Developing STEM teacher leaders for urban contexts: accelerating STEM learning opportunities for Black and Brown youth

Effective science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers, and by extension, STEM teacher leaders are sorely needed in secondary schools (Alemdar et al., 2018; Yow et al., 2021). Across the nation, we continue to grapple with severe teacher staffing shortages in the critical areas of mathematics and science (Ingersoll & Perda, 2010). This problem is consequential given that not arming secondary students with strong mathematics and science content knowledge can decrease their chances of bringing any STEM visions to fruition ^[1] (Nasir & Vakil, 2017). Therefore, it is essential to develop STEM teacher leaders who are equipped to nurture students’ STEM abilities and expose them to the possibilities associated with a robust STEM education.

Meanwhile, many urban school districts are densely populated with Black and Brown students as well as students from economically disadvantaged communities who have exceptional talents that can positively influence STEM knowledge production ^[2] (Nasir & Vakil, 2017). This asset-based framing constructs urban schools as intellectual spaces with high-caliber educators and Black and Brown students as competent learners, as opposed to deficit-based perspectives that position them as underperforming schools and illiterate children. In this vein, contemporary scholarship is calling for the use of asset-based approaches in STEM education research (Ramos Montañez, 2023). This project brings these perspectives to the urban education space by highlighting the strengths of racially and socioeconomically diverse STEM secondary students, teachers, and teacher leaders.

Although urban school districts advance STEM education in unique ways, ongoing challenges include an acute shortage of STEM teacher leaders as well as a vital need to retain them (Nasir & Vakil, 2017). These issues are of major concern given that many urban schools enroll a critical mass of Black and Brown students who are uniquely positioned to broaden the participation of STEM professionals including teacher leaders. Consequently, it is important to develop STEM teacher leaders in urban settings who are deeply committed to working with and accelerating STEM learning opportunities for Black and Brown youth (Leonard et al., 2025; Nasir & Vakil, 2017). This manuscript reports on our efforts to examine the experiences of five STEM teacher leaders in urban schools through a Research-Practice Partnership (RPP)—a mutually beneficial collaboration between researchers and practitioners to improve instructional practices and accelerate learning opportunities (Penuel & Gallagher, 2017). The following research question guided the study: In what ways are STEM teachers positioned to take up leadership roles within urban schools, districts, and communities?

Teacher leaders ^[3] positively influence school culture, build and maintain a successful team, mentor potential teacher leaders, model best practices, and improve student learning (Gabriel, 2005; Gul et al., 2019; Wenner & Campbell, 2017). STEM teacher leaders assume a variety of roles including disciplinary specialists, instructional coaches, and curriculum planners (Alemdar et al., 2018). Prior work has indicated that STEM teacher leaders have deep knowledge of the systems in which they work, possess specialized STEM content knowledge with relevance and coherence across grade bands, and support teachers in their design of engaging lessons through their daily interactions (Baker et al., 2023; Criswell et al., 2022; Hanuscin et al., 2011; Lotter et al., 2020). Because of the positive benefits associated with STEM teacher leaders, more researchers have begun to develop, support, and study STEM teacher leadership initiatives (Criswell et al., 2018; Jarry-Shore et al., 2023; Velasco et al., 2022; Yow et al., 2021, 2025). This emerging work has included Ives and Falk’s (2024) study with eight Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST ^[4]) teacher leaders whereby they found that the PAEMST program enhanced awardees’ leadership trajectories.

Researchers have expanded the knowledge base regarding STEM teacher leadership in rural and urban settings (Lotter et al., 2020; Swars Auslander et al., 2023). Students in rural areas have access to fewer resources (e.g. stable Internet access and public transportation services), and teachers in rural areas receive lower pay and have limited mathematics and science professional learning opportunities (Lotter et al., 2020; Monk, 2007). As a consequence, students’ STEM achievement rates are often not on par with their non-rural counterparts. To address this issue, Lotter and colleagues developed a leadership program for 20 secondary mathematics and science teachers in rural settings. Comparing teacher interview data to the Teacher Leader Model Standards (see National Education Association, 2020), they found that rural teacher leadership included “the importance of building strong teacher-student relationships, providing new opportunities for students, encouraging students’ success, and building community connections” (p. 29).

