Efforts to protect teacher education programs

STEM teacher preparation programs are often targets for cuts or termination owing to the small enrollment in these programs and the frequent lack of advocacy for these programs among the STEM departments. I will discuss how I led efforts among STEM departments at KU to collaborate with the KU School of Education to save our program after it was eliminated. This multi-year process has resulted in greater ownership of STEM teacher preparation by all stakeholders on campus, including better coordination of recruitment efforts. A bulk of time in this session will be dedicated for others to share their experiences battling to save their teacher preparation programs.