Fostering Change: Ideas and Best Practices for Diversity in STEM Teaching in K-12 Classrooms

The Smithsonian Science Education Center in partnership with Shell Oil Company convened a group of leading education organizations in Washington, D.C. on September 19 – 20, 2016 to share and discuss proven strategies that have improved the recruitment, retention and promotion of a diverse STEM teaching workforce. The ensuing rich exchange was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Shell Oil and their ongoing commitment to increasing the number of teachers of color in the STEM classroom while continuing to increase the opportunities for students in STEM in hope that tomorrow’s workforce is highly skilled and capable of success in an increasingly STEM focused global economy. Specifically, the meeting was designed to address the following goals related to increasing the diversity of the STEM teaching workforce:

1. Developing a playbook for school district-level systems change

2. Implementing school district-level systems change

3. Advancing leadership development

This publication (“The Playbook”) addresses the first goal of the convening: Developing a playbook for district-level systems change. This Playbook captures some of the best practices for creating systems level change at the district level that have proven successful in increasing the recruitment, retention and promotion of a diverse STEM teaching workforce. The text is augmented with several district-level case studies for additional details on the identified strategies.