Moreover, scholars have explored access to high-quality, inclusive STEM education in urban schools (Brantlinger et al., 2023; Nasir & Vakil, 2017; Swars Auslander et al., 2023; Warner, 2024). Students in urban environments navigate high teacher turnover rates, a teaching force that does not reflect their student demographics, and curricular materials that embrace White paradigms (Guin, 2004; Lippman, 1996; Nasir & Vakil, 2017). STEM teachers and teacher leaders in urban school districts grapple with challenges including scanty administrative support, large class sizes, overwhelming workloads, and uncompetitive salaries (Ingersoll & May, 2011). For these reasons, amongst others, urban school districts have disproportionately higher attrition rates among STEM teacher leaders (Nasir & Vakil, 2017). As a result, students in urban schools miss opportunities to learn STEM content from seasoned professionals, which is deeply concerning since students are expected to learn more mathematics and science content.

Previous literature has purported that STEM teacher leaders assume a variety of roles (Baker et al., 2023; Lotter et al., 2020). One drawback to this reality is that STEM teacher leadership is broadly defined and encapsulates differing roles and responsibilities (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2011). Another finding across the literature is a specific focus on rural and urban settings (Lotter et al., 2020; Swars Auslander et al., 2023). Of relevance to this study, secondary mathematics and science teacher leaders in urban contexts are understudied. Thus, we have limited knowledge of STEM teacher leaders’ backgrounds, experiences, and trajectories that would be instructive for the field. Our study attempts to address these shortcomings in the literature. More specifically, we provide some parameters regarding STEM teacher leadership, contribute to scholarship regarding STEM teacher leaders in urban contexts, and harness the power of a RPP.

This project is a partnership between an urban research institution of higher education, two local school districts, and several community-based STEM organizations. It is guided by Penuel and Gallagher’s (2017) RPP framework, which bolsters the teaching and learning dynamic amongst researchers and practitioners. These long-term partnerships examine practical problems and find solutions to improve schools and STEM education. RPPs are mutualistic ventures where educators and researchers have shared authority, collaboratively determine a problem of practice, and commit to the process by collectively employing intentional strategies (Coburn & Penuel, 2016; Farrell et al., 2022). RPPs have primarily conjoined efforts between colleges/universities and a local educational agency. Our RPP includes other stakeholders representing several community-based organizations that seek to empower Black and Brown youth and adults in the field of education. Collectively, we aim to enhance the STEM-based learning opportunities for 26 STEM teacher leaders who work in local school districts in the Atlanta-metropolitan area and improve access to high-quality STEM learning for their students.

The two partnering school districts serve large numbers of diverse students and were selected because of our ongoing relationship to support STEM education through teacher quality (TQ) and mathematics and science partnership (MSP) grant projects. A STEM Coordinator from each of the districts served as Co-Principal Investigators, and we collectively met and made decisions in service to the teachers and students. The two primary goals of this RPP were to (1) recruit and prepare STEM Professionals who are willing to commit to teaching and remain as highly-effective teachers in high-need secondary schools, and to (2) engage STEM Professionals in robust and innovative professional learning experiences for their development as teacher leaders.

We developed strong partnerships across recruitment, selection, certification, and induction with other institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and community-based agencies to build capacity and provide Teaching Fellows (TFs) with unique and innovative experiences. Further, the community-based STEM organizations include companies and nonprofit organizations that accelerate STEM learning for Black and Brown youth. All in all, these multiple partners form and support the RPP framework and provide communities of support for the STEM teacher leaders (Penuel & Gallagher, 2017).

Our project consisted of two cohorts of STEM professionals who demonstrated a commitment to teach mathematics and science in high-need schools. TFs, or STEM teacher leaders, were supported across a 6-year period. The first cohort included five STEM teacher leaders while the second cohort consisted of 21. The smaller number in the first cohort was due to some initial attrition and the quick turnaround time from when our project was awarded and classes would begin for the teacher preparation program. In total, we supported—and still support in various ways—26 STEM teacher leaders across the two cohorts who serve in schools within the two partnering school districts and around the Atlanta-metropolitan area. We provide some demographic information about the STEM teacher leaders in Table 1. This representation is critically important for Black and Brown youth to get real-life glimpses of the possibilities associated with STEM teacher leadership (Fenwick, 2022).

