Profile of an Elementary STEM Educator.

Recent developments in initiatives, standards, and legislative agendas have led to increases in the number of STEM educators, in particular elementary STEM educators. This study investigates and reports the characteristics and credentials of this group and explores the features and characteristics of the student population within their classrooms. These criteria were analyzed over nearly a decade in efforts to identify progressions and changes in response to national demands. Data for this study was gathered from the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) School and Staffing Survey Teacher Questionnaire (SASS TQ) and documents a significant increase in the number of fulltime elementary STEM educators, depicting the current profile of these educators as largely female, mid-career, and fully certified with a bachelor's degree from a traditional teacher preparation program. Trends support that this group is becoming more diversified with more seeking graduate degrees and more earning certification via alternative programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]