Professional Development
The STEM Equity Pipeline will provide professional development using national experts
on gender equity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education through
webinars, webcasts and online courses. The calendar of professional development
events will be determined from the input of STEM Equity Pipeline Network members
nationwide. To provide your input please complete the
Professional Development Needs Assessment.
The STEM Equity Pipeline Project has also chosen the following two areas of intellectual
specialization that will be highlighted throughout the training provided to the
State Teams as well as through the national professional development events offered.
Accountability – Using Data to Drive Program Improvement:
Data-driven decision-making is the process of analyzing student data - academic
performance, attendance, demographics, etc. - in such a way that administrators,
teachers and parents can accurately assess student learning. Decisions are then
based on the data to improve administrative and instructional systems to continually
promote student achievement. Not to be confused with the research process, using
accountability systems and the data they hold to help inform the institutional decision
process has proven to be extremely effective. It is the intent of this project to
include activities that will assist State Teams in using the educational data available
to them about student participation, completion and achievement in STEM Career Cluster
programs as a tool when providing extension services to local educators when making
decisions about the selection of strategies to implement to increase the participation
of females in STEM Career Cluster programs.
Professional Development – Implementing Effective Extension Services in the Formal
Education Community:
Based on the synthesis of the research by the Mid-continent Research for Education
and Learning in its Professional Development Analysis, professional development
that is most likely to positively affect teacher instruction is a) of considerable
duration, b) focused on specific content and/or instructional strategies rather
than general, c) characterized by collective participation of educators in the form
of teams, d) coherent, and e) infused with active learning rather than a stand-and-deliver
model. The project will implement research-based professional development activities,
model these with State teams and conduct training in how to use implement professional
development strategies with teachers in the formal education setting.