Addressing the STEM Teacher Shortage in American Schools: Ways to Recruit and Retain Effective STEM Teachers

Abstract

The shortage of certified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers is of concern throughout the United States because of significant numbers needed over the next over the next 10 years. Addressing this issue in education, this study examined the experiences of three new STEM teachers who entered teaching through different pathways, focusing on those experiences related to the effectiveness of mentoring and the meaningfulness of professional development. Based on three case-study analysis, the findings provide an insight into the importance of mentoring and professional development for STEM teachers during their induction year to promote teacher persistence in the profession. This article provides ideas for recruitment, instructional preparation, and STEM teacher retention practices.

STEM teacher agency: A case study of initiating and implementing curricular reform

“…Although being a risk taker and having mentors early in one's career were important for the two participants in this study, these alone are not likely enough to predict teachers’ successes as reformers. Mentors see the potential in teachers as change agents (Hutchison, 2012). Without support early and throughout one's teaching career, teachers may not be able to find like‐minded peers with whom they can design and implement changes.…”

Examining the Differences between the Job Satisfaction of STEM and Non-STEM Novice Teachers with Leaving Intentions

“…Though many studies have examined various factors influencing teachers' leaving intentions, limited research has addressed the issue with respect to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers. Likewise, the shortage of future certified STEM teachers is a serious problem in the United States (Hutchison, 2012). STEM education has received increased attention over the past decade (e.g., Jones, Dana, LaFramenta, Adams, & Arnold, 2016;Stevenson, 2014), largely because of increased national-international developments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.…”

“…Teacher quantity and quality play key roles in improving STEM education, yet many schools and educational authorities encounter difficulties in recruiting certified STEM teachers (Hutchison, 2012). According to national data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (2012), only 38% of mathematics teachers (N=144,800), 27% of science teachers (N=126,300), 35% of biology teachers (N=51,900), 62% of physical science teachers (N=64,600), 66% of chemistry teachers (N=12,400), 68% of earth sciences teachers (N=12,400), and 63% of physics teachers (N=13,300) have no major or minor in their main assignment or certification (Marder, Brown, & Plisch, 2017).…”

How to Support Learners in Developing Usable and Lasting Knowledge of STEM

“…No matter how we define it, many teachers are not familiar with design thinking where the focus is on using disciplinary core ideas, practices and crosscutting concepts to find solutions to problems. This lack of familiarity could be linked to low numbers of certified STEM teachers (Hutchison, 2012), lack of teachers' experience in the design process and the relative absence of addressing STEM and design in teacher education (NRC, 2014b). What we know for sure is that, to make STEM and design an integral component of science teaching, we need to engage teachers in sustained professional learning opportunities and provide them access to good curriculum resources (Guskey, 2002; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015).…”