Project Profile: "Effect of STEM Faculty Engagement in MSP: A Longitudinal Perspective"

The investigators propose to conduct a 4-year assessment of the effects that the direct and substantial involvement of STEM faculty from Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) will have on K-12 education as part of the Math Science Partnership (MSP) program. A central assumption underlying the MSP program is that the involvement of STEM faculty will enhance teacher quality and improve student achievement. The investigators will look at eight different sites in order to capture the variation in the nature such partnerships, making use of a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. They will explore such issues as: what methods are being used by the various MSP projects to engage STEM faculty in their activities; how such involvement varies by type of IHE; to what extent STEM faculty involvement contributes to increases in K-12 teacher content and pedagogical knowledge; and to what extent it contributes to increase in student achievement. The particular promise of this research program is that it will shed light on the relationship between particular features of the partnerships and actual teacher behaviors and student learning outcomes.