All TFs completed the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree program at the urban research university within a college that specializes in preparing educators and other professionals for teaching, research, and leadership in a range of disciplines and concentrations. TFs developed the knowledge and intellectual skills to become highly effective educators for culturally and linguistically diverse students in urban communities. To complement the experiences they received during the teacher preparation program, our project team collaboratively designed and implemented a robust approach to mentoring and support during and after certification. This support included a triad approach to mentoring (including the TF, a site-based mentor in the content area, and a university-based mentor), action research to engage in teacher inquiry, release time to participate in Signature Experiences (or professional development sessions), and cohort-based functions to strengthen their relationships with one another and the local community. While the first 2 years of the project focused on teacher preparation via the MAT program and becoming highly effective in the classroom, we introduced them to STEM teacher leadership in year 3. The remaining years were centered on more fully developing and supporting them as teacher leaders.

TFs were provided with several opportunities to hone their craft including the options to enroll in a one-year teacher leadership endorsement program, take leadership courses at the university via a hybrid model, or enroll in a district-supported leadership pathway. In addition, we designed project-related activities to further develop and support their growth as leaders in urban settings. These activities were tailored to the TFs’ expressed needs and were informed by conversations and suggestions from district-level and community-based partners.

Signature Experiences provided the STEM teacher leaders with opportunities to deepen their content knowledge, explore mathematics and science standards, and share effective pedagogical practices and resources that meet the needs of the Black and Brown children that they serve. Typically held twice per semester or five to six times per year, Signature Experiences were primarily conducted at STEM-based companies in community settings with detailed tours of the industry sites. As an example, one was held at Microsoft, and TFs learned more about artificial intelligence (AI) in education as well as the company’s community-based programs and internship opportunities for Black and Brown youth. Across the Signature Experiences, guest speakers included STEM experts and managers as well as educational leaders (i.e. nationally recognized STEM educators, district-level leaders, and a former superintendent).

STEM teacher leaders also engaged in book studies ^[5] to join in critical conversations around what it means to teach Black and Brown children well, and understanding reform efforts and the current climate of STEM education. The selected books explored unique aspects of teaching in urban schools and meeting the educational needs of the families, youth, and communities that the TFs serve. For example, they read None of the Above: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators (Robinson & Simonton, 2019). The first author, Mrs. Shani Robinson, gave a keynote at one of our Signature Experiences explicating being wrongfully accused during the cheating scandal for a crime that she did not commit. The TFs engaged in critical conversations with Mrs. Robinson to understand the pressures associated with high-stakes testing, the role of policies and politics in education, and why she believed that Black and Brown teachers were targeted.

In another example, TFs read We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom (Love, 2019). We mention this text because some TFs were able to subsequently attend a local conversation between Dr Bettina Love and Dr Carol Anderson surrounding Love’s (2023) latest book, Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal. In addition, Dr Love served as the keynote speaker for the TFs’ culminating ceremony to celebrate their completion of the project.

On top of that, the STEM teacher leaders were provided with professional learning opportunities through the district and via local, regional, and national conferences. They served as peer coaches and observed other TFs’ instructional videos and engaged in coaching conversations to improve their practice. Regarding conferences, a large number of STEM teacher leaders annually attended the Southeastern Regional Robert Noyce Conference and presented at the meeting. Other conferences included teacher education as well as STEM and discipline-specific education meetings. One benefit of the professional conferences was that teacher leaders received firsthand experience grappling with STEM education-related issues of national importance. After attending each conference, STEM teacher leaders later shared with their peers what they learned. These collective activities supported their development as STEM teachers and teacher leaders in urban schools serving Black and Brown youth.

This study was designed to explore how STEM teachers positioned themselves to take up leadership roles within urban schools, districts, and communities as well as their levels of preparedness to pursue and assume these leadership positions. It was part of a larger research study approved by our Institutional Review Board (IRB) that sought to understand how STEM professionals were recruited, prepared, and retained as effective teachers in high-need secondary schools and their development as they pursued leadership positions. As it relates to the university context, the institution reported on in this study is located downtown in what Milner (2012) would refer to as an urban intensive city due to its large size, density, and infrastructure. The institution, recognized for its place-based urban dynamics, prepares teachers and educational leaders to work in urban contexts with predominantly Black and Brown students.

