A Case Study Approach to STEM Supervision: A Collaborative Model for Teaching and Principal Preparation

Abstract

School principals are responsible for supervising STEM teachers, yet many principals did not teach in the STEM fields and have limited training in STEM content, process and practice. This presents a challenge for principals when they observe STEM classrooms and provide feedback to teachers. In this paper the authors describe a study about principals’ views of STEM classrooms and the observational feedback principals provide to those teachers. The results of the study suggest principals need a deeper understanding of reform minded STEM process and practice, and alternative approaches to providing teachers with observational feedback. Building on the results of the study, the authors present a collaborative model (Innovating Teaching and Learning Leadership (iTALL)) for preparing pre-service principals and pre-service STEM teachers and describes training in the STEM process and practice. Observational exercises are discussed and changes in observational protocols when conducting classroom walk-throughs are described.

Shaping the Supervision Narrative: Innovating Teaching and Leading to Improve STEM Instruction

“…Faculty from three departments-Educational Leadership (EL); Instructional Technology, Foundations, and Secondary Education (ITFSE); and Math and Statistics-received an ETEAL Strategic Initiative Award for a proposal called "innovating Teaching and Learning Leadership" (or iTALL) that brought seven faculty members together in areas that included principal preparation, evaluation, STEM education, and teacher preparation. This work built on an existing line of research that examined the way that principals evaluate STEM instruction and provide feedback to STEM teachers Kubasko et al, 2019). The goal of this project is to develop and implement a model of shared preparation and supervisory practices that informs both the faculty and the students in regards to teaching, learning, and leadership.…”

“…Both pre-service teachers and pre-service principals need a greater awareness of curricular practices across the STEM fields. Recent research shows that different principals see STEM instruction differently in the classroom and may offer varying feedback as a result (Kubasko et al, 2019;. STEM education "is an organizing principle upon which to build the interconnectedness of subjects" and includes a focus on student engagement and motivation (Myers & Berkowicz, 2015, p. 8).…”

“…When their respective preparation programs neither collaborate nor intersect, clinical opportunities for pre-service teachers to work with aspiring principals simply do not exist. Building on a case study involving principal perceptions of teaching, a model was proposed by researchers to bring teachers and principals together on the "preparation side" of the profession (Kubasko et al, 2019). This model has been further developed to foster an ongoing, shared conversation about innovating teaching and learning leadership, as illustrated in Figure 1.…”