Maine PSP: A Partnership to Enhance Teaching and Learning of Physical Science in Rural Schools, Grades 6 through 9

The Maine Physical Sciences Partnership focuses on enhancing the teaching and learning of physical and earth sciences in grades 6 through 9. Sets of instructional materials, selected by a joint school/university task force provide the vehicle for important conversations about content, pedagogy and knowledge of student ideas. This has important implications as a model for professional development and for building teacher communities of practice in this rural area. At the University level, STEM teacher recruitment, retention, and other pipeline issues are being addressed through a program of systematic STEM course reform. Research centered on development of teacher content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge is being carried out by a strong team of STEM and STEM-education faculty and their students.