The two project leaders identify as Black STEM education ^[6] faculty leaders who have deep understandings of urban contexts, infuse research-based disciplinary practices to support teacher leaders, and work tirelessly in communities with Black and Brown youth. The first author is a Black man and mathematics educator whose research examines Black boys’ and men’s mathematical persistence and racialized experiences (see, e.g. Jett, 2019). The second author is a Black woman and science educator whose scholarship centers on broadening the participation of Black girls in STEM, diversifying the teacher workforce, and advancing community-based STEM programming (see, e.g. King & Pringle, 2019).

In order to lay out some parameters about STEM teacher leadership for this project, we identified the following 10 roles as potential indicators of teacher leaders: (1) catalyst for change, (2) classroom supporter, (3) content/curriculum specialist, (4) continuous learner, (5) data coach, (6) instructional specialist, (7) learning facilitator, (8) mentor, (9) resource provider, and (10) school leader. We expanded the list of traditional leadership roles in schools to include advocacy and outreach with/to families and communities because we realized that some TFs preferred to stay in the classroom and lead from within. Frankly, our children deserve to have highly-qualified teachers, and we wanted to encourage and support these approaches to STEM teacher leadership. The 10 roles that we identified were merely starting points, as teacher leaders have assumed other responsibilities and expanded our notions of teacher leadership. A wide variety of roles constitute STEM teacher leadership, and we have remained steadfast regarding the preparation of STEM teacher leaders in urban schools for Black and Brown youth.

All 26 STEM teacher leaders demonstrated at least one of the aforementioned 10 leadership roles. Consequently, they continue to bring great value to STEM education. Table 2 lists their disciplinary concentrations. We subsequently delve into the stories and journeys of five teacher leaders because they assumed STEM teacher leadership roles with broad impact and tremendous opportunities to elevate STEM learning outcomes for Black and Brown youth.

We employed case study methodology with the five STEM teacher leaders to examine how they positioned themselves for teacher leadership in urban schools (Merriam, 2007). Distinctive elements of case studies include their particularistic, descriptive, and heuristic nature. We utilized case studies to understand the what, how, and why behind STEM teachers taking up leadership roles within urban schools, districts, and communities.

Although we collected quantitative and qualitative data via the larger RPP-specific project, we rely on qualitative data in this manuscript to better understand STEM teacher leadership in urban schools (Hoy & Adams, 2015; Patton, 2015). For the larger research study, we evaluated the TFs’ biographies and individualized learning plans, conducted individual and focus group interviews, reviewed evaluation surveys, and examined artifacts. The collected data were substantiated by observations of them in their classroom settings, videos of their teaching practices, and one-on-one conversations with them during project-related activities. We included multiple data sources to develop comprehensive understandings of the cases (Merriam, 2007). In this paper, we only share excerpts of individual interviews and organize according to the three salient themes that became apparent during data analysis.

As it pertains to data analysis, we first examined each case individually (Merriam, 2007; Patton, 2015). The goal of the single case analysis was to understand each STEM teacher leader at a deeper level. Then, we performed a cross-case analysis (Merriam, 2007) for an in-depth exploration of similarities and differences across the cases. The goal of this second stage of data analysis was to search for and generate common findings, strengths, and themes that were present across the five STEM teacher leaders. Because of space limitations, only individual interview data are shared in this manuscript to support the findings.

In this section, we provide a brief introduction of the five cases. They represent a racially diverse set of teacher leaders in the RPP who have experienced great success delivering high-quality mathematics and science instruction. These individuals were selected because they assumed roles as teacher leaders early on as mathematics and science teachers. Discussions among the RPP’s leadership team substantiated that these STEM professionals desired to lead as classroom teachers. Moreover, these five participants stood out in their cohort by leading team efforts, taking initiative with group projects, and volunteering to share and help others with mathematics and science tasks. Following Merriam’s (2007) case study approach, we depict each case separately to highlight their unique attributes. Pseudonyms are used instead of participants’ real names. Table 3 includes additional information about the five STEM teacher leaders reported on in this manuscript.

