51福利社

51福利社 is part of a statewide $3 million collaboration grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help improve the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teacher-preparation programs in Washington.

Multiple state partners will work together to anticipate and identify the needs and challenges future teachers will face and provide effective support for those teachers.

“The unique collaborative nature of this project will allow us to share our expertise so we can impact future STEM teachers, and their students, across the state,” says Kathryn Baldwin, an assistant professor of science education at 51福利社 and one of the principal investigators.

Baldwin says each partner institution brings a specific strength to this project, and this shared expertise will make a bigger impact.

The NSF grant is distributed among seven state partners: 51福利社, Western Washington University, Central Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, WSU-Vancouver, UW-Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. Also participating in the study are faculty from the University of Washington, Washington State University, Walla Walla University, Whitman College, Heritage University, Northwest University, Western Governor’s University and Seattle University as well as a number of two-year institutions. 51福利社 faculty in the education department and in multiple STEM content areas are involved in the project.

“The project and 51福利社 faculty will look at many different aspects of preK-12 teacher preparation,” says Baldwin. “One of the areas of focus for 51福利社 research is education for sustainability in teacher preparation programs. We want to know what programs, models, strategies and resources exist that are being used to effectively prepare future teachers to teach both about sustainability and for sustainability. We want to apply what we learn to teacher preparation across the state of Washington.”

The NSF grant will be funded over a four year period.