The document discusses recommendations for improving K-12 STEM teacher training and development in California. It finds that current teacher training is disjointed and does not adequately prepare teachers in math and science content or skills. The key recommendations are to create a coherent, progressive system of teacher training that integrates content, pedagogy and clinical practice; increase the math and science capacity of teacher training programs; and form strong partnerships between teacher preparation programs and school districts. Revising standards and linking credentials to demonstrated competencies are also recommended. The goal is to transform the system to better support great STEM teachers and produce STEM-literate students.

1. Tory Read, Founder & Principal
Tory Read Studio

2. •
Topic: How to produce and support great
K-12 STEM teachers, so we create STEMliterate citizens and STEM-capable workers
• Data: 30 interviews Teachers, superintendents, faculty, deans, p
rofessional development providers, ELL
experts, test designers, policy
experts, CCTC
• Year: 2012
• Objective: To catalyze vision, planning and

3. Education in math or science,
using engineering design approaches
and technology tools, delivered
through a combination of handson, student-centered, inquiry-based
projects and direct instruction.

4. Teacher Preparation –undergraduate + 1
year
Induction – first 2 years on the job
Professional Learning – ongoing over
course of career

5. • Use reason and inquiry to solve
problems.
• Gather and analyze evidence.
• Construct arguments, engage in
debate and critique the reasoning of
others.
• Use appropriate tools strategically.
• Collaborate and communicate.
• Adhere to a rigorous set of practices.

6. • STEM jobs grew 3x as fast as non-STEM jobs
from 2001-2011.
• STEM occupations are projected to grow 17%
from 2008-2018, compared to 8% for non-STEM
jobs.
• Wages in STEM fields are 27-60% higher than in
non-STEM fields, depending on education level
attained.
• Workers in STEM fields have significantly lower
unemployment rates than workers in non-STEM

7. • US 15-year-olds ranked 36th in mathematics,
28th in science and 24th in reading behind other
nations on the 2012 PISA.
• Only 35% of US 8th graders are proficient in
mathematics and just 36% are proficient in
reading, according to the 2012 NAEP.
• Math literacy at age 4 is predictive of both math
and reading proficiency in third grade, but most
children birth-4 are in a chaotic hodge-podge of
child care and early education settings.

8. • We have an inadequate supply of math and
science teachers across all of K-12.
• Most K-8 teachers are underprepared in math
and science, and many of them fear these two
subjects.
• It is difficult to attract math and science majors to
teach in K-8 because they can make better
money elsewhere.
• Few early childhood educators are comfortable
teaching numeracy and math.

9. • Is coherent, progressive and follows a teacher
from college through career.
• Features close, sleeves-rolled-up partnerships
between districts and teacher training
programs. Faculty and K-12 teachers
collaborate to design the teacher training
experience.
• Integrates content, pedagogy and clinical
practice, so teachers learn what to teach and
how to teach it by teaching real students in
real classrooms.
• Features faculty that use technology fluently.
• Explicitly includes STEM subjects all along the

10. • Starts early, during undergraduate coursework.
• Features faculty working directly with classroom
teachers to co-design the clinical practice experience.
• Supports specially trained mentor teachers to oversee
and co-teach with teachers-in-training.
• Occurs in schools where principals and host teachers
explicitly agree to allow teachers-in-training to practice
what they are learning in their courses.
• Includes reflective practice, in which teachers-in-training
learn to use data to evaluate themselves and their peers.
• Trains and deploys teachers-in-training in cohorts to
enable peer-to-peer learning and communities of

11. • Teacher training experiences are typically discreet,
disconnected and repetitive.
• K-8 teachers need more math and science training
– more content, more practice.
• Clinical practice experiences are often too short,
inadequately supervised and have little time for
reflection.
• Faculty members control what they teach, so
faculty who teach teachers need to drink the koolaid and change what they teach and how they
teach it.
• Many faculty members are disconnected from K-12
realities, and tenure evaluation systems privilege
academic research over fieldwork, which
discourages faculty from spending more time in K-

12. • Transform a chaotic system of discreet training experiences
into a coherent, aligned and logical system of continuous and
progressive training.
• Increase capacity of teacher training institutions, school
districts and county offices of education in math and science.
• Increase the depth of math and science courses for teachersin-training.
• Organize teachers into professional learning teams and
communities.
• Create a career ladder with associated pay increases, and
build a system that awards and renews teachers credentials
based on demonstrated competencies.
• Train faculty and teachers to be fluent in technology and use it

13. • The CTC recently changed the structure of
teacher training to allow more integration of
content and pedagogy.
• The new K-12 content standards in math, ELA
and science create space and demand for great
STEM teachers.
• Planning and implementing the Local Control
Funding Formula creates opportunities to inject
STEM into district culture and practice.
• CTC is starting to revise teacher preparation and
induction program standards.

14. • Revise teacher preparation and induction program
standards to include strong partnerships between
teacher preparation programs and districts.
• Strengthen math and science for all multi-subject
credential candidates.
• Award and renew teacher credentials based on
demonstrated competencies.
• Streamline the paperwork for accreditation renewal and
sanction and close programs that are not doing a good
job.
• Require teacher training programs to track and report on
how their graduates perform in the classroom, including

15. • Establish a P-3 teaching credential with a
strong early math component.
• Create a ladder of credentials for teachers,
awarded as they reach increased
competency levels over time.
• Link each step on the credential ladder to
increases in compensation.

16. • Enlist interested teacher prep faculty and K-12
math and science teachers to lead the
transformation.
• Reward faculty for making changes in their
courses.
• Encourage teacher prep faculty to spend time in
K-12 schools.
• Train teacher prep faculty to fluently incorporate
technology into their teaching practice.
• Expand the range of clinical practice settings to

17. • Revamp staffing structures to
accommodate and compensate mentor
teachers, master teachers and math and
science specialists.
• Increase the amount of time for science in
elementary grades.
• Allocate time for teachers to work and learn
in teams.
• Allow students to use technology in the
classroom.
• Require that elementary school principals

18. • Pay for experts to analyze funding streams se we
can re-allocate existing resources to revamped
teacher training.
• Build the evidence base. Pay for evaluations and
case studies, and convene workshops to gather
the evidence on what works in what contexts.
• Support best-practice partnerships between
teacher training programs and districts.
• Support efforts to develop systems for measuring
teacher quality and tying it back to teacher
training programs, so programs can engage in
continuous improvement based on data.
• Provide teacher candidates in math and science
with opportunities for hands-on experience in real
laboratories and industry settings.

19. In your group, discuss the following
questions.
• Which recommendations are most important?
• What is your role?
• What can you do to improve teacher training?