Case 1: Andrew is a White man who double majored in mathematics and physics at an engineering and technology-focused institution. He became interested in education because of his experiences tutoring and working in a laboratory. He was able to shine as a leader through these roles, and those same attributes followed him into the classroom setting. Andrew learned about this program through a friend at another university who was interested in teaching English and had recently applied to the institution’s English Education MAT program. He currently serves as a high school mathematics teacher and learning facilitator in one of the partnering school districts.

Case 2: Jacqueline is a Black woman who received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics from a local historically Black college/university (HBCU). After completing her mathematics degree, she worked as an accountant and shifted over to the logistics department. After being laid off, she leveraged her master’s degree to start teaching mathematics as an adjunct professor at the postsecondary level. The adjunct role worked well for her given that she and her husband had welcomed their first child. She later earned a doctorate in mathematics education and had considered a tenure-track position but found her niche at the secondary level. She learned about this program via an email from an administrator and currently serves as both the IB and TAG program coordinator in one of the partnering school districts.

Case 3: Jamal is a Black man who earned an undergraduate degree in health science. Unlike the other four STEM teacher leaders who earned their STEM degrees in the state, he earned his college degree from a public research university in a neighboring southern state. He later earned a master’s degree in special education via an online education program, which has allowed him to teach in other content areas (i.e. reading and social studies). Jamal had a brief stint working in corporate America training individuals in healthcare fields. This experience led him to pursue his passion in education, which he states was destined to happen. Jamal was foretold by others within his network that he would be a teacher. He learned about this program from the area superintendent’s email seeking mathematics and science teachers in the district. He currently serves as a department chair in one of the partnering school districts.

Case 4: Melanie identifies as a queer Caribbean and West Indian woman. She earned an undergraduate degree in biology from a local private research university. She was on the pre-medicine track but wanted to take a break before pursuing her medical degree and joined Teach for America (TFA). She mentioned that her TFA training was only for one month during the summer prior to teaching. Therefore, she decided to apply for this STEM teacher leadership program for additional support. Melanie received a flyer about the program from her department head at one of the partnering school districts. Since that time, she has moved to a neighboring district and serves as an academic science coach because of her outstanding results as a science educator. She is also a co-founder of a culturally relevant science nonprofit organization dedicated to making STEM education inclusive for students from underrepresented communities.

Case 5: Nate is a Black man who earned a biology degree from a regional, comprehensive university. His undergraduate institution is located in a southern suburb of the city. Previously, he had a couple of jobs where he served in a managerial or leadership role, but his prior experience working at a STEM summer camp solidified his desire to find a program to become a certified teacher and lead within the field of education. Nate mentioned that he spends a lot of time searching for things online and found this STEM teacher leadership program’s website when searching for programs close to home that fit his professional needs. At the time of this study, he was a school improvement coach at a high school in one of the partnering school districts.

Three themes came to the fore when engaging in cross-case analysis (Merriam, 2007). First, the STEM teacher leaders leveraged previous experiences as inspiration to lead within the field of education. Second, they assumed various roles beyond STEM teaching for holistic child development. Third, they recognized the importance of mentorship and peer support in their journeys toward leadership. We discuss each theme and provide some representative quotes to bring these three themes to life.

The first theme revealed that the participants leveraged previous experiences to serve as inspiration to lead within the education profession. These experiences included both STEM and non-STEM examples. In the STEM realm, examples included directing a STEM summer camp, serving as the lead mathematics tutor, and managing a science laboratory. Outside of STEM, examples included holding leadership roles in collegiate organizations, being selected for national fellowships, and completing community service tasks.

In his interview, Jamal disclosed that he was a class leader throughout his entire educational career. He mentioned that his middle school experiences were the most influential and that it was during those years that he solidified his decision to become a teacher. Reflecting on his teacher and teacher leadership journey, he revealed:

Jamal’s middle school experience had such a profound impact on him that he decided to teach in the same city where his middle school teacher previously taught. Related to this, he spoke about stepping up and being a leader as an adolescent by visiting his teachers’ classrooms often during lunch breaks and other non-instructional times to brainstorm about his educational goals.

