The iSTEM Innovation Institute is a four course teacher professional development program developed for Newport News Public Schools (NNPS). NIA’s NNPS Educator in Residence, Tami Byron, developed the series while as part of the Elementary STEM graduate course series developed and taught by Sharon Bowers at NIA in partnership with McDaniel College. Research supporting the professional development series is largely based on McDaniel College’s STEM Certificate Program developed by Sharon Bowers. Teachers enrolled in the series participate in both synchronous and asynchronous learning with follow-up classroom coaching to fully support teacher learning over the course of four semesters. This unique opportunity builds progressively from introducing the foundations of STEM to exploring real-world applications, understanding methods of STEM instruction, and considering assessment for/of STEM learning. Currently, 50 NNPS teachers are participating in two cohorts with a third cohort slated to begin this spring. The objective of the iSTEM Innovation Institute professional development series is to build elementary teachers’ knowledge and skills required to develop and deliver integrative STEM learning experiences within their classrooms. The program will be formally acknowledged by the General Assembly and the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.
