2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Michigan Technological University (MTU) and Northern Michigan University (NMU) have partnered with support from the National Science Foundation to prepare middle school science teachers to become leaders in STEM education. Through this collaboration, the project will recruit, train, and retain high-quality STEM teacher leaders that can serve as effective mentors and address a systemic shortage of science teachers in the state of Michigan.

The Master Teachers Program (MTP) aims to recruit 30 experienced and effective science teachers to lead efforts to improve science education in grades 5-9 in diverse, high-need schools throughout Michigan. We anticipate 20 teachers will enter the program as master's degree holders and 10 teachers will earn a Master's in Educational Instruction Pedagogy, jointly developed and administered by MTU and NMU. The degree will be offered entirely online, making it accessible to teachers throughout Michigan.

Teacher involvement in the project is supported by annual participant stipends. Master's degree holders will receive a $10,000 stipend annually for 5 years in return for completing all program requirements. Bachelor’s degree holders will earn a master’s degree, with tuition completely covered by the grant. Bachelor's degree holders will receive a $10,000 stipend upon completion of the 2-year master's degree program and additional $10,000 stipends each year for 4 subsequent years.

Teacher participants will receive training in participatory action (PAR) research and develop a PAR research proposal for their STEM classrooms. Teachers will be mentored through the completion of PAR research projects and disseminating results in a conference presentation. We currently have full enrollment to commence both cohorts of teachers. This paper, and associated poster, will detail the project’s progress to date.