Initially, Jacqueline did not have an interest in teaching. However, she used her previous experiences teaching mathematics at the collegiate level as inspiration to teach and lead at the secondary level. She remarked:

Although Jamal’s middle school teacher inspired him to go into education, Jacqueline’s mother encouraged her to do so. Jacqueline had several years of experience as an adjunct while raising her children during their early childhood years. Leveraging her previous experiences doing logistical work, working as an adjunct, and being a mother, Jacqueline cultivated the competencies needed for teacher leadership.

While discussing his leadership journey, Nate shared:

Leadership came naturally to Nate. It seems reasonable that he participated in leadership and mentoring programs as a college student and became a fellow for a national organization. His leadership persona eventually landed him in a science classroom teaching adolescent learners.

In another example, Andrew communicated that he served as an advocate during his college years. He said, “I worked with a couple different organizations on campus, a couple like advocacy groups and the radio station as well.” Advocacy is a form of leadership given that individuals take a position on a cause and work in favor of it. Andrew’s previous experience working at the radio station on behalf of these causes further substantiates his leadership abilities. As it stands, the participants leveraged previous experiences, which served as inspiration to lead during their teaching journeys.

The second theme uncovered that the participants assumed various roles beyond STEM teaching for holistic child development. When educators take a holistic approach, they meet students’ cognitive, social, and emotional needs. In the educational space, these roles are unpredictable and incalculable, and assuming these different roles positioned the participants in this study as leaders. Nate declared:

Nate’s quote gets at the essence of working in urban schools. While it is true that teachers wear many hats in all schools, the issues in urban schools are exacerbated (Howard & Milner, 2021). Teachers should not have to shoulder all these burdens, but the reality is that they often do. The participants in this study exhibited excellence while serving in a myriad of roles.

In the next example, Jaqueline recalled a memorable experience with a student who she described as “tough to crack.” Jacqueline requested her to put away her cell phone and the child refused and after reminding the student of the expectations, asked her to step outside. After getting the class started on their work, Jacqueline sat on the floor next to the child and asked what was going on. We include her narrative at-length because it captures a personal account of how as a STEM teacher leader, she makes time for students and tends to their social and emotional needs.

Jacqueline took the time to listen to the child realizing that the defiant behavior was deeper than a cell phone. By making the decision to be present in that moment, the teenage girl opened up and shared the root of her frustrations. Jacqueline elaborated:

Jaqueline’s example is multilayered and is not intended to perpetuate any deficit stereotypes about students in urban schools, but described real issues that students face and the importance of making space to listen to children and not automatically resorting to punishment. This student earnestly believed in fair treatment and noticed some inequitable ways that teachers handled different students. In this case, she had her cell phone out during instructional time, which violated their classroom policy. While choosing to leave the classroom space instead of adhering to the policy, she departed in a respectful way. Through their conversation, Jaqueline learned that this student was repeating a mathematics course she had previously taken and was able to advocate on her behalf. Of note, there have been several changes to mathematics courses in our state; the constant changes have resulted in there being huge overlaps in content across courses. On another note, Jaqueline’s example demonstrates that effective leaders take on an advocacy role in service to their students’ education.

Moreover, this example shows that some students deal with challenging issues in their personal lives. This student had some parental issues and had previously fibbed about having interactions with her father. Her resilience in spite of these obstacles is commendable. Also, this example unearths aspects of the community given that Jaqueline expressed that her children had attended the same elementary school as this student, demonstrating that effective leaders know and live in the community. In the end, Jacqueline discovered that students sometimes need a listening ear and was able to form a tighter bond with this student because of this exchange.

Melanie is a teacher leader who experienced some outstanding results during her first year teaching science. She acknowledged that her first year was tough and filled with lots of extremely early morning preps for her lessons. However, she started to see some encouraging results early on.

Melanie’s students grew more confident in their content knowledge and wanted to take quizzes to show what they knew. It is not surprising that her students performed exceptionally well on the end-of-course (EOC) test. She continued:

Although Melanie was not “teaching to the test,” her students’ mastery of these biology concepts and practice via the quizzes in many ways served as preparation for the EOC exam. The fact that this all occurred while she was a first-year teacher adds to the significance of this accomplishment. Likewise, Nate stated that he was often told: “wow, you’re just a first-year teacher”—demonstrating the amazement that individuals had regarding their exceptional teaching abilities in light of their various roles.

