From: Identity evolution of STEM teachers in Egyptian STEM schools in a time of transition: a case study
Year | MoE | ECASE | STEM teachers |
---|---|---|---|
Phase 1: Initiating STEM education reform | |||
 2011–2012 Establishing boys’ STEM school  2012–2013 Establishing girls STEM school | Decree 369/2011 No mention of STEM | ECASE not yet fully involved | Teachers were grappling with understanding STEM and how to implement without professional development support |
Decree 202/2012 Official naming of the Egyptian Secondary Certificate (STEM Track) Decree 382/2012 Detailed all components and requirement of the STEM schools | Start professional development for teachers and initiated design studio for work on curriculum development | Transformative professional experience for teachers started with professional development programs by experts in STEM, more involvement in curriculum design and redesign. | |
Phase II: Bringing STEM reform to scale | |||
 2013–2014 | Decree 172/2014 Created the STEM Unit (SU) to oversee the STEM schools all over the country | More professional development and work on curriculum with increased Egyptian collaboration to promote sustainability | Continued participation in curriculum development and leading the STEM experience in their schools. Issues of relevance and sustainability emerged. |
 2014–2015 | MoE officials began to be directly involved in the process in collaboration with the ECASE. | Continue the PD and curriculum work—involving STEM Unit | Teachers reached the peak of their professional learning despite changing of school principals and increased bureaucracy. |
 2016–2017 | STEM Unit began full control of the STEM schools. MoE builds more STEM schools in different Governorates. | Preparing for phase out and transfer to STEM Unit as the grant came to a close | Frustration as some aspects of the mainstream education system merge in STEM schools—poor quality final exams, increased focus on bureaucracy over instructional quality, diminishing leadership. |
 2017–2018 | The number of STEM schools is 14. | Work on generating STEM standards for Egyptian STEM schools started. | Lower quality of teachers hired within the growing number of STEM schools. |
 |  | Broader implementation of STEM vision to apply STEM best practices to mainstream science and mathematics curriculum | In the absence of ECASEa, PD was of lower quality and there were no new resources and equipment to support implementation. Yet, teachers are committed to their transformation and refuse to revert to traditional practices. |