The goal of the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Strategy is to provide professional learning (PL)1 opportunities and build capacity among TDSB Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) teachers to enhance their STEM pedagogical knowledge, self-efficacy to teach STEM, and promote STEM implementation in classrooms. At the end of the first year of implementation of the TDSB STEM professional learning initiative, our research revealed important findings about administrator, teacher, coach, and student attitudes towards STEM education, STEM teaching and learning practices, and STEM professional learning practices. In particular, the findings provided insights into administrator and teacher perceptions of the value of STEM education; teacher knowledge of STEM pedagogy, resources, STEM careers, and collaboration in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs); teacher confidence and self-efficacy in STEM teaching; the frequency of use of STEM teaching practices to develop STEM competencies in students; student perceptions of teacher practices promoting STEM competencies; and teacher, administrator, and coach perceptions of the professional learning support provided.

Additional authors: Kamini Jaipal-Jamani, Ashley Nahornick, and Margaret Douglin.