Jamal assumed multiple roles, especially in professional learning communities (PLCs), because of his science-related content knowledge coupled with his expertise regarding special education. He described:

Because of his training in special education, Jamal has served as a teacher across content areas and a co-teacher. Notwithstanding, he is intentional about being involved in instructional planning with the other science teachers. Combining his scientific content knowledge with his robust knowledge about special education has propelled him to work in various roles to meet the holistic needs of his students.

The third theme dealt with the importance of mentorship and peer support. The participants recognized these attributes were essential for them to learn, develop, and grow. The STEM teacher leaders were continuous learners and sought opportunities to acquire more knowledge about their craft through mentors and peers. Their decision to apply and enroll in this program provides additional evidence of their desire for this support as STEM teacher leaders. Andrew spoke about the mentorship he has received since enrolling in this program.

As his narrative reveals, a group of skilled mentors and leaders are leading Andrew. He witnessed the camaraderie among the partners (i.e. higher education faculty, school and district-level representatives, and community partners). The ongoing healthy relationships solidified the union, and these characteristics get at the essence of a true RPP.

Nate talked about being ambitious in his role as a STEM teacher and teacher leader, which necessitates the acquisition of resources from peers and mentors. He conveyed:

It is clear that Nate wants to continuously improve as a science educator and teacher leader within his school building and beyond. To bring this point home, he added more.

Jacqueline also recognized the importance of peer support as she began teaching in the secondary space. Discussing her experience in her PLC, she pointed out:

Jaqueline mentioned being a team player, and her experiences indicate that she was a key player on the instructional team. As the PLC lead for precalculus, she helped lay out the instructional plan for the course. Further, as department chair, she had the enormous responsibility of leading several teachers and shaping the vision of an entire mathematics program. Her leadership journey is particularly noteworthy considering that she also had to sacrifice time away from her family during the week and on weekends to support and mentor her peers.

In this final example, Jamal expressed an interest in continuing to collaborate and connect with the TFs after the project has ended.

As mentioned beforehand, the participants serve as peer coaches through project activities. By conversing, they continuously learn from each other. In these ways, they support, inspire, and motivate each other. Additionally, the research-practice partners are in constant communication with the participants about the project and other growth opportunities. These events have caused Jamal to yearn to remain part of this purposeful and fulfilling community even after the project period has concluded. Other TFs have also expressed appreciation for the resources, support, and community offered through this STEM teacher leader development program to capitalize off the strong mentor and peer support, expand their professional networks, and propel academic outcomes for Black and Brown students in urban schools.

This study focused on five mathematics and science educators’ journeys as teacher leaders in urban schools via a RPP. The participants had earned undergraduate degrees in STEM fields and leveraged previous experiences as inspiration to lead within the educational arena. Although some previous experiences were outside of STEM, they were able to bring those skills into STEM classrooms. For Jamal, he reflected back on his adolescence and described the impact of his middle school teacher’s words on his career plans. His case reminds us that students are actively listening, so teachers must be vigilant concerning the messages they communicate about the profession, as it can influence aspiring teachers’ decision-making about their education-related plans. In his case, fortunately, Jamal drew inspiration from that experience and ended up as a teacher and teacher leader.

We also found that the participants assumed various roles beyond STEM teaching to promote holistic child development. Serving as instructional leaders, raising test scores, and accepting formal leadership positions were the byproducts of assuming these roles. The literature laments teacher turnover and STEM teachers who exit the teaching profession within the first few years (Frank et al., 2021; Guin, 2004). Less empirical work has been published, however, about STEM teachers who excel in various roles during the early years, especially in urban contexts. The participants in this study excelled and advocated for students while managing multiple roles. While doing so, they were able to flourish as teacher leaders during the early career stage with specific attention to holistic child development.

The last theme revealed that the participants recognized the importance of mentorship and peer support in their journeys towards leadership. Consistent with prior work, the participants pursued growth opportunities during their journeys as teacher leaders (Ives & Falk, 2024; Lotter et al., 2020). In this study, these opportunities primarily came from individuals involved in the RPP and were in direct response to participants’ needs for more resources, engaging instructional strategies, and overall support. Further, teacher leaders must continue to take advantage of mentor and peer support given that their roles “change, shift, and evolve over time” (Gabriel, 2005, p. 4). This realization has fueled participants’ desires to remain connected beyond the project period. Thus, the continual professional development and learning opportunities keep teacher leaders at the forefront of their craft, and these opportunities for support from mentors and peers are especially important in urban environments.

