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Long-term Professional Development
The two-and-a-half-year Fellowship is anchored by three Summer Institutes held on-campus at the University of Notre Dame. These institutes consist of various courses focused on STEM instructional practice and teacher leadership. During the academic year, Fellows apply their summer learning by participating in instructional coaching groups. These groups meet regularly to provide a collaborative environment for continued professional development and growth.
Additionally, two mid-year summits extend the work of the Summer Institutes, allowing teachers to reconnect and gather in person at various locations across the country. Together, these experiences provide 250 hours of professional development throughout the duration of the program.
School Teams
Over the course of the two-and-a-half-year fellowship, these teams develop, plan, execute, and measure a school-specific STEM Blueprint Plan. We specifically target the middle grades because this developmental stage is vital for fostering STEM interest and engagement, particularly among underrepresented populations.
In addition to their coursework, Fellows and their students participate in ongoing research throughout the program. This research focuses on teacher leadership, STEM instructional practices, and the relationship between STEM learning environments and student interest, achievement, and identity.
Foundational Tenets
A focus on human flourishing is central to the dispositions, knowledge, and practices in our STEM Teacher Leadership Framework. We draw on four foundational tenets – tenets drawn from Catholic Social Teaching and applicable in both religious and secular settings – that provide an action-oriented and person centered approach to promoting justice.
Collectively, these four tenets provide a set of principles that can help guide the words, beliefs, and actions of STEM Teacher Leaders towards cultivating a thriving school community. We believe that it is essential for these principles to be deeply woven and integrated into the fabric of teacher leadership, and as such, these positions are seamlessly embedded throughout each of the domains.
Elevating the Dignity of the Individual
The dignity of the individual is foundational to all human interactions and sets the stage for a transformative approach to teaching, learning, and leadership. At its root, this tenet claims that every person has inherent and immeasurable worth. Each person is unique and beloved for who they are, not based on what they can do or accomplish. Human dignity does not need to be earned and it cannot be stripped away, although it can fail to be recognized. Honoring students as they are and valuing all colleagues are just two ways of elevating the human dignity of others.
Promoting the Common Good
Full human flourishing is realized within the context of community. Communities animated by the common good are organized so that all members are able to fully participate in the community's shared life. Promoting the common good entails a sense of solidarity, an understanding that each person's good is bound up with the well-being of others. It holds paramount the sentiment that "no one wins unless everyone wins." It may take many forms as students, teachers, and administrators work toward common goals, including inviting diverse opinions and celebrating the value of each member of the community.
Empowering the Marginalized & Vulnerable
Those who are vulnerable or on the margins can often be excluded from fully participating in the life of the community. Working towards the human flourishing of the marginalized and vulnerable ensures justice, access, and opportunity for all people, particularly those who are disenfranchised. School settings include vulnerable populations in both obvious and imperceptible ways. Educators are called to recognize and act upon the needs of the individuals in their school communities with an intentional eye toward elevating and empowering those with the greatest needs.
Acting with Rights & Responsibilities
Human dignity bestows each person with certain fundamental rights that must be respected. As members of a community, each person is also entrusted with the responsibility to contribute to the common good. All are called to work together, each with corresponding rights and responsibilities, to create a thriving community. For example, educators have the right to exercise their voice in collective decision-making within a school setting, as well as the responsibility to listen to the voices of other members of the community who may not be heard.
Benefits for Fellows
- 250 hours of professional development in STEM instructional practice and teacher leadership
- Virtual instructional coaching over two school years
- Apply as a multidisciplinary school team of 3–5 STEM teachers (Grades 4–8).
- Join a national community of STEM educators
Fully Sponsored Participation
- $4,500 stipend and paid travel and lodging for each Fellow distributed across the fellowship
Benefits for Schools
- Approximately 250 total hours of professional development for each Fellow on the school team
- Connection to a national network of schools committed to quality STEM Education
- Development of STEM teacher leaders who will help develop and implement a school-wide STEM vision
- One two-day administrator on-campus professional development workshop during the second summer
Investment from Schools
- $1000 per Fellow, for the first two years of the program
- Title funds may be used towards this investment
- Financial aid available for schools requiring assistance
- Ability to pay is not a deciding factor for acceptance into the program
Program Impact
When I started, I thought of a STEM teacher leader as someone who was elevated to serve in an important position. Now I think of a STEM teacher leader as someone who elevates others.
Cohort 7 Fellow
I now understand that being a STEM teacher leader also means being an advocate, collaborator, and change agent, someone who actively works to create more equitable learning environments, not just in their own classroom, but across the school and community.
Cohort 7 Fellow
A STEM teacher leader is someone who empowers students and colleagues to ask questions and continue to learn. Over the course of this program I have learned powerful ways to encourage deeper thinking with students and strategies to help students be leaders in their own learning.
Cohort 7 Fellow
The coaching cycles have been incredibly helpful in improving my teaching. Watching videos from other fellows was especially valuable. ... It helped me reflect more deeply on my instruction and feel part of a supportive professional learning community.
Cohort 7 Fellow
The coaching cycles force me to view my own teaching and talk about it. This is transformational!
Cohort 7 Fellow
I think the student discourse has been life changing for my teaching. I realized just how little a teacher should be talking. Students need discovery for themselves both in conversation and their learning in general. I think I took this idea that students should be the leaders in conversation a step further and that students should be the leaders in their learning.
