in Developing and Facilitating Integrative STEM in Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education institutions in the United States with graduate-level educational leadership programs traditionally do not offer professional learning opportunities in integrative STEM education. The objective of this paper is to share our journey to prepare and implement a course designed for P-12 educational leaders to build knowledge and skills to lead impactful integrative STEM programming. Results of the demand survey indicated a high amount of interest in an integrative STEM education course. Findings from interviews and the modified Delphi study informed our decisions for the development, objectives, assessments, and outcomes of the course to enhance integrative STEM culture in educational settings.

Administrator’s perspectives on an engineering program aimed at broadening participation.

“…Several studies have also explored the role of administrators within STEM integration and broader STEM initiatives in order to understand how administrators can facilitate or hinder the success of such initiatives [8,9]. For instance, in an evaluation of a state-wide multi-year initiative to increase the use of STEM integration in high schools, Havice et al (2019) found that school teachers and leaders both found ways to implement integrated STEM within their school systems as a result of participation in the professional development offered on STEM integration.…”