This study contributes asset-based work regarding STEM teacher leaders in urban schools who are committed to serving Black and Brown youth (Ramos Montañez, 2023). In doing so, it adds to the literature regarding school-university partnerships in general and RPPs within urban contexts in particular (Penuel & Gallagher, 2017). Similar to Ives and Falk’s study (2024) with eight PAEMST teacher leaders, we found that this RPP accelerates and promotes STEM teacher leadership. The activities to develop STEM teacher leaders—mentoring conversations with the RPP’s leadership team, peer coaching opportunities, Signature Experiences, conferences, and leadership courses and credentialing options—encouraged the five participants to undertake leadership roles included in the 10 indicators previously listed. Their roles and responsibilities also allowed them to lead from the classroom early on. These RPP-specific collective efforts helped develop these STEM educators into teacher leaders and positioned them to take up leadership roles in urban settings.

This study’s population of racially diverse STEM teacher leaders is reflective of the increasing number of Black and Brown youth in our nation’s urban schools (Bryant et al., 2017; Fenwick, 2022). As echoed in other scholarship, our findings show that these subject area experts need support in dealing with on-the-ground issues and challenges that often manifest in unique ways in urban environments (Howard & Milner, 2021). Our findings also indicate that STEM teacher leaders deal with real issues that impact student learning such as those psychological in nature, cell phone policies, and students who do not live in traditional family units. Therefore, teacher leaders need development programs such as the one guided by the RPP framework as well as continuous support to accelerate student learning in urban schools.

A final point that must be emphasized is the asset-based orientation used to guide the project and evidenced in the STEM teacher leaders’ narratives (Ramos Montañez, 2023). It is important to note that RPP leaders modeled asset-based practices through the use of disciplinary evidence-based best practices as well as affirming and encouraging words. As mentioned previously, the participants navigated some challenges, but they recognized the strengths that racially diverse students bring to urban classrooms. As examples, Melanie loved how her students used assessments to account for their academic progress while Jaqueline’s student persisted in spite of the challenges thrust upon her. Thus, a final recommendation is for teacher leaders to recognize and highlight the strengths of the individuals with whom they work, teach, lead, and serve in urban schools, districts, and communities.

Our study has a few limitations that warrant attention. First, we have not captured the full extent of the TFs’ STEM leadership development and capabilities. Future work could explore their leadership trajectories, ascensions, and impacts beyond the project period. Another limitation is that we did not tailor all of our data collection methods to unearth unique aspects of urban settings. Although we designed this study from an asset-based perspective, being more intentional about probing the teacher leaders regarding urban education more specifically could have yielded additional insights for supporting Black and Brown STEM learners in these contexts. A final limitation is that our study only included mathematics and science teacher leaders. Although we have used STEM as an umbrella term, we understand that STEM teacher leaders work in disciplines beyond these two. Relatedly, it is possible that the program could be expanded to develop teacher leaders in computer science, engineering, and technology as well. Future teacher leadership initiatives should address these critical disciplinary areas, especially in urban settings. Despite these limitations, the study adds to the understudied area of STEM teacher leadership development in urban contexts apropos Black and Brown students and contributes to the school-university partnership knowledge base.

We have shared information about a RPP designed to (1) prepare STEM Professionals to teach and remain as highly-effective teachers in high-need secondary schools, and (2) engage STEM Professionals in robust and innovative professional learning experiences for their development as teacher leaders in urban contexts. Given the racial composition of students in the partnering school districts, these teacher leaders work to accelerate STEM learning opportunities for Black and Brown youth in meaningful ways. The five cases presented showcase how these secondary mathematics and science teachers leveraged previous experiences as inspiration to lead within the field of education, assumed various roles beyond STEM teaching for holistic child development, and recognized the importance of mentorship and peer support in their journeys towards leadership. It is our hope that spaces are continuously created and maintained so that STEM teachers can develop and strengthen their leadership skills and ultimately thrive in our nation’s urban classrooms as STEM teacher leaders.