Supporting students with disabilities and limited English proficiency: STEM educator professional development participation and perceived utility

Abstract

Background: Professional development offerings assist K-12 educators in addressing new and evolving classroom dynamics, circumstances, and situations. With the emerging demands of an increasingly science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-infused society, teachers are challenged to provide high-quality service and equitable educational opportunities to all STEM education students, particularly to those students who traditionally are underrepresented in comparison to their peers in STEM education and/or have aspirations of participation in STEM-related careers. This study investigated K-12 STEM educator participation and perceived utility regarding professional development addressing specific needs of students with identified categorical disabilities and limited English proficiency (LEP).Results: Collection and analysis methods employed data retrieval and tabulation from the 2011-2012 School and Staffing Survey (SASS) Teacher Questionnaire (TQ). The national restricted access dataset was used to identify targeted teacher populations as well as provide a profile of STEM teacher participation in practice-oriented professional development activities regarding the two specified student groups. The results were categorically summarized and compared across science, technology, and mathematics (STM) disciplines and also between STM educators, non-STM educators, and educators in general. Conclusions: The results indicated that STM teachers tended to engage in fewer professional development opportunities and dedicated fewer hours in the professional development regarding students with categorical disabilities and LEP than the remainder of the teaching population. Overall, STM teachers' perceived utility of the provided professional development experience was lower than that of the remainder of the teaching population.

Untitled

“…It is not surprising that principal support, student problems, paperwork, and the caseload of students with individualized education plans serve as central retention factors. Although prepared for diverse educational applications and student learning abilities, Technology and Engineering Education teachers can be fatigued by the continual need for adaptation (Li, Ernst, & Williams, 2015).…”

Impact of STEM Professional Development Sessions on Chinese Pre-service Early Childhood Teachers

“…Successful STEM PD enables pre-service teachers to be innovative during their own instruction, explore unknown concepts, and ensure sustenance in their learning of new materials over time (Baker-Doyle & Yoon, 2011). STEM PD also shapes the perspectives and practices of teachers regarding STEM, and also help them to narrow the achievement gap between groups of students (Li, Ernst, & Williams, 2015). During STEM PD, teachers benefit from collegial relationships/support and also from experienced teachers which challenges them to meet students' learning needs (Kilpatrick & Fraser, 2019).…”

<p>Cyber-supported Professional Learning Experiences that Build Technology and Engineering Educators’ Practice</p>

“…National STEM education initiatives cite the need and importance of professional learning opportunities for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educators, but the instructional support offered to these educators varies in quality and effectiveness (National Research Council [NRC], 2009). Professional learning experiences for technology and engineering teachers are often found to be deficient and less robust than professional development for teachers in other STEM disciplines (DuBois, Farmer, Gomez, Messner, & Silva, 2009;Li, Ernst, & Williams, 2015; National Academy of Engineering & NRC, 2009). The lack of effective professional development for technology and engineering educators is further accentuated by a shortage of licensed and certified teachers for this discipline (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards [NBPTS], personal communication, October 2012).…”