EdWeek Shares Creative Strategies for Filling STEM Needs

A recent EdWeek article reported on the national shortage of STEM teachers and how schools across the country are developing creative ways to provide STEM education to their students.

Attracting and retaining educators fluent in STEM subjects is important for 21st-century learners. Students are more engaged in school when they see the relevance of STEM, and these educators can prepare students to study STEM subjects in college and prepare them for the workforce. 

The EdWeek article highlighted several creative strategies to fill STEM learning gaps:

• Leverage partnerships with local businesses. Students can travel to local businesses for internships or hands-on learning opportunities. Or businesses can send staff to schools to co-teach STEM subjects alongside teachers.
• Build partnerships with local universities and community colleges. At the Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria in New York, students learn robotics and computer science from PhD students at a nearby university.
• Share STEM teachers between schools within the same district.
• For smaller or rural districts, forge partnerships with nearby districts to share STEM resources and teachers. The Rural Schools Innovation Zone is a nonprofit organization in South Texas that established a partnership between five school districts and five institutions of higher education. RSIZ Academies provide focused college and career pathway opportunities for students living within the five districts.
• Schools can offer professional development opportunities to current teachers, providing them with the skills needed to effectively teach STEM topics.
• Finally, school districts can look within their non-teaching workforce to fill gaps. Students can shadow district employees in the nurse’s office or be assigned to a mentor from the technology department to learn valuable skills.

For more information, check out the EdWeek article Schools Have Their Work Cut Out to Get STEM Teachers. Here’s How to Do It