A Shared Vision for Online Teaching Effectiveness of K-12 STEAM Minority Teachers

Introduction

Health officials describe a pandemic as an epidemic covering a large area and affecting a large population (Morens et al., 2009). The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic in the past few years (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020). As a result, in Spring 2020, online teaching became the norm, and thus effective teaching practices required an enhancement. School districts were forced to utilize online learning to avoid exposure to the disease (Cauchemez, 2009). In addition, teachers need to be supported to be effective during unpredictable circumstances (Beteille, Ding, Molina, Pushparatnam, & Wilichowski, 2020; Strong, 2018). However, school districts throughout the United States lack the resources for pedagogical opportunities for STEM teachers (110Kin10, 2020). Prior to the current pandemic, STEM teachers assisted URM students in gap areas (Johnson Austin, 2019; Theobald et al., 2020; Olszewski-Kubilius, Steenbergen-Hu, Thomason, & Rosen, 2017).

Consequently, the pandemic has created additional challenges. The lack of student and teacher access to technology, modifications of instructional processes in the classroom, and decreased student engagement heighten the need to bridge the 'digital divide' (Beteille et al., 2020; Ferdig et al., 2020). Min (2017) defines the ‘digital divide’ as the technological inequalities between the rich and the poor, the educated and uneducated, and Blacks and Whites. Banks (2006) argued that the ‘digital divide’ is a metonym for African Americans' experiences with access to technology. A study by Hung et al. (2019) confirmed that racial inequality was one of the reasons for the achievement gap between African American and White students. G. Ladson Billings (2006) explored the need to examine why the achievement gap exists. Low socioeconomic students are denied access to a quality education because of the disparities in school districts where resources are lacking (Gladson Billings, 2013). The achievement gap for African American students widened during the COVID-19. School districts across the United States reported that African American students have fallen behind the most during the coronavirus pandemic (Kuhfeld et al., 2020).

Furthermore, the 'digital divide' created a situation where students face undue barriers to performance in the classroom and is exacerbated when STEAM teachers do not have appropriate support to meet the needs of URM students. Therefore, SPAN introduces a model for STEAM educators to improve their online teaching effectiveness. Models are instrumental in defining the qualities of effective teaching (Sanchez-Cabrero, Estrada-Chichon, Abad-Mancheno, & Manoso-Pacheco, 2021).