Cohort 6 Fellow
It is the best professional development I’ve had in my almost 40 years of teaching. It is so on target with kids’ needs.
Cohort 8 Fellow
Who We Look For
The Fellowship is designed for School Teams, not just individuals. We believe that sustained impact happens when a core group of educators grows together to transform their school’s STEM culture.
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School Team Criteria
Assembling your School Team of 3–5 teachers is an important part of a successful application, and your School Team must meet the criteria listed below.
- Applicants must apply as part of a school-based team of 3 – 5 teachers from the same school.
- Prospective School Teams are not selected based upon the number of applicants, but rather on quality of the applicants and the ability for the team to work together.
- Teachers must be a teacher-of-record for at least one STEM-related course in Grades 4 – 8.
- The STEM Teaching Fellowship is particularly well-suited for:
- Middle school math and science teachers
- Teachers of engineering (e.g. Project Lead the Way) or integrated STEM (e.g. those leading a STEM or Innovation Lab)
- Technology/computer science teachers who focus on programming or coding and who seek to integrate math or science in their courses
- Our program is not well-suited for:
- IT coordinators or teachers with classes focused on typing, mouse skills, word processing, or other productivity apps
- Early career teachers are primed for growth in this program. Prospective teams consisting of at least one early career teacher – defined as having 3-10 years of teaching experience – will be given preference during the selection process.
- Applicants must intend to remain teaching at their existing school for the duration of the Fellowship (2 academic years).
- Prospective School Teams must receive a Recommendation Form (initiated during the application process) from their principal approving their full participation in the program.
- Accepted applicants must attend all three Summer Institutes and remain on campus at Notre Dame, residentially, during the Summer Institutes.
- Fellows attend two mid-year, in-person RISE Summits at an off-campus location in January.
- Fellows engage in virtual instructional coaching and participate in group coaching calls throughout the academic year.
Ready to build your team?
If you have questions about your team’s eligibility or the application process, please reach out to us at stemfellows@nd.edu or Request More Information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Build Your School Team
The Notre Dame STEM Teaching Fellowship provides professional development for individual teachers who are part of a School Team. This team structure is unique in professional development experiences, yet it is critical to achieving sustained impact within school communities.
As you think about building your School Team, we recommend that you consider the prompts below. If questions arise, please contact us at stemfellows@nd.edu.
- Middle grade math and science teachers: The Fellowship is particularly focused on the teaching of mathematics, science, and engineering for the middle grades. We highly recommend that middle school math and science teacher(s) be part of your team.
- Engineering/integrated STEM teachers: Teachers of engineering (e.g. Project Lead the Way) or integrated STEM (e.g. those leading a STEM or Innovation lab) can be an important part of your team.
- Technology/computer science teachers: The program is best suited for technology teachers who focus on programming or coding and who seek to integrate math or science in their courses.
Become a STEM Teaching Fellow
The Notre Dame STEM Teaching Fellowship forms STEM teacher leaders who catalyze rigorous, ambitious, and sustainable STEM learning cultures for their students and school communities. Teachers must apply to the Fellowship as part of a School Team.
Please review the Application Guide below in order to complete each step and successfully submit your application as part of your School Team.
Determine Team Contact and Gather Information
- Each team will need to determine which team member will serve as the Team Contact. The role of the Team Contact is to collect current school-level demographic data and to request a Principal Recommendation on behalf of the School Team during the application submission process.
- Each member of the School Team should preview the sample application questions, presented in our Application Guide.
- Only the Team Contact will be asked to enter current school-level demographic data and to request a Principal Recommendation on behalf of the School Team when completing their application. We encourage you to begin to collect this information ahead of starting your online application.
Applications for Cohort 9 open on October 1, 2026
- Review the criteria for Building Your School Team and assemble your School Team to apply.
- Each team will need to determine which team member will serve as the Team Contact. The Team Contact collects school-level demographic data and requests the Principal Recommendation during the application process.
- Each member of the School Team should preview the sample application questions in our Application Guide.
- Only the Team Contact will enter current school-level demographic data and request a Principal Recommendation when completing their application. Collect this information ahead of time.
- Each member must submit their own individual application by the application deadline: February 15, 2027.
- The school’s principal will receive an online recommendation form initiated through the Team Contact’s application once submitted.
- The principal recommendation is due by the application deadline: February 15, 2027.
- Applications will be reviewed and finalist candidates will be invited to participate in a Zoom interview between March 1–12, 2027.
- Zoom interviews are scheduled for 45 minutes and must include all members of the School Team.
- School Team interviews will be scheduled via the Team Contact’s application portal as needed.
- Select teams will have their principal interviewed between March 17–24, 2027, as needed.
- Principals will be contacted by a member of the interviewing team to schedule the interview.
- Final admission decisions will be communicated on March 31, 2027.
Zoom Orientation: Accepted applicants will be asked to attend a Zoom orientation on Saturday, May 1, 2027.
Summer Institute 1: Accepted applicants will attend their first Summer Institute on July 5–16, 2027 on Notre Dame’s campus.
- All members of the School Team are expected to attend the full two weeks of the Summer Institute in-person.
Summer Institute 2: Accepted applicants will attend their second Summer Institute on July 10–21, 2028 on Notre Dame’s campus.
Capstone: Accepted applicants will attend their Capstone Summer for one week in mid-July on Notre Dame’s campus.
