Smithsonian Science Education Leadership Summit: Building a Coalition for Recruiting and Retaining Skilled STEM Teachers

  • Participants stand around a table, listening to one speaker intently.
  • A man and woman stand together, mid-conversation.
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Smithsonian Science Education Leadership Summit: Building a Coalition for Recruiting and Retaining Skilled STEM Teachers

The Smithsonian Science Education Center hosts an annual Science Education Leadership Summit to engage school, district, or state leadership teams throughout the US who seek to address problems of practice related to the recruitment and retention of skilled STEM educators in the K-12 classrooms. This Summit is a highly interactive experience, with a clear outcome at the end – giving education systems the tools to develop district-specific “action plans” for addressing this problem, with support from mentors, coaches, and advisors.

The next Smithsonian Science Education Leadership Summit will be March 27, 2026 - March 29, 2026, in Philadelphia, PA.

Read the FAQ document

Team Application Process

The deadline to submit a team application is Monday January 5, 2026, at 11:59PM EST.

Apply as a team

 

Mentor Application Process

Mentors are critical to the success of the summit and the work to follow. If accepted, a mentor is paired with a team and commits to working with that group leading up to the summit, during the summit, and by providing 18 months of ongoing support thereafter.

The deadline to submit a mentor application is Monday January 5, 2026 at 11:59PM EST.

Apply to be a mentor

About the Initiative

This Smithsonian Science Education Leadership Summit is only one component of a larger initiative that began in 2015 when the Smithsonian Science Education Center in partnership with Shell USA, Inc. convened a group of education organizations from around the nation to share and discuss proven strategies that have improved the recruitment, retention and engagement of science educators. From this meeting, a Steering Committee was formed and areas of potential work emerged: develop a playbook for district-level change; implement district-level change; and advance teacher leadership development.

Our ultimate goal for all of the work comprising this Initiative is to address shortages in the STEM teaching workforce and improve leadership opportunities for teachers. We are working to achieve this goal and supporting like-minded individuals and organizations to do the same.